Modular Girder

thingiverse

I've been considering building a tower for my Ham Radio antennas, so why not take the next step and print one out? I came up with a modular system that can be used for towers and other projects as well. The blue models shown here are printed at 50% and take about four hours per module to complete. Once glued together, they're surprisingly strong. A photo is included of the tower lying on its side, spanning my desk sides, and bearing quite a bit of downward pressure without any issues. The "v2" module eliminates the cross beam entirely, making it unnecessary. In contrast, the original design requires supports, but version 2 does not need them at all. Verson 2 modules take just about twenty hours to print and stand about six inches tall, so with two months of steady printing, I should be able to assemble a thirty-foot tower for around sixty dollars. However, it's unclear how well this design would hold up under the weight of a rotor and yagi beam.