Tool for adjusting 3d printed window openings

[stitchdup]

I've been having a little trouble with the glass on some 3d printed bodies so today I made a tool to make it easier. All you need is a length of firm metal and a couple of bolts. I used the corner from my printer packing (i knew i would find a use for it, lol). I drilled a couple of holes in the metal then cut another smaller piece and drilled it as well. I ovaled the holes afterwards to fit more sizes of blade but my initial holes were 7mm apart to suit the blade i have. I'll be using this to scrape away the inner edges on printed bodies so the glass will fit better. doing it this way means the inside edge for the glass will be deeper so the glass can be cut bigger and make gaps on the edge a thing of the past. Because i have a flat edge where the blade points out, i also have a surface to measure to it from. If i do the glass this way i can get that 1970s style rubber with chrome mounts. To get this my plan is to scribe the outside body chrome a little deeper then foil as normal. If i make sure the foil also does the inside of the trim, i can then paint the edge i scraped black to give me the right look, and to do the outside i will be able to use panel line accent. I think this will give me the correct look. here's the tool i made and while its not a neat and tidy job it will do everything i need it to do

 

[Perspect Scale Modelworks]

Very interesting. Can we see pictures of the results?

[stitchdup]

a quick test to see if my theory works out, so far it looks promising. I dont have any panel liner just now so i haven't done it on this, just the foil and inner edge. This is just a test using the painted variant but i will be going over the inner edges again, both to neaten them and to make them a little deeper. You can see the inside edge of the glass is painted rubber black and the foil cover both sides of the trim. since i have a good smooth edge on the glass the black shows up as the glass sitting in the rubber channel.

I'll be redoing all the glass edges on this, and i'm confident i can fix them with out damaging the paint and because i made my tool adjustable,  I can alter the angle at the end so the scraper blade does not go too deep and keeps a consistent depth. note, this body was modified with normal hand tools, but it also gave me the idea to make a tool as keeping a consistent depth was a challenge

Edited March 11, 2024 by stitchdup

[NOBLNG]

I thought the title meant you were talking about a software “tool”.? Here is a trim scriber I made from sharpened and bent wire for deepening trim lines.

And later I modified the design for scraping recesses for windows on the inside of castings or styrene kits.

[stitchdup]

 

  On 3/11/2024 at 12:28 PM, NOBLNG said:

I thought the title meant you were talking about a software “tool”.? Here is a trim scriber I made from sharpened and bent wire for deepening trim lines.

And later I modified the design for scraping recesses for windows on the inside of castings or styrene kits.

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2 different ways to do the same job. I like your trim scriber, probably going to make a copy of it since all the trim i'll be using it on is the same size so your idea will work better than an ordinary scriber and be less likely to wander

[SfanGoch]

I'm an adherent to the K.I.S.S. principle. I use a dividing compass from the drafting set I've had since high school (50 years ago) to scribe window trim lines.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Different strokes for different strokers.

I favor a compass for starting scribed lines that I want to be parallel to something else, then my fav-o-rite Tamiya engraver/scribers to go the rest of the way.

And just needle and riffler files to "adjust" window or other openings.

Edited March 11, 2024 by Ace-Garageguy