Sink Stopper Repair

by 3DPrintingEnthusiast in Workshop > Repair

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Sink Stopper Repair

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My grandparents have a sink that is very old. A small plastic piece from the stopper had broken off. Replacements didn't exist and a new sink would have cost way too much money. So I decided to design and print the replacement.

Supplies

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  • CAD Software (I used Fusion 360)
  • 3D Printer
  • 3D Printer Filament (something durable like PETG)
  • Calipers

Measuring

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First pull out you calipers and take some measurements. You can write them down on a sheet of paper or you can do it digitally.

Designing the Base Structure

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I started by basically stacking cylinders on top of each other.

  • Create a sketch on the bottom / xy plane
  • Draw a circle around the origin with the measured diameter from Step 1
  • Extrude the circle the measured amount from Step 1
  • Create another sketch on the top face of the cylinder just created
  • Draw a circle around the z axis with the next measured diameter from Step 1
  • Extrude this sketch the desired amount
  • Repeat until the base structure is done

Cutout to Allow Flexibility of the Part

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The injection molded piece had a hole to allow a portion of the part to flex in and out in order to open and close the sink-plug. I designed this cutout next:

  • Create a sketch on the front plane
  • Draw a point where the center of the cutout will be
  • Draw two perpendicular lines and make sure that they cross in the point you created
  • Draw a rhombus connecting these points
  • Do a symmetrical cut through the entire part

Details

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  • Add fillets near sharp corners for rigidity
  • (Optional) We will print the part on its side for optimum strength. This results in overhangs which need supports. You can cut off a portion of the cylinders (as seen in the picture) to make sure the part prints support-free

Slicing and Printing

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  • In your slicer, place the part on its side
  • Enable supports (not needed if you did the optional step in Step 4)
  • Slice and print

Making Changes

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If the part doesn’t fit make some changes using the "Press Pull" feature in Fusion 360.

(Optional) Sand the part smooth

Done

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You're done!