Efferman's Custom Parts

[SaperPL]

Cool idea, I should probably try this. I assume this is along a big portion of the tooth? I've tried printing ball connector once and it snapped right away, so my assumption is you'd have to have it long to have some strength. Tolerances on this may be a pain, but at the same time this should hold it together properly.

[efferman]

This Profile uses the full length till the Radius in the back.  So it should be solid enough. Only the tolerance could be a problem

Edited April 25, 2021 by efferman

[efferman]

My idea better visualized. One panel is more or less 4 studs wide.

Edited April 26, 2021 by efferman

[vascolp]

10 hours ago, efferman said:

My idea better visualized. One panel is more or less 4 studs wide.

Cool! Will you put a tooth in the right side of the left part? Maybe one in the right and one in the middle?

[efferman]

17 minutes ago, vascolp said:

Cool! Will you put a tooth in the right side of the left part? Maybe one in the right and one in the middle?

Yes, but first the concept should be complete.  

[SaperPL]

One additional note from me - I would put all pin sockets at the back - hide them in some ribs maybe. If you do it this way and make curved back panels symmetric vertically, they could be reversible as well. This could enable more modularity as you could have attachment points on different angles as well.

Edited April 26, 2021 by SaperPL

[Mechbuilds]

On 4/22/2021 at 8:24 PM, efferman said:

done

By looking at the spring mountings, when the suspension is compressed, there is some flexing to the spring part which will damage the part over time.. 
Can a hinge be added and use smaller yellow springs instead? I might use these axles for a build.. 

Send me a PM if you figure out. Love the shape of the axles though. Very slim and not bulky at all. 


EDIT:
Also not a fan of mounting springs with an axle because axles always loosen when in use. 
Studs are better if you can find a place to mount them with it. 

Edited April 27, 2021 by Mechbuilds

[efferman]

3 hours ago, Mechbuilds said:

not bulky at all. 


A hinge ist possible, but the Axel ist moving only 1-2 mm Forward-backward. This ist in the Play of the Connections

[Bartybum]

12 hours ago, Mechbuilds said:

there is some flexing to the spring part which will damage the part over time..

The slack in Technic pieces should make up for that though. The near-horizontal angles of the links mean that sideways movements should be minimised to the point where they can effectively be ignored for something with a similar range of motion to the Zetros. For something like a rock crawler this would obviously need changes, though that's likely out of the scope of these axles.

Edited April 28, 2021 by Bartybum

[Mechbuilds]

12 hours ago, Bartybum said:

The slack in Technic pieces should make up for that though. The near-horizontal angles of the links mean that sideways movements should be minimised to the point where they can effectively be ignored for something with a similar range of motion to the Zetros. For something like a rock crawler this would obviously need changes, though that's likely out of the scope of these axles.

don't be so sure.. I'm trying to build a truck that's capable of rough offroad terrain.. I really like the shape of the axles efferman made. 

I just need the suspension setup to work... shame that a servo can't be thrown into the front axle but needs a steering shaft instead.. Doesn't help that it's only 1 stud spaced above the drive axle... 
I'd rather have the servo on the axle itself and just carve a hole for it in the chassis..

Man for the shape and size of these axles, they're quite sturdy. 

[efferman]

18 minutes ago, Mechbuilds said:

Man for the shape and size of these axles, they're quite sturdy. 

Thanks.

i dont know why the servo must sit on the axle, but ok

https://bricksafe.com/files/efferman/vehicle-axles/crawler axle.io

[SUPER Max Black]

Part modeling is an interesting thing.

[efferman]

finaly i found a few free hours.

 

smoothest fine detail plastic

[Milan]

Awesome axle, Effe!
In the next round, the same one, just non-powered.

[Void_S]

8 hours ago, Milan said:

Awesome axle, Effe!
In the next round, the same one, just non-powered.

For non-powered it would make sense to lower the upper "beam". I will make the axle more compact and simplify the suspension and frame geometry above the axle.

[efferman]

11 hours ago, Milan said:

In the next round, the same one, just non-powered.

With which goal?

[Gray Gear]

I like the design, but I am not a fan of the drive axle being off-center. Doesn't that cause problems with using 2 of those close together, like in a 6 wheeled truck? The 2nd axle usually gets powered by a a connetion to the diff of the 1st axle. But this does not really work if the drive axle is off-center, because the 2nd diff has to be on the opposite side. I hope you can understand what I mean.

[SaperPL]

19 hours ago, efferman said:

finaly i found a few free hours.

 

I wouldn't print the ball side of ball connector with 3d printer unless you have some strategy to reinforce during the print. The area between the base and the ball will be really brittle. Just make a pin socket in there where you can put the original moulded lego ball pin.

I'll drop my model here as I believe this may be interesting and also if people will want it for purchase you may handle this through your shapeways (feel free to use the model):

The files: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4860328

[efferman]

41 minutes ago, SaperPL said:

print the ball side

In sls Nylon it is Solid. A Home print needs surely a different Design.

Your diff ist a good idea. Much easier to assemble than my 2 wide diff.

@Gray Gear

on a possible 13 wide axle it needs to be offset, because the difflock needs the space. btw source

Edited May 16, 2021 by efferman

[SaperPL]

Making a small differential makes sense for builds that have small wheels or like you've shown when you want to place it inside such frame. I had the size issue with all my builds and had to use a rubber band as a washer in my crane to fit the diff...

What I don't like about your solution is that it's custom pieces, but it's open. If lego does custom gearing that's not interchange'able, they close them up inside the piece as we can see with pull back motor, buggy motor, planetary gear etc.

I really like how your axles look because they have the Technic aesthetic, it's "DNA", but that one diff you've made, it's completely different.

I've iterated on mine, it's not entirely finished as I'm not fully satisfied with latches since they are hard to detach depending on print quality, but the rest works properly:

Full gallery: https://imgur.com/a/5s4fLaJ

I think if you have SLS printer, you could try making it a print-in-place that is completely closed up, obviously after prototyping with separate prints first.

At this point I'm thinking whether my approach is actually useful - of course you can fit this in a frame, but why? It doesn't have clearance with 30.4 wheels, and with bigger ones you have more space. It also doesn't have clutching functionality obviously, so it's not about locking the differential.

[efferman]

i like your approach! probably the smalles solution with standard gears.

 

[SaperPL]

@efferman I'll spam once again in your topic as this is something that people are already asking about being made and sold and I don't really have time to do it:

I made some wheel rims that are 3D printable:

and then I made arms for perfect steering pivot on fixed or live axle:

Files for printing and studio files for testing are here: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4916659

Would be cool if you investigated this way of printing the wheels made in two pieces as well as the steering elements for perfect pivot.

I think there may be interest in this unless the new 2 stud wide tire takes over if it's easy to get.

[Glaysche]

On 12/19/2019 at 7:13 AM, efferman said:

Gears for three functions through Turntable.

https://www.shapeways.com/product/BGBRHWES5/three-functions-through-turntable

 

Is it possible to generate files for this part that can be imported into Stud.io?  I built my 6 degree of freedom robotic arm using this part and I am now building a Studio version of it so I can share the design.

[efferman]

4 hours ago, Glaysche said:

Is it possible to generate files for this part

I will generate .part files in the next days.

@SaperPL i guess your parts dont need a overhaul from my side.

[SaperPL]

11 minutes ago, efferman said:

@SaperPL i guess your parts dont need a overhaul from my side.

I still haven't perfected the axle socket - the tightness varies from filament to filament.

Apart from this, I already had people asking me where to order those, and like I said before, I'm not so keen on running a store and making those parts even through shapeways.