Parametric Fenders for the LR3 now on Printables!

Cosmetics. Covering up the guts does make it look more like a product and less like a project.

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Out of curiosity, why so many braces on the left of the machine?

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I’m still a fan of the original colors…

and this will likely be what I would put on mine one day…if I ever have the time

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He did a series of brace like thingies to create a place for (I think) mains power, control board, etc.

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That where his control board, etc. is housed

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As Doug and Michael have said - they aren’t braces, they are just a dummy cover, I have the board and all wiring fully concealed in the beam. I have a (very) long and terribly distracted build thread HERE if you are interested.

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Here’s the current explanation text on Printables for comment/ critique or questions! I have to say it’s quite a relief to have actually got them out into the wild!

OVERVIEW

These fenders/covers were developed in the course of building my Lowrider3 CNC from V1Engineering.

They do not improve the operation of the Lowrider3 in any way, but if pretty is your thing perhaps you can convince yourself that they keep the dust and little fingers out of the moving parts.

The instructions below will possibly never be finished. I am yet to print the final clip version and will photograph the installation when I do - it only differs in small detail from the one I have operating in the photos.

I am happy to answer questions, make modifications and so on, and while I do check comments here and on the V1e Facebook group, the most efficient way to have your questions answered is to contact me via THIS THREAD at the V1e forum.

They are easy to print, no supports needed and I used PLA. Assembly is also not much more difficult than replacing a hub cap on a motor car, but there are some quirks which I will outline below.

INTRODUCTION

It all started as a bit of harmless fun that over the course of the year got just a little out of hand, here is my original concept from January 2023 perhaps some Enterprising person would like to adapt the current design :

My complete BUILD THREAD on the V1e forum is long and tedious, but one year later with a few sets of covers and clips in the bin, this is what I have in my shed.

PRINTING THE FENDERS

There are no real tricks to any of the parts - I’ve used “Hilbert Curve” bottom layers on the covers because that for me at least is a quite forgiving texture. The parts easily fit on a Prusa Mk3/4 build plate (250 x 210 build plate), no supports are needed.

I’ve used PLA, but I see no reason why any other filament couldn’t be used.

You can leave the little V1e logo cutout as is or print the infill piece and glue it from behind with a dab of super glue (as seen in the pictures above)

PRINTING THE SPACERS

The spacers are the only “Parametric” part - print in a thickness to suit your YZ plate thickness. The clips are designed to be 16mm from the inside surface of the plate, so if your plate is 16mm thick you don’t need a spacer.

To calculate the spacer size required simply subtract the thickness of your build plate from 16, i.e. if your plate is 12mm thick you will need a 4mm spacer.

I have provided a selection of spacers to fit common sizes. If you need something that’s not there it’s a simple matter of scaling the Z in your slicer to suit your required size.

PRINTING THE CLIPS

The detail of the clips included here has changed from the one I have tested, so until I have a chance to build and destroy a couple in testing, please take this as a sort of Beta print - it’s OK the big prints won’t change, and the clips are probably OK just not tested in their current form.

I prefer to use a minimum of four wall thicknesses and PLA - this gives a very (very!) stiff clip that sometimes takes a bit of effort to dislodge. Some may prefer to print them in PETG to give a softer spring, but I can’t vouch for their holding with a lot of vibration taking place. Thankfully they are simple to print and easy enough to replace.

ASSEMBLY

I will upload a sequence of assembly photographs in the near future - hopefully these notes are clear enough for the time being.

Cables

You won’t be able to use the cable tie holes built in to the standard parts, however if you tie them together neatly in a loom they will run logically and neatly. I have built a “cable tray” to secure them, which does a very neat job, but increases the fiddly nature of the task somewhat. I will upload that model once I am happy that it will work with thicker plate sizes.

Spacers

The spacers (blue in the above illustration) are used to adjust the clip offset to match the thickness of plate. Place them between the clip and the plate.

Clips

The holes in the clips line with the mounting holes in your linear rails. I have used longer M3 bolts and simply through bolted. This is a bit fiddly to do, is complete overkill, but you can be assured that everything aligns perfectly.

Alternatively there are a pair of 4.5mm holes in each spacer/clip so that you can screw fix them to the plate if you are using ply or MDF. If you do that, clip the top cover in place and locate it over the plate in position to accurately align the screw holes, drill, screw and repeat with the bottom cover in place.

The Fender Parts

These simply click into place, however like all simple things there is an easy way and a hard way. Best method is to hold the top and bottom together with the cable feeding through the exit and then work both of them onto the clips together.

A final bump to snap them into place should be all that is needed.

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Gotcha. Neat design. I’m printing a LR3 now, but I’m using the taller side plates for some extra Z. I don’t think they’ll fit without some re-working unfortunately.

I love these. Very nicely done!

Unfortunately, I have the taller plates also. I’m not sure my Fusion 360 skills are up to modifying it.

DK

I don’t “think” it would be difficult for me to modify, but I can’t/won’t build a new plate to test.
I haven’t been paying attention to the taller plates - are you using a standard design? If so could you link to it and I’ll see what the ramifications are.

If it’s just the top section ironically it’s probably the easiest for me to modify without affecting anything else.

I used Dan’s Tall YZ plates:

Gotta build 'em all! LR3 PLOG - #203 by jamiek.

Jamie has a parametric version too. But it my impression that the one for the 200mm rails is the most common (after actually, you know, building it to the original specs. :grinning:)

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OK - Dan’s plates look like this - I was right and wrong in terms of the ease of doing it! Every part does change, but because of the work I’ve done on the modelling over the last few weeks it has taken less than an hour to modify it to get to this and I could probably finish it in another I suspect.

I’d like to make the clips taller to take into account the taller rails. That just might cut out some vibration.

My biggest concern is that I have no way of testing it first - as long as your plates match the drawing it “should” be OK, but you (or one of you) would definitely be a crash test dummy on this if you want to go ahead! (Timing could be a little problematic this week but we’ll see.)


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Lol. But my plates dont quite look like that anymore.
TallLR3 YZ PlateV2.zip (5.2 KB)
The V2 was done for the 12mm acrylic plates. The biggest change was removing sharp corners from the periphery to reduce the chance of the acrylic cracking or chipping. There are also a new pair of mount holes which I used to mount my LCD, (they were only cut on one side.) I also put the holes for the Z rails to 2.5mm, so they could be tapped for M3 thread. Those are the changes that I remember.

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Ha! Therein lies my problem. I suspect that might mean I get a day off! :rofl: :rofl:

But of course I have drawn them in Onshape for anyone brave enough to want to de-construct my drawings and have a go themselves!

The offer still stands though if we have a consensus I’d be happy to do the mods if others want to do the testing.

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These fenders are really awesome!

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They really are!

I really can’t wait to see some more builds with them. I love the look.

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I am a little nervous I confess. I’m sure you know that you start to live with the little quirks but the outside world is merciless! :smiley:

I also really do like the way they finish off the machine - in real life they really do make it look like a bought one. I’ll try to be faster on the next iteration! :rofl: :rofl:

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Just tell them they are doing it wrong. :wink:

It is hard to share your work for sure, but 85% of the time it is super awesome.

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Well maybe we can get you an early look so you can plan ahead. When I get to that point.

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