For the purpose of this blog, I’m printing the hinge in 0.005″ layers, so my air gaps are slightly larger than what they need to be (which is fine). Instead, the knuckles are interlinked with an air gap of 0.3mm (or 0.012″). If you look closely, you can see there’s no pin in the centre of the knuckles. Pictured below is the design in question. NOTE: This model is intended to demonstrate some unique design principles regarding fully assembled, multi-component print jobs. As stated before, the hinge can be designed with only two moving parts. Nylon12 instead of ABS-M30), but the safest option that works with almost any material is the one I just described. Now, we could go into liquid thermoplastic retention properties and argue that the air gaps can change based on what material you use (e.g. This same principle applies for all layer heights. This way, there’s no chance that the extruded paths will intersect and melt together during the printing process. For instance, if I’m printing the hinge shown above in 0.007″ thickness, I want to make sure my air gaps are at least 0.014″.
Layer thickness doesn’t just represent the height of the layer, it also represents the width of each path.Ī design rule that I’ve stuck with is to set the air gaps to at least double the layer thickness of your choice. This allows the final part to maintain its structural integrity while its components are fully mobile. Ideally, the air gaps need to be small enough to go unnoticed, yet large enough to fully clear the extrusion paths as the printer lays down layers. The holes on the ends of the leaves are just placeholders, as the main focus of this project is the pivot mechanism. Using a series of repeating reference planes, I cut out and extruded the interlocking knuckles, making sure to add an equal amount of negative space between both knuckles. I designed this hinge in SOLIDWORKS as one part file, separated into two bodies.
Negative Space Based on Layer Thickness and Part Resolution The methods shown for this hinge design can be applied to almost any mobile or dynamic component that you design.
Hinges are usually comprised of the knuckles (the hollow portion of the hinge in which the pin is set), the leaves (the parts of the hinge that extend laterally from the knuckles and come in contact with the external surface), and the pin (the rod that holds the leaves together by being set inside the knuckles), but we’ll design and print the hinge as only two components. Screenshot of a custom hinge design comprised of only two moving parts
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