8-Layer Gimbal

Last crawled date: 1 year, 10 months ago

If I had a 3d printer at home, I'd first want to print something fun that pushes the capabilities of the printer just a little. To that end, I came up with this.

This is a 8 layer gimbal. Each layer rotates on a track within another layer. Normally, people only design gimbals with 3 axes of rotation, allowing the center layer to be rotated to any angle relative to the outer layer. This model has 7 axes of rotation. Overkill? Yes. All edges have also been filleted to reduce stress concentrations.

I've uploaded the model in 6 different flavors. Each has a slightly different gap between the bearing surfaces of the layers. The gap ranges from 6 to 40 thousandths of an inch. The model with a 10 thousandths gap is recommended for printers such as an Objet, while the larger gap versions may be required to properly print on printers with less accuracy and resolution. Creative orienting of the model should allow this model to be printed with minimal and easily removed supports.

All of my renderings are of the 10 thousandths gap model. The last render is of the tougher 10 thousandths model. Let me know if you like this model. Also, let me know if you see any changes that you'd recommend making. I'd be happy to upload an improved version. Thanks!

*Update October 7
Added a stronger version with thicker rails. nestedBall10GapTougher.STL

**Update October 8
Reduced the number of images down to 4 to comply with contest rules.