3D Printed Bike for Toddler (walking Bike)
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3D Printed Bike for Toddler (walking Bike)
In this Instructable I show you how I made a 3D printed bike (frame) for my son.
I am new to 3D printing and was curious if it is really possible to print 'anything'. So I started with this bike.
It's really amazing to see your own design being printed in real life.
Supplies
The materials and tools I used for this project.
For the frame:
- 3D printer Creality Ender 3 * (affiliate link)
- PLA+ High temperature PLA
- Epoxy
- sanding paper
- Basic tools
For the rest of the bike:
- 2 wheels
- bike seat
- front fork
- steering wheel
Software:
- Blender free 3D modeling software
- Cura slicer for the 3D printer
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Check Out My Video!
In this video I show step by step how I made the 3D printed walking bike from scratch. I hope this video will give you inspiration or help to make a cool project yourself.
Along with the video I show you in the steps below how I dit it :-)
Drawing
I started with a sketch of what I had in mind.
Then I translated this sketch into a 3D model.
To make the model I used a free software called Blender.
I made the frame not too difficult because 3D modeling and printing is all new to me.
So everything pretty straight forward.
Preparing and Printing
I had to cut the frame into smaller pieces. This because the size of the frame is too big to print on my Ender 3.
I exported the files from Blender as .STL files and imported it into a software called Cura.
With this software you can prepare your file for the 3D printer.
I setup the printer for PLA+ and I didn't use any infill. But I did use supports.
I don't use infill because I will fill the frame with epoxy.
When I prepared all the files it was time to print.
The total printing time was about 80 hours and about 500 grams of PLA
Putting It Together.
When the pieces came out of the printer I was really relieved that everything went well.
- I sand the connections of the parts so they fit all nicely.
- Then I open up all the ends of the parts, so when I pour epoxy, it will flow trough the whole frame.
- I glue the frame together using epoxy.
Fill It Up With Epoxy
Now I drill a small hole in the bottom of the frame and fill the whole frame with epoxy.
So it will form a really strong connection.
I do this to lessen the printing time and to make the frame extra strong.
When the epoxy is dry, I sand the frame and give it a final coat with a red coloured epoxy.
This to make it extra durable.
Assemble
Now all left to do is assemble the bike and give it a go.
Done :-)
My baby boy really likes his new bike.
It's still a little bit big for him, because hes only 19 months old.
But this spring he can enjoy it in the bike park.
Thank you for checking out my Instructable :-)
Please also check out my youtube channel