Printed Frame Separators

Current trike in Lorne during an Audax ride

Diagram of separators showing how they are kept in compression. 

Separators from Shapeways on my current trike.

Inside the frame are timber and tee-nuts.

The frame separators on the "40" bike were prototypes.  I hadn't worked out what was going on.

3d printed sample piece.  This had flat sections printed 1.6, 2, 2.4 and 2.8mm thick, and was designed to find out about the printer and how to avoid.....

this sort of thing: the printer makes hollow sections shown here with cross-hatch reinforcements.

Some replacement parts on the printer.

The 4 components making up the new spacers, shown with the finished part.  Inset: gluing the parts together.

Completed and on the frame.

 Hi, I have been using my home 3d printer to make some spacers which fit between the 2 halves of my recumbent trike frame.  This frame uses the same principle of gravity assistance used in my Velocino and separating Hercules bikes.  This mechanism has worked well in one of my frames, and the trike comes apart for when I take the trike on country trains and in the car.

Now I have a 3d printer and I wanted to try to make some frame separators at home.  With its current software, the printer won't print solid sections, and solids are needed for these parts as hollow parts would just crush.  So I worked out what maximum thicknesses I could print, then sliced up the spacer part into 4 pieces.  The H-shaped pieces were printed vertically and I didn't want to make them too tall, so I kept their height to 65mm, half the length of the previous parts from Shapeways over in the USA.  I think my home printed parts have fewer air-miles.

So the bits all fit together fine but the whole trike is not back on the road yet.  I aim to get this done by Thursday, and to ride into Uni on a finished trike on it.  Will report.

Regards

Steve (3d printed bike bits) Nurse