Adjustable Cane Holder

Recommended settings:

60% infill (this allows for the clamp to be further tightened and is more stable)

Supports (touching buildplate) 10% density

Brim for screws

Print Settings

Printer Brand:

Creality

Printer:

Ender 3

Supports:

Yes

Infill:

60

Filament: Inland PLA

Black

Notes:

Inland PLA temp 215

How I Designed This

Attempt 1

For my first swing at this, I re-mixed the clamp file from: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2194278

Unfortunately, I had a lot of trouble with the screw mechanism of this.

Associated files are: screw.stl and caneholder+_clamp.stl

In addition, I realized that you need a brim in order to print the screw since it it pretty tall and otherwise the print fails

Attempt 2

For my next attempt, I wanted to take things slow, test them out part-by-part to make sure each aspect was working before combing them.

So, the first thing I did was print the clamp/screw/clamp protector from: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1673030 and it came out beautifully!

(screw: thread_and_knurling_knob_longHD.stl)

(clamp_protector.stl)

I also made a modified screw that I was thinking might be easier for someone to turn if they have fine motor troubles (alt screw.stl)

Also, I remixed to make a file (cane holder clamp.stl) which is much improved compared to Attempt 1.

While I was working on this, I was using my old cane holder https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4886286 and my cane fell out of the holder and onto the floor which got me thinking that a latch mechanism might be helpful.

So, I looked around for prints with latches and I found this: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4799348 and I remixed it into a file (test latch.stl)

I'm pretty happy with how the test latch turned out!

Next design step: add the latch to cane holder clamp? Think about interchangeable parts? Is the latch accessible if you have trouble with fine motor?

Attempt 3

Latch Update:

I added a little nub to the latch to make it easier to open.

I tried using the alternative screw(alt screw.stl) with my design with the latch (cane holder clamp latch.stl) and it didn't come out exactly how I envisioned. I think the alternative screw might have had a little more torque than I anticipated and the clamp cracked because I over-screwed it. I think I didn't have this issue before because I would have had to push harder on the original screw to over-screw it. I still like the alternative screw and I'm hoping using a higher infill % will avoid this issue.

Otherwise, I like how the design itself came out!

I did a little diving into interchangeable parts and found a mechanism I could use, but I'm still not sure if that's a system I would want to use or not. On the pro side, it would make it easy to swap out for a larger clamp and make tweaks to the design. On the con side, I don't want the interchangeable aspect to cause the structure to accidently disassemble or make it more difficult to use. So, I'm thinking maybe it's better to just create one or two designs to choose from.

Update 1/22/22

I increased the infill on the design to 40% and I see a significant improvement.

I did notice a little bit of sliding on the clamp portion of the design. So, I decided to add little bumps to the surface of the clamp protector in order to hopefully gain some traction.

Initially I used spheres for these bumps (clamp_protector texture.stl) - but I was seeing a lot of print fails.

So, I altered the shape to a sort of cropped square pyramidal shape instead. (clamp protector tri.stl) So far, this was significantly better. Unfortunately this does create the need for a support system on this piece, but personally I think it's worth it! The supports I used were pretty weak (like 10%) but that was sufficient. The infill I chose was 40% to match the clamp infill.

I'm considering adding a texture / friction to the clamp portion of the design as well. It's not something that I think is super necessary for a cane holder since it seems stable enough at this point.

However, my initial adaptations of this design for the hiking sticks is not very stable (it's much easier to bump into those / knock it over) so it is something that I'll need for that design.

2/14/22 Final Update

I tested out adding the texture to the cane holder itself on the clamp portion in addition to the clamp protector and it came out beautifully! It's not a strictly necessary feature for the cane holder but it is more stable, so I recommend it.

Here are alternative files:

alt screw updates.stl (useful if user has grip difficulty)

cane holder clamp latch texture v1.stl (design is WIP)

Recommended settings:

60% infill (this allows for the clamp to be further tightened and is more stable)

Supports (touching buildplate) 10% density

Brim for screws

Note for latch: make sure there are no supports in the moving part of the latch

To see a similar design I'm working on for hiking sticks: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5247584

I hope to make a modular remix of this model one day so that it does not require supports!

Category: Tools