Geo (Metro/Tracker) Key Fob

thingiverse

This was inspired by Physics_Dude's 878900 keyfob design. I had to start from scratch, as I wanted a dual-sided design with no Chevy logo and mostly one-piece printing. To achieve this, I printed the key fob on its side, resulting in a single piece that required no support. I need to fine-tune my printer settings, but it came out decent enough. There are two inserts: looser or tighter fit. I had to print mine 0.75mm shorter on the Z-axis for the perfect fit. You may need to adjust your settings accordingly, and printing the insert only takes a minute or so. Key insertion is a tight fit, but that's a good thing. You might need to file inside the hole and fob a bit to smooth out insertion. I haven't tested whether I can still insert the key with this fob in place. I'll report back this weekend (my metro is at work as a backup for my electric car). Print Settings: * Printer Brand: MakerBot * Printer Model: MakerBot Replicator Mini * Rafts: No * Supports: No * Resolution: 0.1mm * Infill: 30% * Notes: I used Simplify3D with two top and bottom layers. For the next print, I'll do three. I had to underextrude with a 0.4mm x 0.65 multiplier to get a clean print at 100mics. However, for the insert, which I printed at 200mics, I reverted to normal settings. If your slicer "loses" some of the shell up front (it's very thin), just use a piece of same-color filament and a soldering iron to melt some plastic in place. Post-Printing: * Clean up any wisps inside the fob and run a meddle file through the slip and head bay to clean it up. * The outside should print very cleanly. Mine requires zero cleanup on the outside. * Insert the key, slide it into the insert, and use glue or heat to melt it into place. Done! Enjoy. How I Designed This: I downloaded Physics_Dude's 878900 thing and wanted a bit more. However, my modifications didn't work well, so I started over. I added a geo emblem on both sides with no Chevy logo and included my own test. Then, I modeled the key itself, found a nice line drawing, made it black, and used Simplify3D's 2D to 3D utility to extrude it. I adjusted the size, expanded it vertically by several inches, and "cut" my 2.3mm "key blank" from the middle clean section. It worked very nicely. I tweaked the dimensions to match my key. Next, I used this new STL file in Tinkercad as a cutting tool to make the fob fit perfectly and maximize shank length of the key (I had trouble going into my ignition far enough). Now it works perfectly. I love printing useful things!