Parametric Ortho-Planar Spiral Spring Generator

prusaprinters

<p>Ortho-planar springs are springs that can undergo a large displacement in either direction<em>without</em> (much) rotation. They've got all sorts of practical applications.</p> <p>This .scad (library with ortho_planar_spiral_spring() module) will generate a flat, ortho-planar spiral spring of whatever size and shape you want. It takes a number of options and there's a bunch of examples in the file so it should be pretty easy to figure out.</p> <p>I recommend inspecting your springs layer by layer in your slicer before printing because it's real easy to make springs that have walls that are too thin for your 3D printer.</p> <h3>Print instructions</h3><p>I've found that PETG works great for this style of spring if you don't need it to last more than ~200 cycles or so. If you want it to last I recommend using something with a more robust fatigue index like Nylon or PCTPE (which I've tested and works great--even though it's not as "springy" as PETG).</p>