Today's wild idea... 3d-printed stick grip?

[Steve Melton]

Originally Posted by Aluminum

Nah, just fooling around to learn how the Loft function works--it's addictive for us quantitative types to keep turning the knobs. This print does feel really nice in my hand, but the reality is that we hardly ever grip the whole stick in flight, usually only for a few tense moments when landing taildraggers. That's why I left the long ledge on the bottom, to rest two fingers for steering with gentle pressure.

Fusion360 keeps everything in the "cloud". I'd be happy to share the design with the world but have no idea how to go about it. If someone can explain in a few sentences I'll try and put it up.

maybe Thingiverse or something like that but the trouble with that is it gets lost in a sea of thingi's (a lot of it is ****) and print profiles are not communicated which is equally important. so I really don't know what's how to do is well. I put a few designs here. that way I know the config, but it is not really a designated share site, just a few designs. https://www.gpsdock1.com/open-source . so at this time we really don't have a good method to share designs. what you really want are tested and proven designs and print profiles and materials so you don't have to mess around trying to figure it out. just hit the print button and go. it's more difficult for custom design dimensions but we could figure it out.

[Drifteral]

Maybe i haven't looked hard enough but i have yet to see left and right hand grips for the side by side guys. I'm in the process of installing a center console throttle and mixture in my 6A and would like to have left and right hand grips like the Thrustmaster Cougar.

[Snowflake]

Originally Posted by Steve Melton

I put a few designs here. that way I know the config, but it is not really a designated share site, just a few designs. https://www.gpsdock1.com/open-source.

A minor nit, but STL files aren't "open source". Open Source means you give the source files and allow others to see how they were constructed as well as modify them for their own use. STL files are pretty much "fixed" when you load them into most of the CAD packages... No editable features.

[Nick]

Originally Posted by Drifteral

Maybe i haven't looked hard enough but i have yet to see left and right hand grips for the side by side guys. I'm in the process of installing a center console throttle and mixture in my 6A and would like to have left and right hand grips like the Thrustmaster Cougar.

Infinity does left and right. JD can sometimes be a little hard to get ahold of, but he makes a great product.

Infinity aerospace grips

[Aluminum]

It turns out Fusion 360 does permit export of an "archive" file which preserves the parametric history.

Alas, this bulletin board software only accepts certain file extensions. So, what you'll have to do is download the ".pdf" file and change the extension to ".f3d" before importing into Fusion 360. It can also be viewed in their online browser, but that still forces you to create an Autodesk account. There may be other software out there that imports this, I don't know.

Sharing STL doesn't make much sense as this is not by any stretch a finished product so you'd have to re-parametrize it to edit--might as well start from scratch. Same with printer settings: your room's temperature, humidity, bed type, dryness and composition of filament are not communicable. All those parameters take some local experimentation to get good print results.

Here it is, enjoy:

[McStevens]

Funny you mention it, I've been developing mine for a couple months now.

Finally have the form down I think, after some research on hand grip design and a bunch of prototypes.







Mil-spec switches.

This is custom to my hand, but can be made to fit any size which I know is a complaint sometimes. Many more color options available too.

I purchased some well-known grips and I have to say I have no worries about the strength that can be achieved with common filaments compared to what is being installed today. The infinity is a tank though, with the extra and weight and price tag to go with it.

Ease of installation is another benefit compared to having to clamshell something together. No spacers or inserts since the grip is printed for the tube it's going over. Haven't completely locked down the attach method but it will be more robust than the examples I've seen.

I'm printing a blue one to see about switch placement. All I really need is PTT and AP/DC, but I'd like to see what I can fit in case there's interest. Maybe a hat and flap toggle, have to see what works.

[Saville]

How about a P-51 "bicycle' grip that slides over the cylindrical grips of most quadrants, and has a PTT in it?

[McStevens]

I think the buttons up top will work for me, this is a right-hand grip for my copilot side.




ASA/ABS has far less layer adhesion strength than PLA or PETG. PLA is a non-starter for heat, so PETG is the material of choice. Relying on the metal tube as a center support makes these quite strong.

[McStevens]

Originally Posted by Drifteral

Maybe i haven't looked hard enough but i have yet to see left and right hand grips for the side by side guys. I'm in the process of installing a center console throttle and mixture in my 6A and would like to have left and right hand grips like the Thrustmaster Cougar.

Here's something I just got to printing. I like the ergonomic feel of my other grip but I'll admit this is pretty nice in the hand. The trick would be finding a hat switch that's cheap and will fit, the one here is a pretty basic printed design but it could work. I left out the trigger, a button there instead would make this easier as an assembly.

Some routing and other design left to do, but if you or anyone is interested shoot me a PM.