Customizable (30:10mm) tape binder for sewing machine

thingiverse

This is my current achievement in my personal learning project called “3D-printable tape binder”. The binder works, but there are three problems/development targets to address: 1. Surface roughness: Unfortunately, there's still no way a home printer can print a binder that's ready for use right out of the box. There is stratification in the print, and the binder's surface needs to be smooth so fabric slides well. Therefore, the print must be finished with a file or sandpaper. In addition, the surface can be smoothed using a hot air blower (if heated too much, the tape will collapse). I haven't come up with better ideas for smoothing yet. Do you have any suggestions? 2. Assembly requirements: I've failed to design a binder that's 100% printable and can also be printed without support. In the current version, a wire (like a paper clip) is attached to the binder to guide the tape to the right width. The same concept could be implemented in different ways. Can you think of better approaches? 3. Attachment to the sewing machine: This is the smallest problem. My current idea is to have a plate attached to the machine (with screws if there are screw holes) to which the binder is attached using glue. The binder was designed with OpenScad, a free open-source program that requires some learning initially but has many benefits as a design tool. If you want to change something in the designs, you can do so by editing the code and changing parameters. If you're interested, go ahead and try!