The New Hotness

Having just emptied a propane tank while making bacon, I couldn’t find any of the wrench adapters I made to remove the QD adapter from the tank’s POL fitting. With memory of the broken garden valve wrench still fresh, I tweaked the solid model to include a trio of 1 mm music wire reinforcements:

Propane QD Adapter Tool - reinforced - Slic3r — Propane QD Adapter Tool – reinforced – Slic3r

Holes that small require clearing with a 1 mm drill, after which ramming the wires in place poses no problem:

Reinforced QD Adapter Tool - inserting wire — Reinforced QD Adapter Tool – inserting wire

Except for the one that got away:

Reinforced QD Adapter Tool - errant wire — Reinforced QD Adapter Tool – errant wire

The music wire came from a coil and each snippet required gentle straightening; perhaps that one wasn’t sufficiently bar-straight.

Anyhow, I printed two tools for that very reason:

Reinforced QD Adapter Tool - side view — Reinforced QD Adapter Tool – side view

They’re now where I can’t miss ’em the next time I need them, although that’s not where the previous ones reside.

The OpenSCAD source code as a GitHub Gist:

	// Propane tank QD connector adapter tool
	// Ed Nisley KE4ZNU November 2012
	// 2018-04-08 toss MCAD includes overboard
	// 2020-07-27 add reinforcing rods

	//- Extrusion parameters must match reality!
	// Print with about half a dozen perimeter threads and 50% infill

	ThreadThick = 0.25;
	ThreadWidth = 2.0 * ThreadThick;

	HoleWindage = 0.2;

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

	Protrusion = 0.1; // make holes end cleanly

	inch = 25.4;

	//———————-
	// Dimensions

	WrenchSize = (5/8) * inch; // across the flats
	WrenchThick = 10;

	NoseDia = 8.6;
	NoseLength = 9.0;

	LockDia = 12.5;
	LockRingLength = 1.0;
	LockTaperLength = 1.5;

	TriDia = 15.1;
	TriWide = 12.2; // from OD across center to triangle side
	TriOffset = TriWide – TriDia/2; // from center to triangle side
	TriLength = 9.8;

	NeckDia = TriDia;
	NeckLength = 4.0;

	RebarOD = 1.0; // music wire pin 1 mm = 39 mil
	RebarLength = WrenchThick + NeckLength + TriLength;

	//———————-
	// 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);
	}


	//——————-
	// Build it…

	$fn = 4*6;

	union() {

	translate([0,0,(WrenchThick + NeckLength + TriLength – LockTaperLength – LockRingLength + Protrusion)])
	cylinder(r1=NoseDia/2,r2=LockDia/2,h=LockTaperLength);

	translate([0,0,(WrenchThick + NeckLength + TriLength – LockRingLength)])
	cylinder(r=LockDia/2,h=LockRingLength);

	difference() {
	union() {

	translate([0,0,WrenchThick/2])
	cube([WrenchSize,WrenchSize,WrenchThick],center=true);

	cylinder(r=TriDia/2,h=(WrenchThick + NeckLength +TriLength));

	cylinder(r=NoseDia/2,h=(WrenchThick + NeckLength + TriLength + NoseLength));
	}

	for (a=[-1:1]) {
	rotate(a*120)
	translate([(TriOffset + WrenchSize/2),0,(WrenchThick + NeckLength + TriLength/2 + Protrusion/2)])
	cube([WrenchSize,WrenchSize,(TriLength + Protrusion)],center=true);
	}

	for (a=[-1:1]) {
	rotate(a*120 + 60)
	translate([NoseDia/2,0,-Protrusion])
	PolyCyl(RebarOD,RebarLength,6);
	}

	}
	}

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The New Hotness

Reinforced QD Propane Adapter Tool