3d printing Manix ball bearing cages

[Paraguy]

Hello all! I just got a 3d printer and I want to print a replacement ball bearing cage for my Manix. I don't know how to design 3d objects so I've just been using Thingyverse. However I cant seem to find any 3d files for a Manix ball bearing cage. If anyone knows of a file or has any experience with 3d design your assistance would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

I originally asked this question on the separate thread but then decided to make post about it. So there is a little discussion on the topic happened here.
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=83149&p=1514404&hil ... g#p1311856

[TomAiello]

There was a member here who printed some a while back. I think he was reluctant to post the files, because he wasn't sure how Spyderco would feel about that.

[Paraguy]

There was a member here who printed some a while back. I think he was reluctant to post the files, because he wasn't sure how Spyderco would feel about that.

Hmm. Why would that be? Does Spyderco sell ball bearing cages? Or do they not want ppl to fix their own?
Do you think you could get me in touch with him?

[Sharp Guy]

I can model in CAD well enough but have enough of my own projects that I need to work on.

My suggestion is that you start working with something like Fusion 360. Watch tutorials and learn what you need to model the cage yourself. It's really satisfying to develop a model, make it on your printer, and test at home. When it's done you have something that's exactly the way you wanted it

[Paraguy]

I can model in CAD well enough but have enough of my own projects that I need to work on.

My suggestion is that you start working with something like Fusion 360. Watch tutorials and learn what you need to model the cage yourself. It's really satisfying to develop a model, make it on your printer, and test at home. When it's done you have something that's exactly the way you wanted it

Yeah I was looking at Fusion 360. I haven't had time to learn yet. How long did it take you to learn? Would you recommend the paid version?

[Tally-ho]

Considering how the cage looks like, you better have a very good layers adhesion if you will print it with an FDM 3D printer.
I would recommend PETG filament over PLA.

[Paraguy]

This will provide further context:

"Thanks for the welcome Joshcruntchley. I actually have two printers a small Anycubic resin printer and an Anycubic Cartesian printer. I figure the resin printer would be best for this project. I actually didn't break my original cage. What got me thinking about printing a cage is that I want it to try my luck casting a brass one using the lost wax method. If you don't know what Im talking about Id recommend looking up a youtube video of lost PLA casting - very cool. In addition to this Id like to experiment with different shapes for the knob part of the cage because I find can't get as good of a purchase while closing it as I can with my Benchmade. Thanks for your time."

[Sharp Guy]

I can model in CAD well enough but have enough of my own projects that I need to work on.

My suggestion is that you start working with something like Fusion 360. Watch tutorials and learn what you need to model the cage yourself. It's really satisfying to develop a model, make it on your printer, and test at home. When it's done you have something that's exactly the way you wanted it

Yeah I was looking at Fusion 360. I haven't had time to learn yet. How long did it take you to learn? Would you recommend the paid version?

I've used various CAD programs for years. So it wasn't too hard for me to adapt to Fusion 360. It's quite different than anything I've ever used from Autodesk but there's a lot of great tutorials on YouTube. I like the videos from Lars Christensen myself. If I can't figure out how to do something I simply search the web for the info. I'm nowhere near being a "power user" but I've learned everything I need to know to model some pretty good stuff all while using best practices. I don't like messy CAD drawings/models

I'm still using the hobby license. It does everything I need it to do.

[zhyla]

I would not attempt this with an FDM printer. The detail and tolerances required are beyond what FDM is capable of. The spring follower in particular would be a nightmare to print and a weak point even just for the cleanup phase.

If you have an SLA printer then you’re good to go. I haven’t printed one on my SLA but seems totally doable.

As far as a CAD design, I won’t be sharing that. It wasn’t much work to design. It’s a pretty simple part. I’d like to sell spare cages but hesitant to do that until the patent expires.

[Paraguy]

I would not attempt this with an FDM printer. The detail and tolerances required are beyond what FDM is capable of. The spring follower in particular would be a nightmare to print and a weak point even just for the cleanup phase.

If you have an SLA printer then you’re good to go. I haven’t printed one on my SLA but seems totally doable.

As far as a CAD design, I won’t be sharing that. It wasn’t much work to design. It’s a pretty simple part. I’d like to sell spare cages but hesitant to do that until the patent expires.

I already printed one with FDM. The detail was actually pretty good and i find that horizontal grain gives it a lot of strength. I'll try printing one on my resin printer whenever I get it fixed. I think that if I were to use resin it would be too brittle, contrary to the flexible PLA which is actually holding up great.

[Paraguy]

I would not attempt this with an FDM printer. The detail and tolerances required are beyond what FDM is capable of. The spring follower in particular would be a nightmare to print and a weak point even just for the cleanup phase.

If you have an SLA printer then you’re good to go. I haven’t printed one on my SLA but seems totally doable.

As far as a CAD design, I won’t be sharing that. It wasn’t much work to design. It’s a pretty simple part. I’d like to sell spare cages but hesitant to do that until the patent expires.

I already printed one with FDM. The detail was actually pretty good and i find that horizontal grain gives it a lot of strength. I'll try printing one on my resin printer whenever I get it fixed. I think that if I were to use resin it would be too brittle, contrary to the flexible PLA which is actually holding up great.

I do also have some PETG that i might try.

