Double Cup Holder for a Porch Swing

Another one of those start-of-Summer rituals is getting the old porch swing back into working shape. Ok, we don't actually have a porch, but now have two swings: the old one near our pond and the new one on our deck. Anyway, what good is a swing if you can't enjoy a refreshing beverage while swinging?

Here are two improved, double-cup, versions of my http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:339178 holder. Either one clamps onto the non-swinging metal sidebar of the swing using 1/4 20 bolts.

Instructions

My first swing cup holder design was http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:339178 -- and it works well enough holding your drink off the stationary side-reinforcing bar of the swing. However, I marked it as a work-in-progress because it clearly could be improved.

The first improvement was to switch to a double-cup holder that is much taller to prevent spills and holds your drinks over the bar rather than next to it (an alignment notch on the bottom of the holder keeps it centered). That version, printed in natural PLA, is shown in the photos and the design is inswingcupholder20140527parts.stl .

Ah, but the sides would hit a mug handle, and the single-bolt clamp works, but isn't as nice as it could be. Thus,swingcupholder20140529parts.stl lowers the walls a bit (why not?), adds a cut-out for a mug handle, and uses two 1/4 20 bolts with a loose drop-in fit and hex head cut-out to keep them from turning as you put the nuts on underneath. I was pretty confident it would work better than the other two designs, although the old designs are now mounted on my older swing and seem to work pretty well. It is now confirmed:the gray ones on my new swing are the 20140529 design, and they are much nicer.

These improved double-cup holders are easy prints and can be single-wall with fill 20% or less. It took a while to print in PLA -- as much as 3 hours on my MakerGear M2 extruding 0.25mm. I had some trouble with the gray PLA lifting from the bed -- most PLA prints nicely on my M2's 70C heated borosilicate bed, but this Rosewill gray doesn't stick to glass as well as most. You'll also need a couple of 1/4 20 bolts and a nut or wingnut for each.

Category: Outdoor & Garden