The New Hotness

Being the domain expert for adapters between a new vacuum cleaner and old tools, this made sense (even though it’s not our vacuum):

Dirt Devil Nozzle Bushing - solid model — Dirt Devil Nozzle Bushing – solid model

The notch snaps into a Dirt Devil Power Stick vacuum cleaner and the tapered end fits a variety of old tools for other vacuum cleaners:

Dirt Devil Nozzle Bushing top view - solid model — Dirt Devil Nozzle Bushing top view – solid model

Having some experience breaking thin-walled adapters, these have reinforcement from a PVC tube:

Dirt Devil adapter - parts — Dirt Devil adapter – parts

A smear of epoxy around the interior holds the tube in place:

Dirt Devil adapters - assembled — Dirt Devil adapters – assembled

Building the critical dimensions with a 3D printed part simplified the project, because I could (and did!) tweak the OpenSCAD code to match the tapers to the tools. Turning four of those tubes from a chunk of PVC conduit, however, makes a story for another day.

The OpenSCAD source code as a GitHub Gist:

	// Dirt Devil nozzle adapter
	// Ed Nisley KE4ZNU 2021-10

	// Tool taper shift
	Finesse = -0.1; // [-0.5:0.1:0.5]

	// PVC pipe liner
	PipeOD = 28.5;

	/* [Hidden] */

	//- Extrusion parameters

	ThreadThick = 0.25;
	ThreadWidth = 0.40;

	HoleWindage = 0.2;

	function IntegerMultiple(Size,Unit) = Unit * ceil(Size / Unit);

	Protrusion = 0.1; // make holes end cleanly

	//———————-
	// Dimensions

	TAPER_MIN = 0;
	TAPER_MAX = 1;
	TAPER_LENGTH = 2;

	Socket = [36.0,37.0,40.0];

	LockringDia = 33.5;
	LockringWidth = 4.5;
	LockringOffset = 2.5;

	Tool = [Finesse,Finesse,0] + [30.0,31.1,30.0];

	AdapterOAL = Socket[TAPER_LENGTH] + Tool[TAPER_LENGTH];

	NumSides = 36;
	$fn = NumSides;

	//———————-
	// Useful routines

	module PolyCyl(Dia,Height,ForceSides=0) { // based on nophead's polyholes

	Sides = (ForceSides != 0) ? ForceSides : (ceil(Dia) + 2);

	FixDia = Dia / cos(180/Sides);

	cylinder(r=(FixDia + HoleWindage)/2,h=Height,$fn=Sides);

	}


	//——————-
	// Define it!

	module Adapter() {

	difference() {
	union() {
	difference() {
	cylinder(d1=Socket[TAPER_MIN],d2=Socket[TAPER_MAX],h=Socket[TAPER_LENGTH]);
	translate([0,0,LockringOffset])
	cylinder(d=2*Socket[TAPER_MAX],h=LockringWidth);
	}

	cylinder(d=LockringDia,h=Socket[TAPER_LENGTH]);
	translate([0,0,LockringOffset + 0.75*LockringWidth])
	cylinder(d1=LockringDia,d2=Socket[TAPER_MIN],h=0.25*LockringWidth);

	translate([0,0,Socket[TAPER_LENGTH]])
	cylinder(d1=Tool[TAPER_MAX],d2=Tool[TAPER_MIN],h=Tool[TAPER_LENGTH]);
	}
	translate([0,0,-Protrusion])
	PolyCyl(PipeOD,AdapterOAL + 2*Protrusion,NumSides);
	}

	}

	//———————-
	// Build it!

	Adapter();

view raw Dirt Devil Nozzle Bushing.scad hosted with ❤ by GitHub

The taper in the code almost certainly won’t fit whatever tool you have: measure thrice, print twice, and maybe fit once …

The New Hotness

Dirt Devil Vacuum Tool Adapters