3d printed knob ends -- how to?

[marka 519]

Howdy,

I need an excuse to get a 3d printer.  And I use a funky triangular knob end to help my old man wrist deal with hockey forces.  Today said knob end is made by doing 15 wraps of 1.5" tape followed by 15 wraps of 1" tape, then covering the whole deal with VukGripz.  That's sorta a pain.  I think it would be nicer to be able to 3d print the underlying part of the knob end, then cover / hold it in place on the stick with a bit of tape & cover with VukGripz.

I know I'll have to model the knob end & slice it and whatever... My question for those of you that know something about 3d printing (I don't) is "what material should I use?"  A knob end that fractures off or can't take being whacked into the boards or whatever would suck.

Thanks!

Mark

[IPv6Freely 2084]

If its printed with enough infill, standard PLA should be just fine. 

[start_today 757]

 Can you post a pic of your “funky triangular knob?”

[Giltis 116]

22 minutes ago, start_today said:

 Can you post a pic of your “funky triangular knob?”

yeah show us a pic of your weird knob

[Stewie 721]

I’ve printed a few knobs for sticks, mostly out of photopolymers when I was working in that field, wish I’d printed a few in powderbed. 
 

im assuming you’d be looking to get a filament machine, and depending on how capable it is, I think you’d have better results for the knobs with something like PETG or ABS over PLA, as it would be more durable for the application. Another thing I would be concerned with when it comes to PLA is weak layer to layer adhesion, especially with what I am assuming your design would look like with several unsupported layers in overhang. 

[marka 519]

Howdy,

Check out my weird knob.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/e4e5hMW4zQoVKnt4A

(wait, we can upload photos now?  What is this, the future?)

The one on the left is the one I use now.  The one on the right is an earlier iteration, before I found VukGripz (from someone here, and its fucking awesome) which shows the layers of tape build up.

My thought is that I'd design it so that the end of the stick was inserted into the knob, with maybe a 1/4" or so cap/top.  That way most of the force would be in compression which seems like it would be stronger vs. just a plug type thing with the knob sticking way out and a bunch of leverage on it.  That means that I'd need to measure up the specific sticks I'd do it for because presumably wall thicknesses can vary, etc. but if I have a 3d printer, that doesn't seem like the end of the world.

I expect if I'm no longer constrained by "need to build it with tape", I can also smooth out the transitions, experiment with making it more of a spherical shape vs. a cone, etc.  The biggest thing I need to help my wrist seems to be just the overall diameter giving me a little more leverage on the stick.

Mark

[marka 519]

Howdy,

I guess, looking at that, its not really all that triangular any more.  An even earlier version had layers of 1.5", 1", and then .5" tape.

Still weird though!  🙂

Mark

[stick9 881]

Why not just wrap the end in adhesive backed foam to build the taper. It will be lighter then the mounds of tape and cheaper than a 3D printer.

Hell, you could wrap the entire grip in foam then tape over it...

[IPv6Freely 2084]

18 hours ago, marka said:

(wait, we can upload photos now?  What is this, the future?)

Members++ have been able to for like.. 3 years. :) 

5 hours ago, stick9 said:

cheaper than a 3D printer

But WAY less fun!

[helmet91 13]

The shape reminds me of the old Mylec (or was it Franklin?) butt caps for their street hockey sticks back in the 90s!  Just need to find some new-old-stock at a Play It Again somewhere!