3D Printable Micro SD Adapter

This is a instruction to make a 3D printable micro SD to SD adapter. Note that this may not be a solution for your lack of actual adapter since this project still needs lot to be done before it will work 99% of the time. So do this on your on responsibility only since wiring it wrong could cause damage to your micro SD card or your computer. But if done carefully, there should not be a problem.

Step 1: Print the Parts

The 3D printing files are found from here:
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:983001
Depending of the quality of your print, you may need to sand the pieces so they fit easily to the sd card slot. I printed mine with ultimaker 2 using PLA.

Step 2: Wiring

I used 0.2 mm enameled copper wire to make the contacts on the adapter. From the pictures you can see my technique to attache the wires. Connect the wires according to this image: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CVibVn3I85w/T_gQL2HT2RI/AAAAAAAAADY/YkTdbAXQuFo/s1600/SDpinout.jpg
I skipped the pin number 3 and made it later with pin 6 so the wire went from 3 to 6 and then to the micro SD port.

Step 3: Scraping

At this point it's good to check the wiring and cut off the excess parts of the wire off. then carefully with a knife or other tool scrape off the coating of copper wire.
At this point you may try to connect it to the computer or other device and slide the micro SD card in its slot. The device you are using should recognize the sd card normally. If not, you should check the wiring and the contact surfaces of your adapter.

Step 4: Cover

Then we add the cover on top of your adapter. Make sure that your cover fits nicely in its place. If not, trim it. Then add few drops of glue and attach it on its place. I'm not sure wich is the best glue for PLA so i just used normal liquid plastic glue. When the cover is on it's place, you may want to apply some weight on it.

Step 5: Finished

Now your memory card adapter is ready! Make sure that the cover piece glued on nicely and it stays on place(so it wont fall off and get suck inside your computer). To test your adapter slide the micro SD card on its slot and then the adapter to your computers SD card port. Your computer should recognize it normally and you should be able to access your files etc. Possible problems are probably due to the connection issues on the contact surfaces. You may want to scrape them a little bit more to make sure there is no coating on them.
Thank you for reading and please let me know if you made this and what kind of results did you get while using it.

Comments

[Lorddrake]

have you noticed any issue with the wire from 3 to 6 passing over 4 and 5 or does the enamel seem to be sufficient insulation to avoid any issues?

[Klaus Heissler]

One Question!Why such effort?With each micro SD card you buy, you get a free adapter!

[eprittinen]

Well, I made this project mostly just to see if it is possible. But the story behind this is that I was at the library 3D printing something and I heard a customer talk with the librarian. She wanted to print some photos from the micro sd she had but they didn't have the adapter at the library. So I tought that it would be cool if they could just print one! And I didn't have any other projects going on at the moment and I wanted to make something actually usefull.

[magkopian]

Awesome work, but it would be even more awesome if you also made a low profile microSD adapter!

[eprittinen]

I'm glad you like it:) This is actually the first time I hear about low profile SD. is it just shorter version of the regular sd or is there also other differents?

[magkopian]

The advantage of low profile micro SD adapters is that they shorter so they don't stick out the SD connector. They are very useful especially for projects with the classic Raspberry Pi Model B which only has an SD connector, in cases where space is very limited. Here you can see an example of such an adapter used in a Raspberry Pi Model B compared to a regular SD card.

Unfortunately, low profile micro SD adapters sometimes can very expensive compared to regular micro SD adapters and that's why if 3D printing them was possible it would be great.

[eprittinen]

okay, I'll see what I can do since my time is limited and I have a bunch of other projects going on:) You should note that this may not be the solution for you because it doesn't work falseproof all of the time. Ofcourse you can come up with a better solution for the wiring which will work better:)

[magkopian]

Actually I don't plan to make one myself (at least not in the near future), I just thought it would be a great addition to the work you already did, especially because this kind of adapters are usually expensive to buy. If you manage to make one at a cost the fraction of the price that others sell it, it would be very cool.

[Elecrow]

Great work. This is what maker does through there are some simillar products with low price.

[script_coded]

Smart and interesting technique!

[Jayesh Jayesh]

Really Awsome and usefull to.

[bman46]

Awesome instructable