With everything going digital these days I started to think that current and future Engineering/Mechanical students are going to rely a lot on software to solve problems, it's happening now, I do it. When something new or something that we haven't done in a while in Engineering arises we always look for the easy/lazy way out, we either search the internet for an online calculator, software or look through the app store for a solution, but there's one thing missing, you can't touch it, feel it, assemble it, that's why I came up with, I believe, the first analogue Iphone app.
You get this baby printed, you get a sense of achievement because you assembled it, you spin those little 1.25 module gears and admire it in awe.
The gears are all embossed with the number of teeth so you can work out ratios, there are even and odd number of teeth gears just to make it that bit more challenging, it's a great visual to see what direction what gear is going in a gear train. You won't even have to turn on your phone and it still works.
Come up with your own funky colour combination.........see! the fun never stops! There's even a corney video
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iPhone 5 version can be found at http://www.shapeways.com/shops/saurus
Cheers! -Danny
You get this baby printed, you get a sense of achievement because you assembled it, you spin those little 1.25 module gears and admire it in awe.
The gears are all embossed with the number of teeth so you can work out ratios, there are even and odd number of teeth gears just to make it that bit more challenging, it's a great visual to see what direction what gear is going in a gear train. You won't even have to turn on your phone and it still works.
Come up with your own funky colour combination.........see! the fun never stops! There's even a corney video
***********************************************************************************************************************************************
iPhone 5 version can be found at http://www.shapeways.com/shops/saurus
Cheers! -Danny
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Cheers!
Would it be possible to redesign this such that a gear would be positioned over the camera lens? The gear you could manufacture for that spot could have multiple lenses which could change by just rotating the gears. Normal, zoomed, macro, and maybe blocked? I think it would be a really neat upgrade.
That's a great idea, I'll look into for V2 once I have a chance.
Cheers!
All votes appreciated :)
Excellent instructable. 5 stars!!
I'm glad you like it, yeah the phone does support the walls.
Cheers
mmm.....I see what you mean about the cutout, maybe if I can eliminate the bridging around the buttons and just have an open slot, would that be easier to print ?
Cheers
Danny
I'll upload a side cutout version soon. It'll be the same zip file but with two versions of the main body.
Cheers!
Thanks for the feedback, which area was thin ? I'm still waiting for mine for assessment.
The last photo above was from someone else that had printed it and said there were no issues and the Iphone fitted perfect, anyhow what ever has to be done I'll soon find out once I have one in hand.
Serious geek cred here.
Do you have any thoughts on layer height etc, necessary for a successful build?
Thanks!
I've just started getting into the 3d printing world so I wouldn't be much help on your layer height question, maybe the 3d printing forums would be a better place to ask the question.
Cheers.
Going to try tonight and see how it goes. Will post results on thingiverse if I manage to get it to work. I'm using defaults to start with, just for simplicity and we'll see how that goes.
-RG
Cheers ang good luck!
Not sure what to do with the gears yet, I may just stab in the dark on the various fill settings in skeinforge to see what happens.
Going to keep trying, if I get it to a good place I'll post a derivative on thingiverse.
They have two options for printing. I don't really know the English names so I used google translate.. :/
The first one is "powder coating print" and the second one is "FDM-plastic print".
Which one would you recommend?
Also, how do I change the colour of the gears?
And is this suitable for iPhone 4S or only the iPhone 4?
I apologize for my many questions and my bad English but I hope you can help me :)
Have a nice day and create more stuff like this, it's really nice! :)
FDM (Fused deposition modelling) is the most common method for 3d printers, I'm not sure what 'powder coating print' is maybe it's a misinterpretation by Google, there is a form of 3d printing which uses powdered plastic and forms up the part by binding (glueing) the powder together layer by layer this gives more detail and has a uniform surface finish but I think the part isn't as strong as FDM.
I'm still new to 3d printing myself maybe someone with more experience could chip in here, I'd say go for the FDM.
If you can post the links to the websites you found I could probably investigate further.
