Author: heyharvs

Builds

LEGO Minifig Display Case

I previously built a minifig display case but it was big, heavy, and awkward. It also did not have a glass cover in the front and seemed to collect lots of dust, so I decided to redo it.

The Tools

Fusion 360 / Lightburn
60 watt CO2 laser
staple gun
drill (only for pilot holes)

The Materials

1/4 inch MDF
5x3mm circular neodymium magnets
plexiglass
support board
sawtooth picture frame mounts
epoxy
hot glue gun

The Build

LEGO Minifig 4x5 Display Case

1 file(s) 403.37 KB

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Shelves with engraved placement markings

I decided to make it 5 columns 4 rows of minifigs so 20 per display case. The Fusion360 design is totally parametric (I think) so I can easily adjust these to customize it.

There are 3 types of material used. 1/4 MDF for the frame and shelves, the white support board (like you get from cheap bookshelves), and plexiglass for the front cover.

M3 nuts and bolts to hold the frame together

I used bolts for the 4 corners of the frame. I did not want to use glue. Here you can see the notch that holds the M3 bolts.

I used neodymium magnets, 5x3mm circles, to hold the front glass together. The 1st and 3rd shelves have notches where I used epoxy to glue 4 magnets to the shelf. There are also 3mm holes cut in the plexiglass. It’s kind of weird, but works and I didn’t have to use any hinges.

I used a hot glue gun to mount the minifigs using the engraged indicators for perfect spacing!

After the first one was a success, I made 2 more. Still need another one!

I used 2 sawtooth picture frame mounts per display case to mount everything to the wall. All done!

Mistakes

probably could have designed the frame mounts in the other direction so the frame can sit flush on a flat surface

Updates

I created another size for my 4 larger minifigs. It really tested my parametric design, which didn’t do so well so I had to make updates.

Lego Display Case 2x2 for Larger Characters

1 file(s) 358.74 KB

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I noticed that my MDF was pretty fresh, so it was dry and also not as thick as I spec’d it out for. Also, I put the magnets in the middle, but since there is only 1 shelf, it’s a little wobbly. Going to add stoppers the top and bottom to make sure the glass sits straight.

Tags case, display, frame, Fusion360, laser, lego, magnet, mdf, mount, neodymium, plexiglass, wall

Builds

Giant LEGO Minifig Mount

Instead of a display case, I wanted to make a wall mount with lego pegs that my large LEGO minifig lights and clocks could sit in. They come in 2 different sizes.

Measured the buttons to fit into the minifig

Lego Flashlight Wall Mount

1 file(s) 93.67 KB

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Lego Clock Wall Mount

1 file(s) 91.37 KB

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STL for LEGO Clock Mount

1 file(s) 284.36 KB

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STL for LEGO Flashlight Mount

1 file(s) 284.65 KB

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Tags 3d, clock, lego, light, minifig, minifigure, mount, PLA, wall

Builds

Giant Creeper

Don’t waste old Amazon cardboard boxes! I used my CO2 laser to build parametric boxes with variables for height, width, and depth to recreate this finger jointed Minecraft creeper!

Here is a look at the creeper without the skin

These are the parametric boxes. The head is 8x8x8, the body is 12x8x4 and the feet are 8x6x4

Tags cardboard, co2, creeper, laser, minecraft

Builds In Progress

CO2 Laser Control Panel

I absolutely LOVE my Class 4 CO2 Laser cutter/engraver. But it definitely needs some improvements. I’ve added custom lighting, camera, and analog milliamp reader to it and needed a control panel to manage everything. I designed this as an inset panel that controls the AC lines (which are connected to a new UPS).

My 3d printer always prints a little larger. My designs need about 0.5-1mm tolerance for fittings so I printed out this flat plate to test the panel mounted switches and hole placements.

Tags Fusion360, laser, mount, panel, PLA, switch, usb

Builds

Picture Frame

Emma made me this beautiful ceramic heart for Valentines Day! I decided to make a lightbox style frame to hang it on the wall using slots and glue to keep everything secure.

I designed the frame in Fusion360. It was built with 3 different materials and thicknesses: plexiglass, MDF, and supportboard for the back. This is my first multi-part laser piece.

These settings work for me for 1/4 dry MDF. 60watts, 10mm/s, 40-50% power, 2 passes (roughly 13 milliamps). It’s just enough to see the burn through the bottom and pop the pieces out of MDF.

Pieces fit together perfectly. My laser hasn’t been calibrated yet so the cuts were slightly at an angle but for such small connections, it wasn’t an issue.

