Modular 3D printed floats

[Tobyone]

Started working on floats. Tested the Housing ,monitor and lights in fresh water. Weighted out perfectly. Have not had time(or access to deep water) to pressure these these floats.

They are designed to be sized as to what flotation is need. I have 63mm end caps(Yellow in photo) and 51mm center section.It would be easy to make them in any length and circumference.

Will get back after pressure test and may move this thread to proven parts if they work. 

[Dave_Hicks]

I got this working a few months ago, with 200x65x65mm floats that sandwich on to standard ULCS arms. I tried both PLA epoxy resin painted, and ABS with acetone smoothing to seal them. Both worked to 100 feet. However neither was superior to STIX jumbo floats from a dry weight vs buoyancy comparison and i worried about robustness.

 

I don't think it is possible to make these water tight to 100+ feet without secondary treatment (epoxy, acetone) unless you make them with so many walls that they weigh too much and loose some potential buoyancy. The Stix material is just better and fairly inexpensive. It was fun to build them though! 

 

On the other hand the custom  Nauticam port floats that i made for the 60mm and 87mm ports are working great after dozens of dives and trips around the world. I made these with PLA but plan to redo them with ABS to save weight.

 

Edited September 26 by Dave_Hicks

[Apneagraph]

That sounds really nice to me and 100 ft. would be enough for me.

@Dave_Hicks May you could share some print parameters for copy cats like me? (wall thickness e.g.) 🙂

I also want to print ones on my printer, at first I thought about PETG, but sealing by using acetone is a good point for using ABS instead.

[Dave_Hicks]

7 hours ago, Apneagraph said:

That sounds really nice to me and 100 ft. would be enough for me.

@Dave_Hicks May you could share some print parameters for copy cats like me? (wall thickness e.g.) 🙂

I also want to print ones on my printer, at first I thought about PETG, but sealing by using acetone is a good point for using ABS instead.

Are you asking about the port floats or ulcs arm floats? 

 

Parameters were very simple. Used a .4mm nozzle & .2mm layers, 4 walls, 8 top/bottom layers, and 8% grid infill. 

 

On my P1S I get super clean prints with ABS and it weighs less than pla or petg. Brushing with acetone seals it well, and a coat of epoxy resin protects it further. I had success with just the acetone but I think adding the epoxy will be more durable.

[Apneagraph]

13 hours ago, Dave_Hicks said:

Are you asking about the port floats or ulcs arm floats? 

Especially the arm floats 🙂

 

Ok thanks, I thought about printing complete arms including 1" balls, guess theres nothing else, just have to try it.

[Dave_Hicks]

I doubt you could print an arm that would be strong enough. You need an aluminum arm and ball at the center for sure. I just built around the ULCS arms i already have. 

 

As i mentioned, I just didn't find that a printed arm would be better than Stix floats, and not as robust. My arm floats had more buoyancy but weighed more, and were more fragile. Stix are cheap too, but that was never the point.

 

The port floats didn't have a better alternative, and seemed like a better solution than what could be purchased.

[CaolIla]

47 minutes ago, Dave_Hicks said:

I doubt you could print an arm that would be strong enough. You need an aluminum arm and ball at the center for sure. I just built around the ULCS arms i already have. 

Wrong.

I used self made arms since 8 years now. The only thing I did not print are the 1" ball

I use some backelite ball putted on short M8 aluminium stick to screw the ball on by arms

The first design was not the best but now I'm happy since 5 or 6 years with my arms. I build during past year a new model. The only one change is a small tube going through the arm. The fiberoptic cable go through it... 
I allready post some pictures on waterpixel

 

 

 

[Dave_Hicks]

8 hours ago, CaolIla said:

Wrong.

I used self made arms since 8 years now. The only thing I did not print are the 1" ball

I use some backelite ball putted on short M8 aluminium stick to screw the ball on by arms

The first design was not the best but now I'm happy since 5 or 6 years with my arms. I build during past year a new model. The only one change is a small tube going through the arm. The fiberoptic cable go through it... 
I allready post some pictures on waterpixel

 

 

 

Did you 3d print the aluminum?

 

That's my point. Printed plastic is not strong enough for a functional strobe arm. You didn't print the ball or arm. Printing the floatation is relatively easy.

[CaolIla]

3 hours ago, Dave_Hicks said:

Did you 3d print the aluminum?

I have  only a small part of alluminium on the top and an other on the bottom. The aluminium did go through the arm.

An old picture ... it's not my actual setup this was only a try (and it works i dove with a lot)

The last version is "better" smarter.

An important point I dive a lot "deep" 40 or a little bit more.
This setup was near 60 m deep..

Other point I have some heavy things at the end of the arms
 


Again old picture since 2 year or more I replaced the 2 S200 with 2 Retra Pro X

Some time, I put on one of the 2 free 1" ball an Insta360 

[CaolIla]

3 hours ago, Dave_Hicks said:

Printing the floatation is relatively easy.

Depending of what you want to reach... for me it's to dive without any trouble to 60 m. It's my limit i'm allowed to dive.