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[awa54]

Considering how the cage looks like, you better have a very good layers adhesion if you will print it with an FDM 3D printer.
I would recommend PETG filament over PLA.

I believe that the originals are injection molded polycarbonate, so any printed reproduction (even in PC) won't be as strong as your broken original... Printing PC also requires a printer that can attain much higher nozzle temps than one that's set up for "regular" filament and that has an enclosed/heated build chamber.

Also, FYI, brass and titanium cages are available in the aftermarket these days.
If you really want a project, go for it, but if the goal is simply functional then save yourself the effort and buy one from Flytanium.

[zhyla]

Wow that did print pretty well. Are you going to polish it up somehow before the casting?

[Paraguy]

Wow that did print pretty well. Are you going to polish it up somehow before the casting?

I'm not sure if I want to use PLA for the casting. I could get a lot more detail if I used resin. But it seems that resin doesn't burn as easily unless you buy the 100 dollar bottle for burning resin. Does anyone here know of an inexpensive burnable resin?
I may just make a silicone mold and use wax.

[Josh Crutchley]

Wow that did print pretty well. Are you going to polish it up somehow before the casting?

I'm not sure if I want to use PLA for the casting. I could get a lot more detail if I used resin. But it seems that resin doesn't burn as easily unless you buy the 100 dollar bottle for burning resin. Does anyone here know of an inexpensive burnable resin?
I may just make a silicone mold and use wax.

Anycubic has dental resin for 60usd not as bad but still pricey. You would get a lot of prints from one bottle so it might be worth it if you plan on doing more casting.

[Paraguy]

Wow that did print pretty well. Are you going to polish it up somehow before the casting?

I'm not sure if I want to use PLA for the casting. I could get a lot more detail if I used resin. But it seems that resin doesn't burn as easily unless you buy the 100 dollar bottle for burning resin. Does anyone here know of an inexpensive burnable resin?
I may just make a silicone mold and use wax.

Anycubic has dental resin for 60usd not as bad but still pricey. You would get a lot of prints from one bottle so it might be worth it if you plan on doing more casting.

Hmm... I might like to make some beads...
Im going to need to think of a few other thinks to use it for to make it worth the money. Maybe you guy could help me think of some other knife related things to cast.

[Sumdumguy]

Wow that did print pretty well. Are you going to polish it up somehow before the casting?

I'm not sure if I want to use PLA for the casting. I could get a lot more detail if I used resin. But it seems that resin doesn't burn as easily unless you buy the 100 dollar bottle for burning resin. Does anyone here know of an inexpensive burnable resin?
I may just make a silicone mold and use wax.

How hot does your furnace get?

You should be able to crank it up, put the mold in for a short while and end up with a mold full of plastic dust. Pour the metal in and it will push all that dust out the top of the mold.

That's how I am planning on doing the molds for some parts that I am casting for a different project.

[Paraguy]

Wow that did print pretty well. Are you going to polish it up somehow before the casting?

I'm not sure if I want to use PLA for the casting. I could get a lot more detail if I used resin. But it seems that resin doesn't burn as easily unless you buy the 100 dollar bottle for burning resin. Does anyone here know of an inexpensive burnable resin?
I may just make a silicone mold and use wax.

How hot does your furnace get?

You should be able to crank it up, put the mold in for a short while and end up with a mold full of plastic dust. Pour the metal in and it will push all that dust out the top of the mold.

That's how I am planning on doing the molds for some parts that I am casting for a different project.

Cool to hear from another person interested in casting. Im not sure the exact temperature but probably around 2000 its a handmade propane forge not a furnace. It doesn't have a dial either. It's very simple.

[Sumdumguy]

Wow that did print pretty well. Are you going to polish it up somehow before the casting?

I'm not sure if I want to use PLA for the casting. I could get a lot more detail if I used resin. But it seems that resin doesn't burn as easily unless you buy the 100 dollar bottle for burning resin. Does anyone here know of an inexpensive burnable resin?
I may just make a silicone mold and use wax.

How hot does your furnace get?

You should be able to crank it up, put the mold in for a short while and end up with a mold full of plastic dust. Pour the metal in and it will push all that dust out the top of the mold.

That's how I am planning on doing the molds for some parts that I am casting for a different project.

Cool to hear from another person interested in casting. Im not sure the exact temperature but probably around 2000 its a handmade propane forge not a furnace. It doesn't have a dial either. It's very simple.

That should be plenty. I was going to just print a thin, low infill piece, make the mold and then pour the metal. But, I decided that I would bake the mold first and then pour. In theory, it should lower(hopefully eliminate) the chance of contamination/partial melt.

I'm set up and ready to go, I just need to finish the parts. But, I'm still test fitting and making little adjustments.

It's all trial by fire.

[JMM]

I purchased a couple from a guy that used to sell them on ebay and on another small business oriented online shop whose name escapes me at the moment... he had a bunch of colours to choose from, but the problem was they just broke after a few months, they both broke right where the ball bearing sits, I will look through my email and see if I can find some more useful details. I'd love to see this happen, someone needs to get Flytanium on their toes, I have had two of the last 5 cages I bought from them be misshapen to the point of not working, there's no excuse for that, they have a good product in theory but their QC is way past unacceptable IMO.