Added heart to the box, secured with hot glue gun

I added the piece to the frame. The light blue/white heart didn’t show to well with the white background.

And here is the final product! Might engrave something on the bottom right later just for fun, but for now it looks amazing.

Tags cardboard, frame, Fusion360, laser, lightbox, mdf, plexiglass

Builds

Squeeze Bottle Rack

In order to save counter space, I designed a rack in Fusion 360 to cut out 1/4 inch MDF rack. The rack is designed to be mounted to the side of a cabinet, and use double sided mounting tape (along with some physics) to securely hold the bottles in place.

Tags Fusion360, kitchen, laser, mdf, mount, rack

Builds

Yi Home Window Mount

Yi Home cameras are inexpensive, but you can’t use them outdoors. I built this 2 piece window mount (with SVG sticker for those who have a Cricut). This project was an exercise using Fusion 360 and threads, as well as practicing assembling components which is much like assembling parts in SolidWorks.

The Tools

3D printer
Cricut Maker
Fusion 360
Cricut Maker

The Materials

PLA filament
double sided mounting tape
vinyl adhesive
Yi Home Camera

The Design

In order for the Yi Home IR (night) lights to work, the camera must be completely touching the glass of the window you’re mounting it do. Since mounting tape comes in different thicknesses, I decided to make this 2 pieces with threads so that the depth could be adjusted.

Base of the Yi Home Mount

1 file(s) 1.36 MB

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Ring that holds Camera

1 file(s) 843.15 KB

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Fusion file for Camera Mount

1 file(s) 194.37 KB

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Sticker for Camera Mount

1 file(s) 3.55 KB

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Mount the base to a clean window with your choice of double sided mounting tape, insert the camera into the other piece, screw in the camera until you feel it press up against the glass. If you leave a gap, you will see the reflection of the infrared lights.

Here is the final 2 piece product mounted to the window. It works great! The threads are really tight, and had to do some light sanding and screw and unscrew many many times to wear down the edge a bit.

Tags camera, Fusion360, mount, window, yi, yi home

Builds

Triathlon Bike Phone Mount

I spend hours and hours on my bike. I needed an aerodynamic custom phone mount designed specifically for my phone/bike setup. This is my first multi-part assembly in Solidworks. So satisfying!

Before I begin, let’s stop and take a look at this beautiful bike. It’s not as high end as some of the $15k+ bikes out there, but it’s gotten me through many Ironman races.

The Tools

3D printer
digital caliper

The Materials

M2 screws and nuts of varying length
PLA filament

The Design

I measured the diameter of my aero bars and also the distance between the stem where it would be mounted. I decided on a 3 part assembly to make it easier to print. The pieces of the assembly where designed to be held together with M2 screws/bolts.

Top Phone Holder

1 file(s) 361.87 KB

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Top of the Mount

1 file(s) 218.28 KB

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Bottom Pieces

1 file(s) 211.78 KB

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The Build

Always used variable names in Solidworks, but also give them meaningful names so you don’t end up using the wrong measurement for the mount gap width here to account for the stem.

After re-printing the design, I pushed in the hex nuts into the slots I designed and screwed bottom mount together. The 3D printer needs a good amount of tolerance for a good fit. I used 2mm for these M2 screws but the fitting was too tight.

Tags assembly, ironman, mount, phone, PLA, triathlon

Builds

Bathroom Sign

Why create a bathroom sign in your own home? Why not! This project was super fun because I got to play with heat guns, resin, and multi-colored prints!

The Tools

3d printer
heat gun
disposable gloves

The Materials

green and white PLA filament
2 part epoxy resin

The Build

The most interesting thing about this build was the resin coating. There are a few things to learn here. First, resin is nasty, smelly, and sticky so wear gloves. Also, 2 part resin mixed together ends up with tons of bubbles. You remove them by pouring the resin from really high up, but also using a heat gun or torch to pop the bubbles. This only works if the layer is thin — if you are pouring a thick layer of resin, then you need a degassing chamber to vacuum all the bubbles out.

The second interesting thing about this is the dual color extrusion. I do not have a dual color print so I had to modify the G-Code to “pause” the print at the right height so I could swap out the green filament for white. This is done with Cura3D.

Tags dual color print, heat gun, resin, sign

Builds

Marshmello Helmet

Every project is cooler with LEDs. I made this neo-pixel and Arduino powered helmet with both battery or 5V plug in power.

Tags 3d, arduino, led, PLA