My wife has an electric scooter that we bought used. Very occasionally, we take it on shopping trips. On the most recent trip a few days ago, she noticed that the end of the throttle bar that you push to go forward and backward had a rough end to it. On closer examination we discovered that the original bar had broken right next to the left hand bolt. This meant that only the right hand part of the bar was being used to go forward and backward. We quickly realized this was wrong – it should be possible to push the right end of the bar to go forward and the left end to go backward.
When we got home, I quickly designed and printed a replacement bar. As forum regulars know, this is the kind of thing I most enjoy using 3D printing to do.
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The original bar was the same width all the way across. I thought this could be improved, so I added the 2 thumb pads, indicated by the red arrows. The green oval is where the bar was broken off. The bar was printed using PETG at 0.15mm layer height with 5 walls/perimeters.
Yeah, great job. Repairing and/or improving original parts is fun.
When a design works better than the original part or is even more robust, this is a nice bonus and once again prove that 3D printers are real and valid tools and not just stupid devices to print useless miniature boats and toys.
I remember so many times in the past where I had to “unbreak” stuff. Now with a 3D printer in my workshop I can do proper fixes. Questions like “Why didn´t they do this or that?” aren´t just rhetoric and unanswered questions anymore. They now are a challenge.
Oh dear, actually, I passed 75 some time back. Mind you, technical things have always come easily to me. People, not so much. For instance, I have an awful time trying to remember peoples’ names. Always have had. That said, Fusion 360 was a bear to get onto in the beginning. I have to thank Paul McWhorter’s YouTube series, “Learn Fusion 360 or Die Trying”.
