Modeling Slide Barriers

By Kenna

Task: Create barriers to prevent the linear slide from falling

Recently, we added polycarb barriers to our linear slide system. They were created as a temporary measure by bending the polycarb with a blow torch and are less exact than we would like.

I originally tried to overlap 3 rectangles, and Creo didn't register it as an enclosed shape and wouldn't extrude. For any geometric shapes you want to extrude, constructed lines in sketch mode make it much easier. They ensure that everything is perpendicular, but also that your shape will still enclose so you can extrude it. Armed with constructed lines, Our models printed in roughly 30 minutes using nylon on a Taz printer.

Next Steps

Though nylon has its many uses, it's still not as strong as polycarb. We're looking into whether or not the printed version will withstand the slide system. Perhaps, we may need to pursue a different material or a more exact method of creating polycarb barriers. Any posts continuing this thread will be linked here.