Jun 5, 2015 | By Simon
While 3D printer ownership and access to 3D printing is at an all-time high, the ability to create usable products that also look good is still just as challenging as it always has been - despite there being an increase in digital tools to help aid the process.
For this reason, projects that focus on multiple parts but remain simple assemblies are among the best ways to better learn how to get the most out a 3D printer and to learn how to create functional multi-part assemblies that ultimately are oftentimes much more useful. Among others, the 3D Printed Rotary Clock from Instructables user ‘NespLab’ (Matias Mamone) is one of the better starting points for those looking to learn more about creating functional objects with relatively simple assemblies.
While he admits that he is neither a designer or an engineer, Mamone certainly has a knack for creating moving systems - as evidenced by the multiple gears in his rotary clock design. All of the 3D printed parts within the assembly were designed with Autodesk’s 123D Design, which Mamone proclaims is a “very simple yet powerful tool”.
“As you can see, the clock has three rotors: the left one shows the hour, the middle and the right one show the minutes,” he says. “The entire mechanism is powered by one single stepper motor, hidden inside the little box on the left.”
Although the project can be accurately completed by a beginner with little-to-no 3D printing or electronics assembly experience, a little bit of experience and familiarity with the tools can go a long way. With that being said, Mamone has done an outstanding job of presenting the instructions in an easy-to-read, step-by-step manner for those who may not have previous experience.
As for what’s needed, the tools needed to make the 3D Printed Rotary Clock include:
- Access to a 3D printer
- something to cut metal - such as a rotary tool
- screwdrivers
- a computer
- soldering iron
In addition to the above tools, Mamone has outlined that the following parts are necessary for successfully completing the project:
- all the 3D printed parts
- a not-so-big stepper motor
- Arduino mini (or nano, or similar)
- one EasyDriver (or some stepper motor driver)
- an RTC (like the DS1307) if you want precision over long periods of time
- (at least) 280x6mm aluminum tube (7 inches, 6mm diameter)
- 14 M3x8mm screws
- 8 M3x10mm screws
- 22 bolts
- acrylic paint and paint brush (optional)
Once the tools and parts have been gathered, the process begins by 3D printing the parts, which Mamone has conveniently supplied directly on the Instructables page. For his own, Mamone 3D printed all of the parts using PLA filament using 230g PLA at a 10% to 15% infill with a .2mm layer height. Because of the design of the components, no support or raft layers are necessary.
Once the parts are printed and the metal pieces are cut, the majority of the rest of the project comes down to programming the Arduino and assembling all of the pieces together. Finally, all that’s needed is a simple adjustment of the rotary clock’s time based on your current timezone. Needless to say, if you can assemble this 3D Printed Rotary Clock, chances are you can 3D print and assemble most other 3D printing projects, too!
You can read the build instructions in-full by heading over to Mamones Instructables page for the project.
Posted in 3D Printing Applications
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