3D printing a place to hang my backpack

Tuesday, January 11, 2022

Finally got around to getting myself a nice backpack for everyday use. Having spend some money on this nice new backpack, I don't want to just throw it on the ground when I get home from work. So, the only solution to that problem was to design, model, print, and hang a 3D printed holder for it.

A backpack handle being measured by a digital caliper — It's a bit crude, but it does the job. Probably going to paint the screws.

I started out by taking the relevant measurements using the digital calipers my parents got me for christmas. All of the measurements on the backpack itself was just to use as a guideline, and not the actual final measurements.

A handle on a backpack being measured using a caliper — Getting an approximate measurement of the handle width.

Then, I measured the dimensions of the screws I was going to use. I needed three measurements, so I could get the correct size for the countersink holes that would be a part of the design.

A screw diameter being measured with a caliper. — Measuring the diameter of the screw with the thread.

Measuring the diameter of the screw with the thread. — Measuring the head of the screw.

A screw head being measured with a caliper. — Measuring the height of the head, for the countersink.

With all the measurements, I was ready to jump into Autodesk Fusion 360. In the past, I have been using Tinkercad, but for more complex designs, and pretty much all other designs, Fusion 360 is way faster to work with, when you get to know the basics. I still only know a very small part of Fusion 360, but it's enough to get me around, and to hack up the designs I need.

I started out by making a sketch, looking at the design from the front. Added in the holes for the screws. Then, it was just a matter of extruding that sketch, adding another sketch onto the extruded face, and then designing the rest. I used the awesome Loft tool to make the countersink by connecting two sketches on different faces. For the ribs, I tried out the Rib tool, but after a bit of trial and error, I ended up just creating a 3D sketch and extruding it to the sides.

CAD sketch for a part of a backpack handle — This is the first sketch of the front. This is the plate that sits on the wall, with circles for the screwholes.

Extruded 3D model and sketch of a backpack handle — This shows the extruded first sketch. On top of the new face, I made another sketch where I drew the arch for the actual handle, and some support ribs.

3D CAD model of a backpack holder — This is the final design. Pretty simple, but sturdy.

When the design in Fusion 360 was done, I exported it as a .stl file and sliced it with PrusaSlicer. I used the 0.2mm quality setting with 80% infill and a brim.

Sliced 3D model for 3D printing — This is the handle, sliced up and ready to be printed.

The GCODE was copied to an SD card and the print was started on my Anycubic Vyper. I was going to print it in light grey, but the spool of light grey PLA that I have, is acting a bit up. I am having a hard time getting it to stick to the bed. So me being very impatient, I changed to my spool of black PLA that I have never had any issues with. And the print ended up pretty nice. It printed in a little over an hour.

3D printed backpack holder — Here is the final print. It's pretty good, and I don't have the patient to do anything further to it.

So, that's it. From unboxing the backpack, to hanging the handle on the wall, the whole process took me around 2-3 hours. Damn I love 3D printing. It's such a powerful tool to have at your disposal. I have used it many time now, to design small improvements to my apartment. More on that will come later.

Have a good one!