Jun 30, 2015 | By Alec
Us addicts of 21rst century manufacturing are on the forefront of what hopefully will be a 3D printing revolution, but even then it might not be so bad to look over our shoulders every now and then. For our predecessors have created some absolutely ingenious (and yet simple) solutions for basic problems that might come in handy every now and then. Especially when electricity stops working or water stops flowing for longer periods of time. What would we do then?
Well, as Canadian Texas-based engineer Kris Cleven illustrates, it might be a good idea to combine 3D printing technology with those outdated practices every now and then. Working in the oilfields by day and enjoying his 3D printing hobby at night, Cleven loves building simple little functional items and solutions. ‘I 3d print to pass the time and to give myself little challenges. I only like to print objects which have some function; Otherwise it is a waste of plastic,’ he tells us. Recently, he undertook a very useful project for people living in hurricane country.
‘I bought some larger water bottles for a tropical storm that was approaching in Houston,’ he explains. ‘Looking at the bottles I started to think about how to get the water out. I wondered if I could print an actual pump. After the storm which really turned out to be nothing I decided to see if I could make this pump happen.’ Now of course a hose or valve would also work just fine, but this project was supposed to be fun as well. What’s more, you’ll never know when an understanding of these mechanics might come in useful.
Now as you can see in the clip above, this little pump works perfectly and can even function as a tap for those large water containers. With a bit of streamlining, you’ve got yourself a 20th century (or earlier) tap in case of emergencies. As Cleven explained, design was also quite simple. ‘I first sketched the design on paper and came up with a concept. This saves time as I can then see what is possible or not. Then I put it to a model in solidworks and then improve the model to be printable,’ he says. All parts were 3D printed on an Ultimaker 2, with printing taking about five hours in total.
To 3D print one of these cool little pumps yourself, head over to Cleven’s Thingiverse page here. 3D printing Cleven’s parts itself is fairly straightforward, but you do need to marbles or balls (8 mm) to plug the holes and get the mechanics mocing, a well as a few O-rings and some tubing. The result is a fun little tool that works best with a high quality seal. Perfect for survival situations.
Posted in 3D Printing Applications
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