Tiny Magnetic Bit Holder / Screwdriver
Intro: Tiny Magnetic Bit Holder / Screwdriver
While building the water cooling loop for my PC in a mATX I had little space to work with and had to tighten some screws in tight spaces. None of my screwdriver could really reach there, so I decided to design and 3D print my own bit-holders. To hold the bits as well as the screws I added some 10x2mm round magnets.
STEP 1: 3D Printing
I designed the screwdrivers to be as compact as possible while still having place for a magnet and good grip for tightening.
As material I choose PLA, while not being the strongest material for 3D printing, it is very stiff. Other materials like ABS or PETG create stronger parts, but are more flexible.
STEP 2: Putting Everything Together
After the 3D Print is finished I simply removed the support and pressed the magnets into place - no glue is needed.
The tolerances for the bit are very tight, so it might not fit on first try. I did this on purpose, so the bit wouldn't wiggle around. You could reprint and scale it up by 0.5% or use a trick, like I did: PLA already softens at ~60°C, so I heated a Bit with a lighter for a few seconds and then pressed it into the hexagonal hole. This slightly widened the opening and created a snug fit.
Of course those won't be as strong as metal screwdrivers, but for my purpose they worked just fine and allowed tightening in tight spaces other scredrivers could not reach.
Comments
oliboehm 4 years ago