Icosahedron Printed Joints Generator

by AdrienR in Workshop > 3D Printing

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Icosahedron Printed Joints Generator

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This is a FreeCAD script for generating versatile joints to assemble tubes in a icosahedron shape. Enter the inside and outside tube diameter and run the script.

I made an example with aluminium tubes. As the result is quite rigid I will use it as a support for a small table but an icosahedron can be used in many different ways. Show me what you did in the comments!

Get the Parts

You need 30 tubes and 12 joints. I printed the joints and cut the tubes with a hacksaw at the same length (the length you want! It just has to be the same length). The tube I used were 9 cm length and had a 8 mm outside diameter (6 mm inside diameter).

Use freeCAD and the script to generate the suited joint for your tubes. I already wrote an instructables to explain how to use the scripts in FreeCAD here: https://www.instructables.com/id/Snow-Flake-Gener...

I had good results with a custom printing support. If you don't like it and want to make your own, just comment the corresponding lines (add # at the begging of the lines in the support section).

Assemble the Parts

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In the first three pictures I show how I clean the joins with only two cuts on each wall (still 120 cuts but it is not that long)

Then carefully assemble the tubes with the joints.