Garden rake with adjustable handle and ergonomic grip

thingiverse

My wife needed a small rake in the garden, so I designed and printed one for her use. I chose a 16mm diameter pipe commonly used in household tools as the handle bar, which came from a discarded item. The rake is reinforced by internal tubes in the fingers, and there's a tube for a 4mm diameter carbon fiber rod in the handle clamping part. This setup will work without the rod but will be less sturdy; however, you can use other materials for this application. Carbon fiber rods are readily available at local hobby shops. I believe placing carbon fiber rods into 3D printed parts is an excellent way to reinforce them. To print the rake, use HIPS or ABS with three perimeters and 25% or more infill. Supports aren't necessary in this case. For printing the linkage, use ABS in a horizontal position with the flat face on the plate. Print with three perimeters and 25% infill. Use supports everywhere; they can be easily removed from inside, and you don't have to worry about the quality of the supported surfaces - it won't be visible. The hole for the rod is elliptical rather than circular to compensate for the small deformation caused by bridging in a horizontal printing position. Printing in this orientation makes the parts much stronger in the longitudinal direction. I think layer adhesion may not be strong enough if you print in a vertical position, but you can try. In the linkage, you will need one M5 carriage bolt and an M5 nut for assembly. I used semi-flexible material for the grip, with minimal infill. The hole in the grip is 17mm to compensate for shrinkage. To assemble the parts, I applied thick CA glue to secure them on the pipe.