Weekly tutorial: 3D-Printed springs?

By Savalio

Ever had projects stopped because you didn’t have springs? You’re in the right place! Here’s a guide on how to design a 3D printable spring.

Part 0: Files

Heres the Thangs 3D page with the STL I am using for this project.

Part 1: Design rules for these springs

Here’s an example of how to design these:

*  ****  ****  *
*  *  *  *  *  *
*  *  *  *  *  *
*  *  *  *  *  *
****  ****  ****

----------
Key:      |
* - .5 mm |
NOTE:     |
The coil  |
is 1 wall |
thick.    |

So, as you can see, it’s not very hard.
The only real requirement is to 3D print these 1 wall thick.
The actual lines can be any length and height.

You can try this in your own slicer when you will 3D print this coil later in this guide.

Generally, the wall thickness depends on the thickness of your nozzle. I was using a .4 mm nozzle, so I designed the walls as .5 mm, and printed as .625 mm. So if I had a .2 mm nozzle, I would design it as approximately .3 mm thick.

Part 2: Software prep

For this project I used:

SketchUp (free) - You can use any CAD software that you’re comfy with, but for this guide I will also explain the workflow for SketchUp.
Ultimaker Cura (free) - Again, you can use any slicer, but I will explain the workflow for Cura.

Part 3: Design

Step 1: Get a rectangle as wide as the thickness of the walls in your slicer

How do I do that in SketchUp?

First, get out this tool called “Rectangle” by searching the toolbox or typing “R” on your keyboard.

Then, make it any random length, and as wide as your walls are (as described in Part 2). After that, get the “Push/Pull” tool by searching for it in the toolbox or pressing “P”, select the rectangle you made and pull up until you feel like it’s good.

Step 2: Add a second rectangle to the first one, with the same width as the first, but shorter.

How do I do that?

From any edge, measure the double of the wall thickness of the first rectangle with the “Tape Measure” tool allocated to the “T” key, and draw the line from the little plus that appears after you measure (MAKE SURE IT’S ON THE FACE) with the “Line” tool on the “L” key,

then find the midpoint between the line and the edge, and draw the second line parallel to the first line. Erase the first line with the “Eraser” tool linked to the E button. Extrude from the segment you made with the line tool

Step 3: Add a third rectangle to the second one so that first and this rectangle would be parallel and equal to each other.

Step 4: Repeat a few more times until it looks something like this:

Part 4: Slicing

This part is fairly quick and should be a breeze. Make sure that you use appropriate settings for your printer and if you haven’t used the printer in awhile, I advise you to print a calibration print and calibrate before tackling this.

How to change the settings?

In Cura, click this:

You will see the “Recommended print settings” appear. Click “Show Custom” to find more versatile settings, and it will look like this:

Now feel free to change any settings you want.

Now, assuming everything is done, export your STL file into the slicer and slice the print. Then, save to the removable drive after you’re satisfied with the print time.

How to export file as STL in SketchUp?

First, click on the 3 parallel lines in your top left corner. Next, find and click “Download.” Then, click “STL”, and you should see your browser notify you about the download.

How do I import the STL file into Cura?

First, click on the folder icon. Then, choose the file you exported. After choosing, you will see your file appear as yellow. Any red areas indicate that it will print in the air. This is not a big deal if you’re printing overhangs or bridges, but if it was unintentional, make sure to either add supports or optimize your design.

Part 5: Printing

This might be the most frustrating part about this process, which is why I have quit 3D printing several times. So make sure the settings are right!

Now, insert the removable drive into the printer, select the file and hit print. Make sure to look for any potential flaws in the first layers and check in for once in awhile- is what I would say if this was a more than 20 min print.

You can just leave it alone while printing, it took me 9 minutes to print.

Part 6: Now what?

If you found this useful, great! If you can see some improvements, remix it on Thangs and share the link here in the comments. See ya next week!