Thinking outside the box-Manipulating filament

thingiverse

So I've been trying to break free from conventional thinking lately and come up with innovative solutions in 3D printing. Mainly hoping to stumble upon a brilliant idea or spark one. My latest experiment was creating a spring from unprinted filament using a tool that I 3D printed. I'm the first to admit that this is mechanically an impractical spring. I originally made a single filament spring out of PLA (in pink). This was very weak. Less than a pound of force. I then built a tool (ABS) that would receive a spring made of 2 pieces of twisted ABS filament. I hope this experiment inspires a use for this kind of process. The springs after forming hold very good form and return to their position when stretched or contracted. I'd love to see what kind of projects this idea inspires, please share. I will keep posting my experiments! Print Settings: Printer Brand: SeeMeCNC Printer: Rostock MAX Rafts: Doesn't Matter Supports: No Resolution: .2mm Infill: 30% Notes: These settings are for the tool which will form 1.75mm filament twisted. I built this from ABS but PLA will work just fine. Post-Printing: Forming the spring As seen in the pictures, I took two equally long pieces of filament (roughly 2.5 ft each). I chucked one end in my drill chuck very tight and held the other in pliers. I slowly twisted them keeping tension the whole time until I had a consistent tight spiral twist. I clipped off a few inches on each end. I poked one end in the starting hole on the guide and hand-wrapped the filament on the spring tool. Then slid the sleeve over the whole thing to capture the filament. Boiled for about 20-30 seconds and rinsed in cold water. Slid off the sleeve and clipped the end of the filament at the bend on the starting hole and pulled off.