Hexagon Bone Wrench

thingiverse

This is just a quick test CAD model I decided to create today. I modeled it after the Bone Wrench we had at home. It was partially inspired by the OpenSCAD Logo/example001 file. There's probably a way to create this in OpenSCAD itself, but I'm not that mathematically inclined so I just did this one in SolidWorks. I like to use the OpenSCAD example001 file like a calibration cube because it looks cool. These first two models are probably in English units, so sorry for that - they're not metric. But a metric version could be made easily if you can figure out the ID of the hexagon edges. Bone Wrench 2 was also modeled in Solidworks as an assembly because it was easier to do that than as one solid piece. The weird thing with Solidworks assemblies and saving them to STL format is that often there are geometry issues with faces, and when going to print certain features will be missing from the item completely. In Cura this can often be fixed using your advanced settings and playing with the options for "fix horrible". In the long run it's just better to have a good STL file to begin with. The only way I know how to do this is to upload my files to 3dContentCentral and then redownload them in STL format. 3dContentCentral seems to fix it. I've provided a bad STL version of this so you can see for yourself. Just go into your slicer settings and click "layer view", and "x-ray view". If you see gaps and/or red faces these indicate printing problems. I also did a post about these issues on my blog awhile back. (https://keen101.wordpress.com/2015/11/20/fixing-mesh-issues-layer-gaps-in-3d-printing/) I haven't printed one of these yet, so I have no idea if the hexagon dimensions need to be adjusted so they print out so they can be used immediately with no modification. Most likely they do depending on your nozzle size. My 3D printer uses a .5mm nozzle diameter.