Movable Figure

Description

This Is A Movable Figure, With Eight Joints That Swivel 360 Degrees. The Model Comprises Nine Pieces That Snap Together In About A Minute. This Model Arose From A Basic Experiment With Snap-Fit Connectors. I Found A Tutorial Of A Cantilever Snap-Fit, Experimented With It A Bit As A One-Dimensional Axis, And Then Extrapolated It Radially So That The Connection Can Pivot. I Printed A Single Pivot Connection, And Was So Pleased With The Result That I Made This Little Figure... Which Turned Out A Lot Better Than I Expected! The Model In The Picture Was Printed With A Flashforge Creator Pro, Using (Generic, Packed-In) Abs Filament Extruded At 220C Onto A 110C Bed. I Designed It With Tinkercad, Sliced It With Simplify3D, And Printed It Via Octoprint. I Included A Raft (Totally Not Necessary) And Some Very Small Supports (*Probably* Not Necessary, And Kind Of A Pain To Dig Out Of The Connection Points). Mild Post-Processing - Just Removing Supports And Trimming Away Excess Bits Of Filament. Feel Free To Use The Snap-Fit Connector In Your Own Projects. A Few Notes About The Model, And The Snap-Fit Connection In Particular: 1) Many Types Of Snap-Fit Connectors Are Designed To Be Reversible, With A Release Mechanism. This Kind Isn'T. If You Try To Pull The Shaft Out Of The Housing After It Connects, The Shaft Is Almost Guaranteed To Break. 2) A Normal Snap-Fit Connection Works By Allowing The Outer Portion To Flex Outward During Insertion. With A Radial Connection Like This, The Outer Portion Can'T Flex If It Is A Solid Disc. Instead, I Split The Outer Portion With A Longitudinal Seam That Can Flex Outward During Insertion, And Then Snap Back Together When It'S Fully Inserted. 3) When The Connector Is Fully Inserted, The End Of The Shaft Protrudes A Bit Through The Bottom Of The Connection. As A Result, The Figure Doesn'T Actually Lay Flat In This Case; It Rests On Eight Nubs Protruding Through The Bottom. It'S Not A Problem For This Model (Actually, The Eight Points Balance The Mass Of The Figure Well, And Add To The Freedom Of Movement) - But If You Adapt This Connector Type For Another Project, You Might Want Or Need To Extrude The Bottom Portion Of The Connector Housing By A Millimeter Or Two, So That The Bottom Of The Housing Is Coplanar With The End Of The Shaft.

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