Model and Print a Visor Clip for Your Car | SelfCAD

Welcome to the next SelfCAD instructable.

A visor clip in my car has recently broken and I decided to print my own instead of buying a new one.

Look how easy it is when you use SelfCAD - an online 3D modeling application.

First I unscrewed the second clip to see it's geometry and measurements.

There are probably differences between your parts and mine, so model your own object.

Launch SelfCAD editor and create a new project. The visor clip is a small object, so workspace size equal 100 mm is definitely enough. The segment size isn't important in this project. I set it to 10.

Add a cube to the scene. Set its measurements as you need. My clip should be 20mm high, 38mm long and 11mm deep. I also needed 4 width segments.

There is also a faster way to model the clip. You can use Free Hand and draw its shape. However, we need to use Stitch & Scoop many times and this tool works better with 3D Shapes.

Now we need to move my loop. To do so we must select them first. Of course, we can select them one by one but using loop selection is much more comfortable. Turn on Mesh+Wireframe mode (1.) and then Edge Selection Mode (2.). Open selection tools (3.) and turn on loop selection. Now after clicking at two neighboring edges, the whole loop should be selected.

You can always use Measurements tool located in Utilities.

Now we need some cylinders. The first one, with a radius of 3mm, is 12 mm high.

The second one, with a radius of 5mm, is 8 mm high.

Use the last cylinder to cut a hole in the base. Select both objects and choose Stitch & Scoop tool. Use Difference to subtract cylinder from the cube.

The third cylinder: radius 5 mm, height 4 mm.

Select all three objects and use Stitch & Scoop again, this time use Union.

The fourth cylinder: radius 3 mm, height > 7mm. Use this cylinder to cut a hole for the screw.

Next two cylinders: radius 5.5mm and 4mm, height 20mm. Use Difference to make an object like in the picture. Move it to the right place

Add a cube just to use Difference again and cut a gap in the last object.

Select the faces as in the image and use the Extrusion tool to connect the base with the clip. Now move the vertical edges to set their positions. These edges should be somewhere inside the clip object. Use Union to connect everything into one object.

The visor clip is ready.

The best thing about modeling such things is that you can freely customize them as you want. You can change its shape, add a pattern or text.

The last thing is 3D printing. Select your object and click 3D Print. After you choose your printer, you can change the printing settings. Notice that printer can't print in the air, so if you have any protruding elements, make sure you have the support generating turned on. The protruding elements will print on the support.

When you have everything set, generate Gcode and print your object.

Good luck with printing your own parts.