From: Noel Chiappa: Monday, July 27, 2015 8:58 AM
Time to find someone who can do injection molding... (I don't think these
could be 3D printed, the necks of the bulb-heads are under a lot of stress
when removing panels, they often snap off; will 3D printed parts be that
strong?)
They are actually pretty straight-forward to cast, especially if you don't
need the metal nut in the middle. I've made molds with RTV, then cast
parts out of 2 part resin. The molds do wear out, where you pull the
bulb-heads through.
I've also had them 3D printed successfully, and if you're careful about
the print direction, the bulb-heads are sufficiently strong in ABS. (I
haven't tried it in PLA. Sintered nylon would also probably work, but
would be expensive.)
From: quapla: Monday, July 27, 2015 9:14 AM
Maybe a future possibility to have a (maybe Chinese) manufacturer make
a batch of 1000, 2000 or maybe 10000 clips with a type of plastic which
is slightly more flexible so that they do not break off to quickly?
I like that they almost always break before the panel itself does, so
don't make them too strong. I actually damaged a panel once by
replacing the bulb-head with a screw (head). (Maybe should have
used a nylon screw.)
Also, there are several flavors. You can see a few toward the bottom of:
http://www.so-much-stuff.com/pdp8/cad/3d.php
though I don't have that exact flavor with the nut in the center. That makes
ordering 10000 a challenge, since what's actually needed is probably a
mix of the various flavors.
Vince
