Novice 3D printing enthusiast Joyce Lin has been teaching herself how to design 3D models and use her boyfriend’s 3D printer. Her latest creation is a 3D printed clip that can hold the hydration tube on the drinking section built into her hiking backpack.
The first time that she used her new daypack, Lin noticed that the drinking end of the tube tended to get rather dirty, apparently due to the dirty people surrounding her on the camping trip that she was enjoying. She decided that she needed some sort of a clip to hold the tube in place. So, when she returned home she headed to Solidworks to whip something up.
She used her boyfriend’s MakerBot Replicator 2 to print the clip that she designed, and some orange filament because she thought her design looked a bit like a duck. Unfortunately, while her first iteration sure looked pretty great, and even cute with its duck face, Lin said that, when she tried it on, the lack of gripping teeth on the clip flung it across the room. So, she had to go back to the drawing board. After a little more tinkering Lin printed out the Hydration Tube Clip 2.0 and it was a success!
Yes, she could have just used a bobby pin, or a rubber band, or a clothespin, but why not 3D print something if you can? Lin has posted several 3D printing projects to her blog, detailing her creation of a plug for the mysterious hole in her sink, a window casement clip, and she even created some cool 3D printed bird wineglass charms. What started as an attempt to learn how to use a 3D printer and, in the process, understand some of her boyfriend’s jargon, began turning into something else entirely.
They may be somewhat mundane 3D printing projects on her blog, but that’s kind of the point. Lin doesn’t consider herself a Maker – although, she totally is one now – but she’s still finding ways to work 3D printing into her life. She’s finding a problem, designing a solution, rapid prototyping it, then going back to the drawing board after learning from her mistakes. You really can’t ask for a better endorsement of 3D printing as a concept than watching someone discover how amazing it can be.
You can read Lin’s entire blog post about creating her clip here, and you can download the 3D printable file on Thingiverse.
