Clips for attaching plastic box to bike rack by eM5

When a friend of eM5′s needed help with finding a way to attach a plastic milk-crate style box to his daughter’s vintage bicycle, eM5 was more than happy to oblige.

I don’t know if this will be of any use to anyone else because it is so specific, but I thought it was an elegant solution and a perfect use for my Makerbot.

My friend asked me for suggestions on a wobbly installation he had done.  His daughter wanted a plastic storage box attached to the back rack of her vintage bike. As a college student in theater, she carries lots of materials back and forth on her bike, and a girlish basket she had just did not cut it.  My friend had attached the box with wire and was not happy with the results.

So I took some measurements and two versions later I had these clips.  They’re working well so far, and they look 100% better than the wire solution.

Okay, why the wacky subject line to the post, then?  The above plastic clips for attaching a plastic milk create to a vintage bicycle got me thinking, “Hey, you really could attach any thing to anything.”  If that is true, then all of sudden the world becomes a wacky mad libs kinda place.  “I went to the megaphone store and bought some lampshades.  But, when I got home, I found they didn’t fit!  So, I fired up my wooden robot printed a binder to dollhouse connector, and had a very smelly afternoon.

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Minimal Lenscap holder!

One of my favorite Thingiverse design evolutions this year has been the “Lens Cap Holder” thing.  Since kitlaan posted his original (parametric) design several months ago, we’ve seen a host of variations, up to and including the elegant solution seen here from Thingiverse user joo.

While it’s a simple design, this really shows the power of a parametric design.  There are alternate versions like this one, or individualized designs for particular cameras, straps, and bags.  You can see some of the variations here.  A favorite of mine, from user Crypto, incorporates a peace sign as a structural element.

Kudos to everybody involved in this vibrant Thingiverse thread!  We all look forward to more back-and-forth exchanges like this in the new year.

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Juice Box Weirdos by gwygonik

These “Juice Box Weirdos” by gwygonik (aka Gregg Wygonik) are one of my new all time favorite things on Thingiverse.  From the description of his inspiration, multiple variations on his own ideas – including some blanks so you can expand on them, with suggestions on how you could take his ideas even further, to the more full explanations in his own blog, this is what Thingiverse is about.  I don’t think we even have any juice boxes in my home, but I’m sure as heck going to go buy some now. ¹

Recently, while looking for how to best make a salsa-jar snow globe, I saw that a lot of people were turning juice boxes into boats and other cute objects by using stickers or paper. And I thought: “Wait a minute! What if I printed pieces for juice boxes? What if you could mix and match the pieces too?!”

I would be totally remiss if I didn’t mention Gregg’s blog detailing his adventures with his family and MakerBot 3D printer.  Gregg, if you’re reading this, I’ve followed you on Twitter and added your blog to my “must read” RSS feed.

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1. For, um, my kid. [↩]