Cheers!
There are some other sites but this gave me some information about the printing :)
I see, the company offers FDM and powder layer printing, the powder layer method would look nicer not sure about the strength though.
Why don't you just send them the model that's zipped on this post and ask them what they would recommend at the same time ask for a quote.
Good luck and I hope your boyfriend likes it :)
The gears in stainless would be awsome but I'd leave the main body in plastic because it would be physically impossible to clip your phone in, also might interfere with the arial.
Stainless steel would be a bit weighty too, make sure you have your pockets reinforced ;)
Funny the gears don't meet Shapeways requirements, I thought being flat and fairly simple geometry it would of been a piece of cake to print....mmm.
Thanks Danny for your reply and links!
What a great fun case to wrap your iPhone in ! Which software do I need to open/read a ".STL" file ? And can your case be laser-cut ? What is the thickness of the cogs ?
I don't have a 3D printer yet, but I LOVE gears. And unfortunately, I don't have access to videos (even Youtube and Vimeo) so I can't see it working, but I guess it should be really fun !
Congratulations, man !
Cheers !
Jeff
You can open the files with http://meshlab.sourceforge.net/ it's a free mesh editing/optimising software.
The gears are 1.25mm (0.05") thick and could be laser cut, as for the main body you might have to slice it up to suit laser cutting then glue the pieces together and maybe you can use alternate rivets or screws to suit.
Cheers.
Maybe I'll stick the gears on the back of an old iPhone 4 case or I will arrange a special cradle as I did in my instructable a few months ago (http://www.instructables.com/id/iPhone-stand-great-professional-looking/)
Thanks again Danny.
What a great fun case to wrap your iPhone in !
Which software do I need to open/read a ".STL" file ? And can your case be laser-cut ? What is the thickness of the cogs ?
I don't have a 3D printer yet, but I LOVE gears.
And unfortunately, I don't have access to videos (even Youtube and Vimeo) so I can't see it working, but I guess it should be really fun !
Congratulations, man !
Cheers !
Jeff
What a great fun case to wrap your iPhone in !
Which software do I need to open/read a ".STL" file ? And can your case be laser-cut ? What is the thickness of the cogs ?
I don't have access to a 3D printer but I LOVE gears.
Unfortunately, I don't have access to videos (even Youtube or Vimeo...) so I can't see it working, but I guess it should be really fun !
Congratulations, man !
Cheers !
Jeff
Nice design. I have not even opened the files yet but thought this was really cool. I am going to check them out to see if i can cut them on my CNC machine with a 1/16th" bit. If not i may just enlarge everything and make it into a kinetic sculpture. Hey maybe if my bits are too big i could adapt it into an Ipad cover? ha!
This combines two of my favorite things in the world... My iPhone and mechanical, analog gears and gizmos.
This is a beautiful work of art!!
Cheers! I'mglad you like it.
If so, there does not appear to be a way of turning the gears once the Lexan is in place or do the photos just not show this?
@ newton.95.dan, RE: Screws, they're actually little press fit rivets and if they don't press fit then a little glue will help :)
Great funny gear to wrap an iPhone 4 in, man !
I am wondering what software an ".STL" extension file is related to ?
Do you think it is possible to laser-cut this case ? How thick are the gears ? I don't have access yet to a 3D printer and I LOVE gears so much...
I live in a country where we don't have access to videos (even Youtube, Vimeo...) :-( it's really annoying. So I can't see it working and can't see the mounting of it...
Cheers !
Sorry I couldn't help further, maybe the RepRap forums?
Not too long now!
Cheers!
Dizingof
Browse all my FREE designs for 3D printing:
thingiverse.com/Dizingof/things
I am continually amazed, and yes, belittled by many of the submissions presented via this site, Instructables.com.
My only hope is to submit acknowledgements of creations well done as well as submit worthwhile suggestions base on my education and experience.
No such suggestions required here save for running a Finite Element Analysis on your creation to reduce unnecessary material in the gear support ;) .
Three cheers!