This project consists in a series of 3D printed pieces to assembly a wool winder. It is based on a couple of existing projects and commercial products [1][2][3].
All the pieces are designed in order to ease the printing process. For example, supports are not needed for any of the pieces.
The whole structure was designed in OpenScad and
there is a lot of customizable parameters, like the gears size and angle, the
bearing and threading rod radius, the screw holes radius, etc. All these
parameters can be found at the header of the winder.scad.
The easiest way to generate all the pieces is by using the provided makefile.
After launching the make command, you should find all the*.stl files inside
the folder stl/. There is an "special" all.stl which contains all the pieces
spread in a plane. There is another make target, make images, to generate a
folder with two images for each piece, one normal preview render and another
cross-section render.
You can also open winder.scad with OpenScad, go to the end of the file,
select the assembly module you want to generate (the ones in capitals:
BIG_GEAR(), CRANK(), POLE(), etc), or generate the WINDER_SPREAD()
module, which contains all the pieces. When using this method, do not forget
to hit the render button before exporting the *.stl in order to get a full
resolution model.
The length of the threaded rod for the thread guide is calculated, based on the configured parameters, in order to put the guide at the same height of the spinning center of the spindle.
You can find this length using the following command: make guide_length, or
printed in the command window of OpenScad.
The only not printed pieces you need for the assembly are:
- threaded rod: 1 m should be more than enough
- nuts: 7
- bearings: 5
You can choose the dimensions you want (i.e. bearing diameter and rod metric)
and adjust them in the configuration parameters at the top of winder.scad.
The assembly is quite straightforward. If you take a look on the cross-section model into OpenScad (the WINDER_SPREAD() module) and see the sample video, you should have no problem building it by yourself.
If you perceive that the nuts unscrews with the vibrations, you may use self-locking nuts or apply a bit of nail polish to the screw to fix it.
- Add a counterweight
- Support timing belt based transmission
- Support double bearing shaft for the crank
This project is licensed under the GNU GPL 3.0 license
This project also use a slightly modified library made by GregFrost and
named Parametric Involute Bevel and Spur Gears for generating the bevel
gears. This library is licensed under
GNU LGPL 2.1,
you can find a copy of this license in LICENSE.gears.txt. You could find the
original file here: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3575
- [1]: Homemade wool winder: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJKxa9mhLuI&t=685s
- [2]: 3D printed wool winder: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:13816
- [3]: Commercial wool winder: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wf7lT6OYEQ0&t=69s