Bimini Top Insert

thingiverse

I've recently had a positive experience that I'd like to share with others. I lend my lake boat with a bimini top to someone (a mistake on my part), and the shade cover has some poorly designed connections that can become weak if any part comes loose while the user is not paying attention. The outcome was that the original part broke, and without replacing the whole support structure at great expense, I couldn't find a replacement. This experience motivated me to get a printer. With just a few minutes of work using a mic and solidworks, I came up with this design. I printed my top support at 50% infill for added strength. The fit is excellent, and I'll be testing its durability this weekend on the lake. If you need one of these designs, save yourself some time by downloading it here. This particular design is tailored to a .75in aluminum tube with an internal diameter of .73in, and it features a pin connection for a .25 bolt.