4 ID Card Hinged RSA Holder

thingiverse

This was a long time in development. I tried a bunch of different model designs and print methods/settings, and (considering that I am a novice modeler/printer) I think it came out very well. Here are the big notes from my learning experience as I experimented with the design and print. These are just my thoughts and advice, but someone with more experience or a different print setup might want to try something different. I have included an image of my Cura settings so that you can see what I used for my most successful runs. - Print the model standing vertically, in the configuration I have it in the .stl. I tried laying it flat and, while it worked ok, I had trouble removing supports from behind the little tabs. I also tried printing it upside down (RSA at the bottom) and that also worked ok, but the benefit of no supports under the finger wells didn't seem to offset the need for all the additional supports needed for that configuration. - Use standard quality (at least 0.2 layer height). Any finer resolution makes the supports very difficult to remove...at least for me. - IMPORTANT: Set your support wall count to zero. This will make it much, much easier to remove the supports without breaking anything. It took me a few tries to learn this trick. - This is intended to be worn with the non-RSA panel toward your body (so that the RSA is upside down). That way, you can hold it up and read it in the correct orientation. It will also keep the panels from flapping open if your latch fails for some reason. - I left the latch a little bit tight. Depending on your printer capability and your individual settings, you may find that it is TOO tight. Shave down the male side and/or the lip on the female side with an Exacto knife until you get the fit you want. - If your hinges are stuck, use the Exacto to make a shallow cut into the little gaps around the hinges and then CAREFULLY work the hinges back and forth until they break free. They are built just like your door hinges, with a barrel inside, and you don't want to cut into it or break the barrel from the supports. If the hinge doesn't loosen with a LITTLE pressure, work the knife around again. Gently flex the sides to work the hinges again. Once loose, you can work it a number of times and they will smooth right out. It is a bit of a tricky print (maybe do a bed level and PID test, if you haven't done one in a while); be careful and patient when removing supports and good luck! Please do not market or sell this item. It's meant to be free for whomever can make use of it. My designing and printing is a hobby, not a hustle. If you have any issues or suggestions, please leave a comment, and I will try to respond if I can.