On Saturday 7th August, SoMakeIt Member Lee came to the space with an interesting challenge. He had purchased a torch attachment for an Airsoft gun which he was using for a costuming project, but the large barrel of the torch meant that the gun no longer fitted in the supplied holster. So of course we decided that using 3D printing we could quickly make a replacement that fitted perfectly.
Autodesk123D Design was used to quickly make the 3D model. There are three screw holes on the original which allow the holster to be attached to the existing belt clip:
The model was prepared for 3D printing using Slic3r, and then the print was started on a Lulzbot AO-101 printer which belonged to another SoMakeIt member:
As the size was critical, we stopped the print after the first few layers to check that the gun and torch attachment would fit into the inner profile of the final piece:
The the print was set to run again, it took around two hours to complete:
The piece was printed in black ABS, the printer bed is PET sheet with ABS/Acetone ‘juice’ applied to help the piece stick:
Here’s the final piece with the gun inside – it fits almost perfectly although Lee is planning to a small amount of foam to help the gun seat in the holster:
