- Joined
- May 3, 2020
- Messages
- 164
Here are some pictures of a handle I made for my knee mill. Unfortunately it came with no handle and is something of a unicorn, so the chances of finding one or getting an off the shelf replacement are non existent. It is a simple keyed shaft rather than the toothed style a Bridgeport etc would use. 20mm shaft diameter and 5mm key width.
Not wanting to spend a sickening amount of money on a crank handle from McMaster and then still have to figure out how to modify it to fit, I opted to draw this up in CAD and have a friend 3D print it for me. He works for a local university and has access to their 3D printers.
The handle is a $10 spinning handle off Amazon, I was able to print the threads for it and not need to do any cleanup or post print work to them. The handle bore did need a light touch with some sandpaper to provide a good slip fit. The print itself is PLA with a 50% infill. I also modified the print settings to increase the thickness of the exterior walls before switching to infill. I have not put it to a ton of use yet, but so far it feels very sturdy and ergonomic. The best part about 3D printing is that if I decide there is something about it that I don't care for, I can iterate on it for very cheap and produce a new version. One day I would love to have my own for things like this or shop tooling/fixturing.
Not wanting to spend a sickening amount of money on a crank handle from McMaster and then still have to figure out how to modify it to fit, I opted to draw this up in CAD and have a friend 3D print it for me. He works for a local university and has access to their 3D printers.
The handle is a $10 spinning handle off Amazon, I was able to print the threads for it and not need to do any cleanup or post print work to them. The handle bore did need a light touch with some sandpaper to provide a good slip fit. The print itself is PLA with a 50% infill. I also modified the print settings to increase the thickness of the exterior walls before switching to infill. I have not put it to a ton of use yet, but so far it feels very sturdy and ergonomic. The best part about 3D printing is that if I decide there is something about it that I don't care for, I can iterate on it for very cheap and produce a new version. One day I would love to have my own for things like this or shop tooling/fixturing.