Nano Reef LED Bracket - (cad + 3d Printer)

[RMc]

Hey, just found out that 3d printing for rapid prototyping is now widely available and fairly. This is awesome.

Onto the project. I have a Fluval EBI that I'd like to suspend a 20W LED over.

I'll be using a multichip driver like this:

Mounted on a socket 1555 heatsink: (overkill)

I designed a prototype in sketchup:

Unfortunately, because of its large size and volume the current quote is at $167. I'll have to find a way to slim it down, hollow it out, or piece it out for assembly. If anyone has suggestions for MFG cost reduction, lay them on me. I've never given this a shot before.

Thanks,
Rob

 

[RMc]

A quick Render:

 

[Sokretys]

That's gonna look sharp! Good luck on getting that cost down. I hope you can find a way to make it happen. Id love to see what that looks like

 

[RMc]

After few steps in weight reduction it's down to $118 and 85cubic centimeters of material

 

[RMc]

I've shaved off about as much as I'm comfortable with and the price is still $103.

 

[jarrodsanborn]

Very cool. What material is the printer using? If its plastic, some types are not as rigid and might buckle under the weight.
$100 seems pretty cheap.Gooseneck arms for par38s are $50+ and that requires no prototype
All in all, cool design though.

 

[RMc]

Looking into the least expensive printing material ($1.40 / Cubic c), you may be right.

The tensile strength is decent at 6900 PSI (about the same as PVC) but the Flexural modulus is low at 1.5GPA

Looking at a comparative list here http://www.matweb.com/reference/flexuralstrength.aspx

The printing material most closely resembles Polypropylene, and is most likely not well suited for this bracket. A buddy of mine does have a copy of solid works though, so I may run some models through design verification tests using the printer material's parameters. Hopefully there's still a way to design something that will work with this plastic. I'd really like to make this a DIY project that looks good.

I had to look all this up by the way. I learned that I have a lot to learn regarding materials science.

 

[jarrodsanborn]

the only reason why i asked, is many printers use the same plastic as legos. That plastic is great! ....except for its continuous load bearing weight is pretty low. Even a low # weight will weaken and bend it over time.

You obviously have researched this more than me, im just adding what i know