Modular Steampunk Tube

Hello, hello, wonderful people!

Sometimes you just need something in which to store long, narrow things, and that's what this overly-decorated model is all about! Even better if your long, narrow things are arbitrary in length because you can just plug in another segment and increase capacity!

Module Connections and Lids

Our old friend the magnetic latch is back for this one! I do love the secure snapping-ness of that kind of closure. So, the lid pops on and rotates into place.

So, the lid attaches via magnetic closure, but what about the other segments? For every other join, we have two options:

• Use a set of magnets, like the lid.

• or just use the full-length side plates to keep pieces from rotating apart.

As you've probably worked out from the pictures, there are two versions of the side plates: full and half. The full ones are for joining modules together, and the half ones are for just looking nice on anything else :)

The Fancy Gear Bits on the Ends

Yes, there are embedded planetary gears in the ends of the tubes! They're purely ornamental, but they do rotate if you turn that protruding middle handle. However, the assembly is designed to add quite a bit of friction so that the whole thing doesn't just continually rattle.

The gear bits are assembled like so:

• Thread the plate in, with the post pointing outwards, and thread it all the way down as far as it will go.

• Add the gears, with the flat side inwards and the handle pointing outwards, and thread it all the way down onto the plate.

• Thread the locking ring over the top to hold things from rattling!

Now, if you'd prefer not to have a convoluted gear-laden end on your tube, there are plain ends provided as well.

Note that the ends are quite short, and so don't have space for the side plates. This matters for the bottom, as it means you can't use a full-length plate to keep it in place. You'll probably want to either use magnets instead.

Magnets - 6x3, naturally! 

You'll need six 6mm x 3mm cylindrical magnets for the lid closure.

You'll also need a set of six for any other connections that you want to have magnetically-secured, but it's probably much easier just to bolt on the full-length side plates to hold things securely in place.

Print Description

This is an assembly that includes articulated parts, so make sure your bottom layer is nice and neat and that there aren't any print issues like overextrusion or stringing that might bind moving parts together!

Print Dimensions

The main tube segment model occupies 82mm x 85mm on the print bed and is 124mm tall.

Supports Needed?

Not at all!  Designed for straightforward printing!

Scalability

The main problem with scaling this one is that then the magnets won't fit!

Print Orientation

Each tube module prints right-way-up, except for the simpler lid, which prints upside-down so that the flat lid surface is on the bed.

The gear elements print flat-side down, as do the side plates, and the bolt for the side plates prints head-down.

File Location

You'll find this one at at 505 Modular Steampunk Tube

Link to dropbox post: https://www.patreon.com/posts/31697592

Further Thoughts

Now that I've printed all this, I'm starting to wonder if perhaps I should have done the main body in PETG or ABS - I'm not sure that PLA would be happy if my cat decided to push this one off a shelf at some point! The good thing, though, is that the modularity of the model would make repairs pretty easy :)

 Happy printing!

xoxo

Sven.