"Gee, Orville and Wilber, that's nice but why didn't you build a spaceship?"Originally Posted by Drew Bedo
I'd like to see those too. But there are limits to what can be done with materials suitable for inexpensive 3s printers. And it's still not suitable for mass production. Perhaps someday.
I bought a camera from a guy who made his own lenscaps..from leather
he is a bookbinder by trade and just did it for himself as needed
he told me it wasn't that hard...but of course he had all the bookbinding tools and experience
..but they were really nice..
just a thought
Good point. I've seen references to outgassing during the printing process, but not after curing.
Also worth noting is that SK Grimes mills their lenscaps from acetal and pvc. Neither are (as far as I know) suitable for 3d printing.
Does anyone know what "commercial" soft lenscaps are made from?
Ninjaflex is a product name for thermoplastic polyurethane (TPE).
For those who carry the DIY gene, here is a simple step-by-step method of making your own lens caps: http://collodion-art.blogspot.ca/201...isnt-that.html
Best guess is that they're injection molded polypropylene.
I have a 4x8' sheet of 1/8" black TPE that I bought to replace darkslides (haven't gotten around to doing it yet), if I could glue a perfect seam, this is flexible enough to use for plastic lens caps; just cut a round piece, a strip, and glue the two together over a mold to hold them in place.
I've made a bunch of leather ones following instructions I found here, but that's rather time-consuming and I haven't been doing it lately. Instead, I bought a suitcase full of old lens caps from someone at a camera show last year.
You use whatever's in your toolbox. You've got a 3D printer, I've got a lathe.
I just picked up a new-to-me lens without caps. I turned out front and back caps in less than an hour (including messy cleanup) from some scrap round Delrin. No idea of the cost, but cheap to me.
I have made leather caps in the past, using laminated posterboard strips over a custom sized mold (turned on the lathe). Pain in the butt, though, to tuck the leather into the inside of the cap. I always wound up getting it bunched up. Had some fun, though, gluing (casein glue) different colored felt onto the flat inside.
Whatever floats your boat.
Charley
Unless you're a personal trainer speaking about someone's abs, or lack thereof, ABS is not an acronym, but the routine label for an abundant class of plastics. It's like saying, "vinyl" or "nylon", just a different category of polymer. If you want to know what vinyl or nylon really are - and they are potentially hundreds of specifically different polymers - you need a few advanced courses in organic and industrial chemistry. Every sixteen-year-old with a summer job in every hardware store on the continent knows what ABS is. Sometimes it's what breaks when you drop your cellphone.
It is likely you could produce more useful lens caps more efficiently than our OP. Good old school can hardly be bettered.
Good on you.
I don't think I'd even want a brittle plastic lens cap. If it seriously cracked or splintered, it could scratch the lens. ABS ain't too good at very low temperatures.
But let's see... Buy a new lathe or just a step ring with an off-the-store-shelf plastic lens cap? Hmmm.... a lathe might be helpful for opening cat food cans, too,
but the wife needs a new car, so guess the lathe will have to wait.
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