It Wasn’t Broke, But br3ttb Fixed It

I'm the new hotness.

One of the most popular prints on Thingiverse is Starno‘s Coin-Op Bottle Opener – it’s functional, beautiful, easy to print, and uses our 16th president’s head for operation. Of course, like the Lincoln monument, it takes up quite a bit of space.

That’s one of the reasons br3ttb‘s modification to the design is so ingenious. It’s smaller, doesn’t require as much plastic, and won’t challenge your rabbit’s foot for king of the keychain. While it does require a little bit of extra work to get it working, the payoff is worth it.

Of course, this all started with hoeken‘s original bottle opener, which makes for a great tale, and a great example of what Thingiverse is all about. We approve!

UPDATE: I've been unable to find a reliable way to protect the plastic with this design. If you're using PLA, keep reading; people have had good results. If you're printing with ABS however, I recommend using this updated design: thingiverse.com/thing:11025 The Coin-Op Bottle Opener ( thingiverse.com/thing:1842 ) is awesome on so many levels. No wonder it's often the first thing that gets printed on a new machine. It doesn't take long to see its weakness though: it's HUGE. This design keeps the same (strong, satisfying) jaw geometry, but puts it in a package that isn't a burden on your pants pocket. Also, because it's much smaller, it takes FAR less time to print. One drawback is that you need to man-handle a paper clip to keep the plastic from getting chewed up. On the plus side you get to call yourself "crafty." Also I removed most of the handle, so you may have to adjust your normal hand position. I find this opener works best with my thumb on top, index finger underneath. (I've left this as a "work in progress" for the time being. It has done well in my testing, but please let me know if something doesn't work for you)History: - Part gets submitted using a modified bottle cap as the protector. looks awesome (it's still the title thumbnail) - Thing gets featured. - Turns out the bottle cap protector doesn't work all that well. Embarrassing update posted. (good thing it's a "work in progress") - Furious design session yeilds improved paper clip design. (thanks go out to thingiverse users waaronw and jprodgers for their contributions to that process) - Made the part ~1mm wider (to help the fill around the hole) and added a little recess for the paperclip on the back side.
This thing brought to you by Thingiverse.com
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