Flush Hinge Addition - end plug

[blinkenmln]

I was just learning to use the hinge features, and love the flush hinge option. Would it be possible to also generate some kind of end plug (see pictures)? It would probably involve shortening the hinge pin a little to allow the end plug to get in there. My pictures don't show it, but it would be ideal for instance for the end plug to also match the contour or fillets of the box... my mock is just a cylinder that won't match the curved edge of the box base.

It might also involve change the geometry of the tear drop a right at the end into perhaps a square hole and putting a square peg (or some other shape) onto the end plug so that the hinge pin can still slide through a mostly teardrop shaped hole, but only the ends are square so that the end plug doesn't spin or rotate.

[henmedia]

@blinkenmln thanks for the idea and the pictures, that makes it easy to see. The lid tool and its flush hinge are from @marcus040473, so I'll leave this to him. @marcus040473 could you please have a look at this?

[marcus040473]

@blinkenmln @henmedia thanks for the idea! End plugs for the flush hinge are now in my test version: https://marcus040473.github.io/?editor=1

How to use them:

1. Hollow your box with the top open, select it and click Lid.
2. Tick Hinge, pick Flush, then tick End plugs (and Print the pin too if you like).
3. Click Make lid. The lid, the pin and two small square plugs lie beside the box.
4. Push the pin in first, then press a plug into each end.

All three of your points are in:

• The pin is shorter. The status bar tells you how long, e.g. 51 mm on a 60 mm box.
• Each plug's outer end is cut to the box itself, so it sits flush, rounded corners included. On a rounded box the hinge now runs right into the corners, so the plug ends in the round.
• The last 4 mm of the hole at each end are square, so a plug cannot turn. The pin still fits through the square.

The squares stand on a corner, so they print without supports, like the teardrop holes. The plugs sit as tight as the pin does in the box.

I will send a pull request to Stefan next. Let me know how it prints for you!

[henmedia]

@blinkenmln the end plugs from @marcus040473 are now merged into layerling and come with the next release. Thanks again for the idea and the clear pictures, the square ends and the plugs cut to the box's rounded corners came straight from them.

[henmedia]

@blinkenmln the end plugs are out in layerling 1.148.0: tick End plugs under a flush hinge, push the pin in first, then press the two plugs in.

[makinglayerschannel]

I'm in that editor now - to play with cylinder lids, but I'm not getting the same results without choosing end plugs. Yeah, I know, the fix is to add the end plugs. I think it would be nice to fix the non "end plugs" version. The regular version leaves a gap that just detracts from it.

Here it is closed, with the colors changed, so you can clearly see inside the box with the lid closed.

[henmedia]

@makinglayerschannel good point, and thanks for the picture. With end plugs the end knuckles run right into the rounded corners; without them the corner is cut round the hinge's axis, and that's the gap you see. @marcus040473 could the end knuckles fill the rounded corners without end plugs too? The pin's hole would then simply end in the corner's round face.

[makinglayerschannel]

Please don't take my comments negatively. It's just that the fix for end pins is so awesome that I'd like to see it in the normal version too.

[henmedia]

@makinglayerschannel not at all, I didn't take it negatively. It's a good catch, and your pictures made the gap easy to see.

[marcus040473]

@henmedia @makinglayerschannel thanks, good catch! Yes, the end knuckles now fill the rounded corners without end plugs too. It is in my test version: https://marcus040473.github.io/?editor=1

Without plugs, the corner used to be cut round the hinge's axis, and that left the notch you saw. Now the end knuckles run right into both corners, exactly as they do with end plugs, and the pin's teardrop hole simply ends in the corner's round face. Square boxes, and every box with end plugs, come out exactly as before.

The pin: a straight pin as long as the hole would poke out of the curve on the side towards the back. So the pin now ends half a millimetre inside where the hole is still whole all round. The status bar tells you how long, e.g. 55.5 mm on a 60 mm box with 6 mm corners, and Print the pin too makes it that long. If you use filament, cut it to that length and centre it in the hole.

The lid still opens past 110° without touching anything.

I will send a pull request to Stefan next. Let me know how it prints!

[henmedia]

@marcus040473 thanks, that was quick! @makinglayerschannel the end knuckles now fill the rounded corners without end plugs too: marcus's change is merged into layerling and comes with the next release.

[henmedia]

@makinglayerschannel the end knuckles now fill the rounded corners without end plugs too: it's out in layerling 1.149.0. The pin ends just short of the round, and the status bar says how long it is. Thanks again to @marcus040473 for building it so quickly.