Safety Cap for 11mm Xacto Hobby Knife

thingiverse

After viewing, downloading, and printing a few replacement caps for my wife's 11mm xacto knife, I ended up just designing my own from scratch to overcome what I saw as recurring shortcomings in what's already been created and uploaded. Main benefits of this cap compared to others: I designed this from scratch to print without supports. Many of the other models on this site have steep overhangs on the inside of the cap that require printing with supports - this one doesn't. Print vertical as pictured, no supports needed. Other features: the bottom 5mm of the inside of the cap is a little tighter than the upper section, which allows the cap a snug fit (afforded by the expansion joint). This cap is also designed to be as low-profile as possible so that the capped knife can fit inside the low profile drawers of popular arts/crafts supplies organizers. It's squared off on 4 sides to prevent rolling. The end is left open, intentionally, to prevent pressurizing the inside of the cap when being attached to the knife. Build Plate Adhesion: It will likely require a 10mm brim to keep the small parts fixed to the build plate while the print is getting going. The expansion joint at the bottom means that the print starts out as two very small pieces that have a tendency to pop off without any adhesion helpers. Also, when that expansion joint gets filled in at about the 12mm high mark, the contracting filament (as it cools) has a tendency to pull the two pieces together, which makes a brim even more important.