3D-Printed Screw-In Front Lenscaps

thingiverse

Human: Here's an incredibly fast and easy 3D-printable screw-in front lenscap design that's also set-up as a customizer application. A typical size lenscap only costs less than $0.15 worth of materials to make, yet they work exceptionally well and can even double as useful color references. An Instructable gives all the details: http://www.instructables.com/id/3D-Printed-Screw-In-Front-Lenscaps/ Note: A significantly improved version of this design is now available as http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1563812 Instructions The customizer parameters are well-commented, but please see the Instructable I wrote at http://www.instructables.com/id/3D-Printed-Screw-In-Front-Lenscaps/, especially about sizing the lenscap for best results. Creating STLs OpenSCAD file parameters can be easily adjusted using the Customizer or by manually editing the file, and they are pretty straightforward. You will need to have the Write.scad library in order to create labels using standalone OpenSCAD to make STL files. Filament Choice Choose a plastic that has a neutral color so you can use the lenscap as a color reference, such as Rosewill Grey PLA or T-Glase; White or Gray PLA is recommended. Printing Issues This design prints fast and straightforwardly, although it does have some tight precision constraints on thread diameter and pitch. You may want to print in PLA because it works better than ABS which doesn't hold dimensions as well over a large diameter, especially when you use 40% fill; it results less distortion of the parts while they cool. A typical filter screw thread has a 0.75mm pitch that's really too fine for printing on consumer-level printers but this uses an adjusted metric-compatible thread design which prints easily in PLA using my MakerGear M2 with 0.25mm extrusion and gives a more than sufficient hold of the cap in place despite being rather shallow.