3D Printed Personalised USB Cases - in Details

Hi,

My name is Emese. I made the https://customflashdrive.co.uk/3d-print-your-own site. This is a place where you can personalise a 3D printed USB case.

Personalising a 3D printed USB case is easy:

You add your own text up to 10 characters and you choose a shape. In the 2nd picture you can see the 3 different shapes you can choose from.

Now let's see how you personalise this 3D printed USB case and then how you print it! Read Step 1!

To create your STL model visit http://customflashdrive.co.uk/3d-print-your-own!

Add your Text

First add your own Text up to 10 characters. Note that this is an USB case what you will stick into your computer. So that is why the limit is 10 characters. A too long flash drive would not be so ergonomics.

In this picture the usb case is 6-character-long.

Choose a Shape

Look at the 3 pictures: 1. Oscar, 2. Friend and 3. I♥You. These are the 3 shapes you can choose from. Model 1 is Oscar, Model 2 is Friend and Model 3 is I♥You. So choose a shape after adding your text!

Add a Keyring and a hole for the USB Memory Stick

In order to add an extra functionality to your USB add a keyring to your STL model. You also need to add a stick hole in order to have a place where you can stick the USB memory module. Just simply check both checkboxes at the STL designer of http://customflashdrive.co.uk/3d-print-your-own.

Downloading your STL file costs a bit. At the moment (2017 Apr.) it has a fee of 3 EUR. But we would like to distribute free models, so here attached you can find some STL files what you can download from Instructables free of charge.

If you would like to personalise your own model and you invest a few € visit http://customflashdrive.co.uk/3d-print-your-own STL files are sent in email, soon after the payment is completed. 3D models are generated automatically with the right scaling and orientation that is ideal for 3D printing.

These free models here at Instructables are already repaired and prepared for 3D printing.

1. Repair the file with Netfabb

After you have your own STL file downloaded you have to prepare the STL file for 3D printing.

The free STL files in the previous step are already repaired, so you can skip this phase.

How to repair the file?

If you use Netfabb load your file and choose automatic repair. This is a red-cross in the upper menu. Check auto-update, and click on the "Automatic repair" button. Select Default setting.

Then click on "Apply repair" and select "remove old parts" option.

After this is done export the file into STL. When exporting choose "Optimize" file for 3D printing.

This is a good-written post of how to use automatic repair function with Netfabb: http://3daddfab.com/blog/index.php?/archives/10-Automatically-Repair-STL-Files-in-2-Minutes-with-netfabb.html

Now your file is ready for 3D printing

2. Set up your printing

Printing Parameters for PLA

We use 2 types of 3D printers. The first one is a Witbox and the second one is a Leapfrog Creatr. Here I am going to explain our printing settings based on our experiences with these 2 machines. In the first place I must tell you that we use PLA as printing materials. For this reason these settings are specifically for PLA. Use other settings in case of different printing materials such as ABS!

• Wall Thickness: 0.8 mm – The Extrusion Width of both printers’ nozzle is 0.4 mm. Therefore 1 shell is not enough to provide sufficiant strenght, however 2 shells and a total wall thickness of 0.8 mm gives a good print result. This will be a strong and durable USB case in fact.

• Infill: 15% – Minimum 15% infill is recommended for stability. Otherwise the outcome might easily brake. Please use this setting for satisfactory result. Obviously you can higher the percentage of infill, but do not lower them for the sake of strength and durability. This is a honeycomb-shaped infill. In case you use this setting of 15% infill one print will take about 30 mins.

• Printing Speed: 150 mm/sec – Printing Speed has an influence on quality. This speed might seem to be too fast, but it was tested before, like every other parameter.

You can buy an USB 2.0 memory stick at Amazon here

This type fits the USB hole perfectly. Choose a suitable colour which goes well with the colour of the printing material. Available capacity: 4 - 8 or 16 GB.

After you have the USB and the case is printed stick the memory stick into the hole. Simply use a glue gun!

And Voilá! Your 3D printed USB case is ready :)