This post is going to focus on the 3D printing challenges I am facing, and the design decisions I’m making along the way. I’m realtively new to 3D printing and am learning blender as part of this project, so you may notice there are better ways of doing things. If you do, please drop a comment below as this feedback is incredibly useful. And will help me learn this monster of an application that much quicker.
If you haven’t done so already you can check out the previous part in the series here: 3D Printed Raspberry Pi Arcade Machine – Part 3
3D Printing Prototype Process
Were I a much better 3D modeller, I would perhaps not have to make so many prototype bits. However, when I try to do too much in one go, I find things don’t always pan out as planned. For instance, when I was reasonably content I had a usable Joystick panel, I added in some supports as I thought this would work standalone for the time being. Unfortunately, this did not work as intended because I hadn’t factored in the width of the walls for underside. As a result the joystick would not fit in. Also, the m3 screw holes at 3mm were too small.
After learning this lesson I’ve decided to print much smaller parts to test I have the right size bits. For instance, I printed a series of holes for the arcade buttons to work out which size works best. 30.5mm is the answer.
Test printed holes
Being as the printing aspects of 3D printing are so time consuming, getting the small details right on test prints really makes a difference.
Cura Settings
I use Ultimaker Cura to slice my 3D models – it’s pretty much the de facto standard. For the test prints I have the quality set to low, set the top and bottom layers to only print 2 layers and reduce the infill to 10%. This does result is less rigid prints, but saves a load of time waiting for items to finish up. Once all of the prototypes are ready to print finally, I will allow much more time for the printing, with potentially more layers and higher infill percentage.
Joystick and Screen Panel
I now have the Joystick, with buttons and fixings panels printed and tested along with screen panel. Here are some photos of these test prints:
3D Printing Arcade Cabinet Frame
I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about how I would bring the various 3D elements together. Initially, I had determined that I would export all as .STL files and import the objects into a new blender file which I could then use the lay the elements outs and then print the shell of the case in one go.
I’ve ultimately ditched this thought for now as each panel takes some finessing. So, what I’ve chosen to do is design a frame and fix the panels onto the frame. I’ll still need to work out how and where I am going to fit the Raspberry Pi and other internal gubbins, so building out an extendible frame feels like the right way to go about this.
Resolving design challenges in a modular fashion really works for me as trying to design and print something without seeing the component parts in the real world is currently beyond my capability. Maybe in the future, but for now I need to see what’s wrong and iterate.
Next Steps
I am in the process of finalising a frame for the screen and joystick panel to fix to. Here is the first attempt on the printer:
Having done this, I now realise one of the dimensions is a bit of and more support for the joystick panel is required. So, my next step is to adjust the 3D model in blender – inserting some holes to fix the screen and joystick panel to the frame and then bring these elements together.
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