Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Iris Box v3


I did a major overhaul on the iris box and printed 100+ for Maker Faire NYC 2013.



The original iris box was derived from the Octopod moon pool but had various features I wasn't happy with. The walls printed very thick so the screws could be inserted from the bottom, the gear ring had bevels that made it tricky to print and the leaves were much thicker than they needed to be.


I set out to streamline the whole thing, make it easier to print and use less material.






I stuck with real screws since I have found printed pins snapped too easily.  By making the slot ring a separate piece, I was able to make the base walls much thinner.  Once the mechanism is assembled it's glued to the base.

If you have a 3D printer, make your own by visiting my Thingiverse page.  If not, I have some for sale on my Etsy store.