How To: 3D Print Customized Wall Mounts

Across the workplace, Nerf blasters are liked and carefully guarded. Impromptu skirmishes are an everyday prevalence and arms races are alive and effectively. You will have the very best blaster that Nerf has, however give it a pair months and Nerf has one thing even greater and badder than earlier than. On this battlefield, I must be on the able to strike again or strike first. With the assistance of some 3D modeling and 3D printing, I’ve mounted my blasters each above and hidden below my desk – it was very easy to design and assemble these mounts. Let’s put together for struggle and develop some mounts on your arsenal. This course of will work with any merchandise that you simply’d prefer to see displayed in your wall, or, you recognize, hidden discreetly below your desk. 

Step 1: Establish the Goal – What Do You Need To Mount

Normally, any “gun rack” or mount goes to be a primary hook sufficiently big to suit any blaster, which works, but it surely’s boring. To take advantage of safe match mount, particularly in the event you’re mounting a blaster with 4 D batteries in it above your PC like I did, it’s worthwhile to make a customized becoming to carefully maintain the contours of the blaster. One among our Product Affiliate’s, Matt, has a Sledgefire Nerf that didn’t have a mount, so I’m going to design one for his blaster.

Step 2: Reconnaissance – Establish the Greatest Place for Your Mounts to Grip

It is advisable determine the place could be the very best place for the mounts to grip. Within the case of the Sledgefire, I do know that some individuals like to go away the inventory unattached (Matt), whereas others hold it customary with the inventory put in (different Matt). Understanding that, I need the mounts to grip in the identical place on each so it’s a regular mount. For earlier mounts I’ve used a set of calipers to measure and carefully estimate how large and the way lengthy the options of the blaster is. This works pretty effectively, however I’ll admit there are in all probability higher methods to do it. You possibly can in all probability use a contour gauge, however I understand how to make use of my useful calipers, in order that’s what I’m going to indicate you.

Step 3: Develop a Plan – Measure and Sketch Your Object

I figured the very best place to hint for the mount is below the barrel and under the set off guard, so I took the mandatory measurements and transferred them onto some notepads round a really exaggerated sketch so I had an thought of what the ultimate form ought to form of appear to be.

Step 4: Start Modelling – Match the Mount to Your Object

Below the barrel, it has a fancy cross-section, so I’ll mannequin the holder into that form, however the grip of the blaster has a easy cross-section. I may make it a holder that’s completely sq., however the place’s the enjoyable in that? I took some extra measurements throughout the assorted edges of the blaster to get sufficient reference factors to form it in Solidworks.

Step 5: Take a look at Match and Iterate Your Design

For the primary iteration, I made it with none clearance so it suits the blaster as carefully as it may well. As an alternative of printing the complete holder and discovering out it doesn’t match, I solely printed sufficient to see the place I have to trim or broaden contours. Every of those was sufficient to see that I may prolong the grip only a tiny bit to extra securely lock into it, and the entrance wanted to be a bit wider to suit across the barrel and a bit shorter so it may well slide straight again and miss the fake bolts.

Step 6: Design for Ease of Meeting

After a pair extra iterations, taking materials away in some spots and including materials in others, I had a form that match fairly effectively to each components of the blaster. For the “arm” that extends out of the wall, I’ve a standardized form that up to now has match even the widest of blasters. To make it simpler to put in on the wall and never must drill across the arm, the thickness of this entire half is particularly designed so the pegs have simply the correct quantity of clearance the place they’ll match tightly into the wall half and never want any glue to maintain it in place. Our PRO Collection Mild Blue PLA is remarkably near the identical blue that Nerf used for the Sledgefire, and the Ultimaker Orange PLA is the brightest orange that matches fairly carefully to the Nerf security orange coloration. The opposite set was requested in PRO Collection Pearlescent PLA and PRO Collection Black PLA.

That’s all there’s to it! One among these was mounted immediately into the aspect of the desk for fast draw, and the opposite was mounted above the desk. You possibly can adapt this to make customized pegboard holders, TV stands, whiteboard marker holders, or the rest that should repair in opposition to the contours of an object.

I hope that this text was informative and has impressed you to create your individual Nerf wall mounts with the assistance of 3D printing. The numerous mounts that I’ve designed at the moment are within the MatterHackers’ Design Retailer, and I shall be updating if I create extra fashions for the remainder of the workplace.

Is there one thing you’d prefer to see Alec create utilizing 3D printing? Tell us within the feedback under, or ship an e mail to [email protected].