# 3D printed for mudguards



## selin (Nov 20, 2009)

Hello, I have modeled some accessories for mounting curana mudguards on small on-one inbred frame and exotic fork.
You can see details and download the files at youmagine

rear bridge: https://www.youmagine.com/designs/mudguard-bridge-rear




























fork bridge : https://www.youmagine.com/designs/mudguard-bridge-front



















fitting parts : https://www.youmagine.com/designs/mudguard-fitting-parts-7-46














































If you have any suggestions, requests or questions I am at your disposal.


----------



## CWWalker (May 11, 2016)

Nice work!


----------



## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

I dunno what sort of material you're using (not familiar with the trade names of 3d printing materials), but I had bad luck with using 3d printed parts for a light mount. Crumbled due to the vibrations from riding rough pavement.

For lightweight stuff like computer mounts and whatnot, no problem. But when used for heavier applications, it's not the right choice. For some of your fender mounts, it's probably fine. But I suspect that some of those mounts won't last, especially the ones that see a lot of vibration.


----------



## selin (Nov 20, 2009)

@CWWalker. Thank you.
@ Harold. The material I used is PLA which is not the best material for outdoor conditions but for the time being it is the only one I have. It will probably not last for long. When this happens I will print them in a more durable material. There are plastics like ABS (think lego), PETG (like soda bottles) and nylon (not so stiff) that are very strong and durable. Also when designing a part for FDM printing, the direction of the layering must be taken into consideration.


----------



## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

Hm, I'm not sure which material was used for the light mount I bought.

This is the one I had:

https://www.shapeways.com/product/D...r-v-brake?optionId=59278726&li=more-from-shop

Looks like it used nylon. It moved when mounted, and so I tightened it. Still moved, so I tightened it. With the vibrations from the road, the mount just crumbled. I replaced it with a machined aluminum mount.


----------



## Vancbiker (May 25, 2005)

I have had a few instances where people have ordered one of my GoPro adapters to replace a printed one that broke. In each case the adapter had been printed from PLA or ABS.

Harold's was the only nylon part that I've been asked to make an alternate of. I think in his case the design of the printed part was poor. It relied on more clamping pressure to make a stable mount than the material could withstand. High clamping pressure coupled with vibration and a cantilevered load, it was doomed to fail.

A strong and accurate 3D print requires close control of many variables. I'm sure that some machines and facilities do a better job of controlling them than others. I'd not be surprised to find that the same material printed on different machines had significant differences in strength of the resulting part.

3D printing is a rapidly evolving and improving process. If I were a young person, I'd be looking into the field for opportunities.


----------



## selin (Nov 20, 2009)

Where exactly did it crumble? Where the base connected to the camera or to the fork? There is a comment in Shapeways from a customer who I think had the same problem. This probably means that there is an inherent fault in the design, as Vancbiker already mentioned . It would most likely fail even if it was injection molded. Nylon is a bit slippery kind of plastic and this part doesn't have the structure to prevent rotation. A serrated washer between the fork and the bracket like this






could prevent rotation. Also the spot where the bolt holds the base onto the fork looks weak compared to the rest of the part. Did you contact the designer to tell him your issues? It is a good idea to give feedback so he can improve his design.


----------



## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

I'm the one person who commented on the shapeways page. No response from the maker.

This is how it all set up on the bike. I don't have a pic of it broken. Not that one would show up well with the part being black.


DSCF2679 by Nate, on Flickr

I didn't have one of those serrated washers, which wouldn't have worked on my fork, anyway. My fork needs the type with one end as hemispherical (which I also didn't have and didn't think about at first, but I did get one eventually). But the knurling on those is less aggressive than the pic above. Basically, the part you clamp onto doesn't have enough good surface area for a bolt/washer to clamp onto to provide the pressure to hold it in place. It's recessed at the fork crown because of the surrounding structural support, and the hole is a slot so you can move it up or down. So even with a washer jammed in there, (absolutely necessary because the bolt head isn't enough), the pressure from the bolt isn't spread out over enough of the plastic of the mount. I was limited on the size of washer I could use because of the recess.

The same maker offers one without the recess that's supposedly compatible with caliper brakes. Maybe that one would have been better because I could have used a bigger washer. I dunno.

I had bought one of vancbiker's gopro light mounts (for my helmet, incidentally), and since I was using it in this application, I asked him to machine me a fork crown mount, which he did a great job with. Here's a pic with the aluminum mount. It's much better. For one, the light doesn't vibrate AT ALL when I'm on rough pavement.


DSCF2712 by Nate, on Flickr

I, too, feel like 3d printing is a really cool area with lots of rapid growth potential, especially when prototyping parts you intend to manufacture from a variety of materials later. But also with parts that have challenging shapes to make using other methods. You can get rapid fitment results, inexpensively. 3d metal printing is there, but I imagine equipment costs are MUCH higher, which is why we don't see so much of that on the 3d printing design house websites like shapeways.

The part you made that I think is the coolest is also the one I think will suffer from being a big piece of plastic, and it's that rear fender bridge. That's a very slick part. How reliable it is, I suppose depends on how much vibration it sees under typical use. But I could see the plastic moving more than you'd like and fatiguing. The ones you made that I think are probably better uses of the material are the fork leg clamps and that fork bridge, though I wonder if the fork bridge might want to slip on you being held on with zip ties. Any reason you didn't do bolt-on clamps for that part, also?


----------



## selin (Nov 20, 2009)

I cannot reassure that it will not break. I will report on that when/if it happens. It is under testing. The fact that I made it from PLA makes it vulnerable to external conditions. I strongly suggest the use of more suitable materials for outdoor use, like PETG or ABS (not so strong) or even better PC (expensive and tricky to print material). I am not sure about nylon because it is not so stiff. Unfortunately my budget is very limited and I have a very small collection of filaments. 

I took into consideration the big length, so the lower part is reinforced with a half cylinder shape that fades at the top. The part is considerably stable with only a bit of give. It was purposefully made long because I wanted to support the fender at the top. I had serious issues when I used the curana seat-stay bracket. A way too long piece of the fender was unsupported so it rattle to the point it hit the tire. Till now the part works exactly as it is supposed to. 

The front bridge is rock solid. I just stuck a small piece of "electrical" tape were it touches the fork blades and it doesn't slip at all. If this wasn't enough I would use double side tape or a small inner tube piece. I didn't use bolt on clamps -although I have designed a version with - for the following reasons. First and most important. The weakness of FDM printing is the delamination of the layers. I fiddle a lot with the orientation of the part on the printing bed to have durable print and use the least support material (see picture below). With the given orientation the clamps would be weak . Secondly, it is and it looks simpler and "lighter" in the eye. The one with the bolt-on clamps looks bulky. Thirdly, less material used. Generally I like simplicity. I hope I was clear, because my english isn't too good and I struggle with descriptions


----------



## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

You've put a lot of consideration into your parts. I appreciate that. It's very cool. I only wish everybody on shapeways did so. I know the site offers other materials, so I probably would have considered ordering the part with a different material if it was offered. Or if the maker asked me to send the broken part back so he could make some modifications to the design to prevent the sort of problem I had. Or something.

I'd like to see how these turn out for you long term. Whether you modify your original designs, or whether you decide to produce them in a material a little better suited for the use, or what.


----------

