3D Printed mortiser chisel caps.

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  • dbhost
    Slow and steady
    • Apr 2008
    • 9209
    • League City, Texas
    • Ryobi BT3100

    3D Printed mortiser chisel caps.

    So my shop setup has my air compressor tucked in a nook behind the mortiser, which is on a side cabinet attached to my miter saw cabinet, so they sort of make a funky L that the compressor lives in...

    A while back the cap for my 3/8" mortising chisel went away somewhere, most likely in the depths of the shop vac and in turn to the landfill. But every time I reach around to turn on or off the compressor, if I am at the just wrong angle, I manage to scratch my arm up. I got sick and tired of doing this so I decided to look into solving the problem.

    I figured if I was making one, I could make an entirely new set out of safety orange PLA so that it would be super easy to see should I drop one again, and avoid sucking it up in the shop vac...

    Anyway plenty of quality time with the calipers, Sketchup, the old 2017 version I despise the new online version, and some slicer software and we are good to go.

    I honestly need to learn FreeCAD as I really hate the new online Sketchup as everything I want to do with it is a high dollar subscription fee that doesn't make sense for hobby work... If I was doing this commercially, but if I was doing commercial work, I would use a different tool anyway...

    But I digress.

    A few hours of design, prototype, test fit, oops that didn't work, try again until it all does later and the results are actually pretty nice. Friction fit although the 1/4" chisel cap could use to be a couple hundredths of a mm smaller as the fit is good, not great, but it won't just slop off so meh...

    Anyway here in all its bright orange glory is my 3D printed mortising machine chisel safety caps.


    My print surface adhesion stinks on my cheap printer, so I use rafts when printing, makes a funny pattern on the down side...


    The 1/2 was right the first time out, the 3/8 took 3 tries to get the measurements right and a good fit, the 1/4 I am 6 prints into and it fits and won't fall off, but isn't a snug fit. I bet if I reduced the X and Y sizes by .05mm it would give me a tight friction fit.


    You can kind of see the belt guard to the compressor to the right of the chisel rack, boy do I need to clean that area up! BUT... these prints will keep me from gouging myself so win win I guess...

    Anyway I published the skp and stl files on thingiverse for anyone interested in making a set of these. They fit my Central Machinery chisels, and will probably fit other brands as the sizes should be more or less universal 1/4, 3/8 and 1/2"...

    If you'd like a set and can't print yourself let me know, we can work something out. I'm not looking to make money, but I am not looking to lose money either. Maybe just get me the shipping cost and I can kick a set over to you...

    I store my mortiser chisels on a wooden rack next to my mortiser, which I have to reach around to turn my air compressor on and off. The original cap for the 3/8 chisel went away years ago and I got sick and tired of scratching myself trying to turn the compressor on... These are sized for 1/4, 3/8, and 1/2 chisels for the old Central Machinery (Harbor Freight) mortising machine but I suspect would fit the chisels on any machine. The fit is friction tight although if I had fettled down the sides of the chisels they might be a touch sloppy. I printed them with Safety Orange PLA to make them more visible, that way if they fall off onto the floor I can find them easier...
    Attached Files
    Last edited by dbhost; 07-12-2022, 10:57 AM.
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  • atgcpaul
    Veteran Member
    • Aug 2003
    • 4055
    • Maryland
    • Grizzly 1023SLX

    #2
    That's a good idea. What kind of printer do you have and how long to print that trio in one run?

    Comment


    • dbhost

      dbhost
      commented
      Editing a comment
      Voxelab Aquila, It's the same machine as the Creality Ender 3, open source design and all. I've just had some issues with the build plate that are pretty common for glass build plates.

      I got it as a lightning deal but pretty sure they sell for under $200.00, it is Prime Day right now, and that printer is going for $159.99 https://amzn.to/3PnteG2 for anyone interested, and print time including the raft was something like 20 minutes for the one run of all 3.

      I've been knocking out all sorts of home organization doo dads, mounts for network gear to get them off of counters, wall mounts for Echo dots that sort of stuff.
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