Little Stuff Carousel -- Parametric Remix

thingiverse

Every now and then, you see an object and think "I gotta have that!" That's what I thought the instant I saw this thing: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:976826 The only downer for me was that the wheel was too large to fit on my printer bed. I also wanted fewer sectors so bins in my smaller wheel would hold more - then I started thinking about wheels with different numbers of sectors, and bins that form a flower shape for aesthetic and functional reasons (the petal tip is the handle). Clearly a job for openSCAD, something I need to practice anyway. Action Video, including full-speed air powered spin up: https://vid.me/jOJ4 Note that this script will generate only the wheels and bins. You will need to get the base from mat_neu27's posting, linked above. I discovered that using 5/16" nuts to weigh down the base fit a bit loosely in the 8mm holes, but a couple of drops of superglue fixed that problem. The wheels/bins are extremely flexible: you can configure them in any number of ways from two to infinity. As you get above ten bins it gets a bit crazy, though. Adjustable wheel radius to fit the limits of your build plate. Adjustable bin heights for maximum flexibility. Tweakable shapes for front faces. Nozzle size adjustment to ensure a nice fit. Use whatever diameter support rod you have on hand (you'll have to build your own base if you choose a central rod that is not 5/16" or 8mm diameter). You will need to use supports for the bins, but this allows the bins to extend beyond the wheel diameter which means even a small printer can make bins of usable size. You can either download the source and use openSCAD to make your own STLs, or you can click on the "open in customizer" button on the right hand column of this page. I suggest using openSCAD directly so you can zoom in on various parts to make sure you like them. The customizer shows a pretty zoomed out image of the parts and it is hard to see what's going on in the front corners of the bin. I have included the STL files that I used for the demo parts - all were printed on Lulzbot Mini with eSun ABS. This printer has a 0.5mm nozzle (if you use these demo STLs with a smaller nozzle, the fit might be loose). The file names are ridiculously long but contain info on the parameters used to generate those demo parts. Lastly I'm still new to openSCAD and I'd be glad to hear any criticisms that will help me improve my script - One issue I have is that in higher sector levels, when showing both the wheel and the bin, it exceeds openSCAD's ability to generate a preview although it compiles and exports just fine (using OpenSCAD 2012.05.26 on Debian Wheezy) - the downside is that compiling takes a way longer than previewing which makes tweaking settings hard.