Garden Cane Connector Ball - Universal

thingiverse

Simple plastic balls with six conical-section holes, arranged through the center and at right angles to each other, allow garden canes or sticks to be connected to make frames for peas or other climbing plants. The holes are a convex cone shape in section, tapering from 14mm down to about 6mm at the center, making any cane from 14mm to 6mm able to find a secure spot where it lodges inside the hole. This design is based on some commercially available ideas and is a modification of 'Garden Cane Corner' and 'Garden Cane Corner Middle,' as this one part can be used as either a corner or a middle connection. After researching, I couldn't find any existing patents for this kind of connector, so I believe it's okay to share this design. If you think I'm infringing someone's intellectual property rights, please let me know. This design was created quickly and dirty in TinkerCAD. It is available in the TinkerCAD Gallery here, along with a share link. The STL file is an export from TinkerCAD. One ball can be printed using the X3G file, which takes about an hour on our Makerbot Replicator 2. Soon, I'll upload a ready-made '6-up' or '8-up' print X3G and in .gcode as well. License: CC-BY-SA-NC-3.0 Print Settings: Printer Brand: MakerBot Printer: MakerBot Replicator 2 Rafts: Yes Supports: No Resolution: 0.2 Infill: 20% Notes: I found that these connectors work pretty well even with low amounts of infill and a low resolution. They are, after all, only going to be used in the garden. I was planning to make a series of ready-prepared X3G files, but Makerware on Linux is broken (again), so until Makerbot fixes it, I'm unable to do so right now. If I remember, I may do it on a Windows machine at our Local Hackspace. CCSS Overview and Background It's a universal connector that turns garden canes into frames for gardening. Lesson Plan and Activity This could be used in a school garden to teach both gardening skills and technology. Materials Needed 3D Printer Filament Garden Canes Soil Plants Skills Learned 3d printing gardening self-sufficiency permaculture