Clamp Upgrade (3d printed or cast)

Afternoon all. Unlike my usual wordy forum posts (example= Was about to sell the X-Carve... when ) I thought I’d keep this simple… Not simple like my uncle Ronald who dropped the x-controller on his head and has never done anything but whistle since. Just simple… as in brief. Brief like my marriage when I cut MDF on the dining table when I first bought the x-carve. Anyway, I’m off topic, like when…

Just joking…

So I’ve been doing great with the basic clamps I got with my x carve a billion years ago, but thought I’d upgrade the ones I have. I’m not the first, I’m not even the best (by a long shot) but I thought someone might find these useful. I have a few 3D printers so making them once I’d designed was easy. I designed them to cover two hole positions on the waste board for those that have the inventables one. I also did a range of thicknesses and have found that to be super helpful. I’ve been using double sided tape on the work piece and then locking the thing from any side to side or north south movement with these clamps and it’s been working great.

I’ve been using the 3D printed ones for a while, and haven’t had any strength issues (only printed them at 20% infill but they work great).

But then I decided to make a mold so I could make a bunch out of a much denser resin. That is printing now. I thought I’d share and ask if anyone would want the STL files, to make their own. Not pretending for one second these are hard to do, but someone might find them useful. I haven’t done any PCB milling, but I had a bunch of “P’s”, “C’s” and 3 “B’s” left over inside Fusion 360 and thought I’d use them up. Like the time I used my wife’s Le Cruset cast iron pan to mix resin…

I will have the mold printed by tonight, and the few clamps I’ve made so far are great… Here are the STLs:

1_2in mold.stl (604.6 KB) 1_2in.stl (112.1 KB) 1_4in.stl (84.3 KB) 1_5mmPCB.stl (168.1 KB) 5_8in.stl (142.9 KB)

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For those not wondering, the mold is used with silicone and then the reverse used to make the resin clamps. I also made the mold 3mm deeper so the resin pour doesn’t have to go to the top.

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Quick update…

Works great. Color is what it is… :slight_smile:

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Hey @MarkBreakspear,
What silicone and resin are you using for this? I don’t need clamps, but I like the process.
Also, do you think a Le Creuset Dutch oven would be ok for mixing the resin? :wink:
Thanks for sharing.

Hey Neil,

Sorry for the delay, I’m using the smoothon stuff. The Dragon Skin 10 NV for the silicone and the 327clear resin for the cast.

Mark

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