The Smell of Molten Projects in the Morning

Ed Nisley's Blog: Shop notes, electronics, firmware, machinery, 3D printing, laser cuttery, and curiosities. Contents: 100% human thinking, 0% AI slop.

The New Hotness

  • Tour Easy: Zzipper Fairing Lower Mount Plates

    Those plates handle the upper mount points, but the fairing also attaches to each side of the front fork. A nice rounded oval mates the fairing to the bracket, with two foam pads adapting the flat plates to the curved fairing surface. This view shows the outside of the fairing:

    Lower mount - front
    Lower mount – front

    The hole position requires a mirror-image pair of mounts that, mercifully, all fit on the build platform at once. The solid models look about like you’d expect:

    Lower Bushings
    Lower Bushings

    Those little tabs on the inside edge of the bracket recess printed about as poorly as you’d expect, but they’re not really critical.

    I printed a set of white plates for my bike, installed the new filament tensioner, and went full frontal Barbie for my favorite ladies. This view shows the inside of the fairing:

    Lower mount - rear
    Lower mount – rear

    Turns out my ladies don’t like pink any more than I do.

    The OpenSCAD source:

    // Clamp plates for Zzipper fairing on Tour Easy recumbents
    // Ed Nisley - KE4ZNU - Mar 2011
    
    // Build with...
    //	extrusion parameters matching the values below
    //	4 outer shells
    //	4 solid surfaces at top + bottom
    
    include </home/ed/Thing-O-Matic/lib/MCAD/units.scad>
    
    // Extrusion parameters for successful building
    
    ThreadWidth = 0.55;					// should match extrusion width
    ThreadZ = 0.33;						// should match extrusion thickness
    
    HoleWindage = ThreadWidth;			// enlarge hole dia by extrusion width
    
    // Plate dimensions
    
    Layer1X = 35;						// against fairing surface
    Layer1Y = 30;
    Layer1Z = 2*ThreadZ;
    
    HoleOffsetX = 5.0;					// will be sign-flipped as needed
    HoleOffsetY = -(Layer1Y/2 - 10.0);
    
    Layer2Margin = 1.5;					// uncovered edge
    Layer2X = Layer1X - 2*Layer2Margin;
    Layer2Y = Layer1Y - 2*Layer2Margin;
    Layer2Z = 3*ThreadZ;
    
    MountX = 16.3 + HoleWindage;		// front fork mounting plate
    MountHoleOffset = 13.0;				// Y end to hole center
    MountY = Layer1Y;
    MountZ = 4*ThreadZ;					// recess depth
    MountCap = 3.0;						// endcap arc height
    MountR = (pow(MountCap,2) + 0.25*pow(MountX,2)) / (2*MountCap);	// ... radius
    
    Layer3Margin = 1.5;
    Layer3X = Layer2X - 2*Layer3Margin;
    Layer3Y = Layer2Y - 2*Layer3Margin;
    Layer3Z = 3*ThreadZ;
    
    PlateZ = Layer1Z + Layer2Z + Layer3Z;
    
    HoleDia = 0.25 * inch;				// these are 1/4-20 bolt holes
    
    // Convenience settings
    
    BuildOffsetX = 3.0 + Layer1X/2;		// build X spacing between top & bottom plates
    BuildOffsetY = 3.0 + Layer1Y/2;		//	... Y
    
    Protrusion = 0.1;					// extend holes beyond surfaces for visibility
    
    //---------------
    // Create plate
    
    module Plate() {
    
      union() {
    	  translate([0,0,Layer1Z/2])
    		scale([Layer1X,Layer1Y,1]) cylinder(r=0.5,h=Layer1Z,$fn=32,center=true);
    	  translate([0,0,Layer1Z + Layer2Z/2])
    		  scale([Layer2X,Layer2Y,1]) cylinder(r=0.5,h=Layer2Z,$fn=32,center=true);
    	  translate([0,0,Layer1Z + Layer2Z + Layer3Z/2])
    		  scale([Layer3X,Layer3Y,1]) cylinder(r=0.5,h=Layer3Z,$fn=32,center=true);
      }
    
    }
    
    //---------------
    // Create hole
    
    module Hole(OffsetX,OffsetY) {
    
      translate([OffsetX,OffsetY,PlateZ/2])
    	cylinder(r=(HoleDia + HoleWindage)/2,
    			h=(PlateZ + 2*Protrusion),
    			center=true,$fn=10);
    
    }
    
    //---------------
    //-- Build the things...
    
    // Right side
    
    translate([BuildOffsetX,BuildOffsetY,0])
      difference() {
    	Plate();
    	Hole(HoleOffsetX,HoleOffsetY);
      }
    
    translate([BuildOffsetX,-BuildOffsetY,0])
      difference() {
    	  Plate();
    	  Hole(-HoleOffsetX,HoleOffsetY);
    	  translate([-HoleOffsetX,(HoleOffsetY - MountY/2 + MountHoleOffset),(PlateZ - MountZ/2 + Protrusion/2)])
    		intersection() {
    		  cube([MountX,MountY,(MountZ + Protrusion)],center=true);
    		  translate([0,(MountY/2 - MountR),0]) cylinder(r=MountR,h=(MountZ + Protrusion),center=true);
    		}
      }
    
    // Left side
    
    translate([-BuildOffsetX,BuildOffsetY,0])
      difference() {
    	Plate();
    	Hole(-HoleOffsetX,HoleOffsetY);
      }
    
    translate([-BuildOffsetX,-BuildOffsetY,0])
      difference() {
    	  Plate();
    	  Hole(HoleOffsetX,HoleOffsetY);
    	  translate([HoleOffsetX,(HoleOffsetY - MountY/2 + MountHoleOffset),(PlateZ - MountZ/2 + Protrusion/2)])
    		intersection() {
    		  cube([MountX,MountY,(MountZ + Protrusion)],center=true);
    		  translate([0,(MountY/2 - MountR),0]) cylinder(r=MountR,h=(MountZ + Protrusion),center=true);
    		}
      }