Stick to Rotary Shift Knob Conversion w/ 3D Printed Rotary Shifter Holder

[boggle]

In the cosplay world, I've seen videos where the maker uses spare filament and a soldering iron to "weld" pieces together. I haven't tried this myself yet. I'd recommend an el-cheapo for this task so you don't gunk up a good one. Just needs to be hot enough to melt the plastic.

You haven't lived until you've plastic welded with the Weller pistol iron and some zip ties.

Suppose it's worth reiterating that ABS fumes are indeed toxic and I don't advise doing this without precautionary measures. Goes without saying that really any melted plastic fumes should probably not be inhaled.

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[Zprime29]

You haven't lived until you've plastic welded with the Weller pistol iron and some zip ties.

Suppose it's worth reiterating that ABS fumes are indeed toxic and I don't advise doing this without precautionary measures. Goes without saying that really any melted plastic fumes should probably not be inhaled.

I use a fan w/filter even for basic soldering. Although I don't print anything in ABS, I'd for sure do this outside and with a fan. I have an old CR10 (v1) with a 300x300x400 build volume so I haven't had to attempt it yet.

 

[ENDianDigital]

Can't open your Thingiverse .steps for some reason. But thinking about it more you could probably just dovetail split through the shift box and have enough material for the two parts to slot into one another with some modest transitional tolerance added. Would have a better mechanical connection than splitting coincident to the shift box face and needing to add tabs/hardware. For thin wall model splits it's usually recommended to use a convoluted surface to maximize surface area and add some self locating features.

I sliced the model like you suggested and I think it will work. I might do an additional dovetail at the bottom of the box. If anyone think this would be helpful for their build, let me know and I will try to post it this evening.

 

[Tedmister2]

I finally got around to using the surface while driving and I must say I quite like it. This would not have happened without a change in shifter placement.

 

[BennyTheBeaver]

I sliced the model like you suggested and I think it will work. I might do an additional dovetail at the bottom of the box. If anyone think this would be helpful for their build, let me know and I will try to post it this evening.

I'd add the 2nd dovetail for the added rigidity.

Let me know when you've got the .step/.stl ready, I'm going to give this a print.

 

[ENDianDigital]

OK, that was.... way more ass pain than I anticipated, haha.

Anyway, here's what I made:

I was all set on the dovetail idea, so I completely modeled that, but then started to worry about interference issues from support interfaces, so then I modeled a few more non-starters, threw all those away, then finally just decided to cut it with a spline and make some dowels (K.I.S.S. ).

So at this point I think this should work for everyone that's been wanting a small volume solution, but let me know since I most likely wont be printing this myself. I'm open to suggestions if I've overlooked something or something just doesn't work for whatever reason. The dowels have .1mm allowance in all direction, but the two main console bodies are straight cut due to their mating surfaces being pretty open.

Final notes: This version is plain as it gets, no features whatsoever besides the embedded shift box. I also fixed a weird issue that I just noticed where one of my bolt hole stanchions decided to attach to the internal gridfinity feature instead of the console's outside wall and then disappeared when I removed that feature. Shouldn't matter for previous models as I think its plenty strong as is (and maybe even helps to get your wrench back there). Lastly, I made another mat insert for this version as well.

Gentlemen, start your printers

Link to the Thingiverse post for those just joining the thread: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6978586

(shoutout to 2wheeltraveler for making the first remix on the project!)

 

[digitaldad]

OK, that was.... way more ass pain than I anticipated, haha.

Lot of work on a Friday/Friday Night, thanks for your dedication!

P.S. Lovin' your new profile pic , at least, I think it was new.

 

[ENDianDigital]

Lot of work on a Friday/Friday Night, thanks for your dedication!

P.S. Lovin' your new profile pic , at least, I think it was new.

Learning CAD is my main all-weather hobby at the moment, so this is my "wild and crazy" cold Ohio Friday night fun, haha. Screaming goat videos are a close second as far as entertainment goes, so it was a natural fit for the pfp.

So, after posting, I went back and re-read what I'd skimmed through this afternoon and I see that @boggle suggested a convoluted cutting tool to separate the bodies. I.... I really wish I was proficient enough to do that now that I think of it. @boggle, if you could help me create a cutting tool like that, I bet it would greatly improve rigidity on the wall portions above the shift box. Feel free to PM me if you have any ideas/tools I can integrate.

 

[boggle]

Learning CAD is my main all-weather hobby at the moment, so this is my "wild and crazy" cold Ohio Friday night fun, haha. Screaming goat videos are a close second as far as entertainment goes, so it was a natural fit for the pfp.

So, after posting, I went back and re-read what I'd skimmed through this afternoon and I see that @boggle suggested a convoluted cutting tool to separate the bodies. I.... I really wish I was proficient enough to do that now that I think of it. @boggle, if you could help me create a cutting tool like that, I bet it would greatly improve rigidity on the wall portions above the shift box. Feel free to PM me if you have any ideas/tools I can integrate.

This should work, made it 0.003" thick so there's already some tolerance built into the subtractive cut. Might have to scale and rotate the surface so you don't end up with hairline edges that aren't printable.

 

[mr.Magoo]

I have to report that, after DM help from interested members here, it appears the Mach E rotary shifter cannot gain full functionality in the Lightning.

Mach E rotary shifter part #: LJ9Z-7P155-D 1X from FordPartsGiant.com.

In the name of science I can report that both the Maverick NZ6P-7P155-AD and Escape PZ1P-7P155-HC shifters work (for me, no guarantees or responsibility how it works for you) and appears to retain all functionality including Auto Hold.

The Escape dial has ambient light in the base of the dial, Maverick does not, neither of them have a mechanical / motorized return, it's just the LED indicator emulating that it's moving back.

 

[21st Century Truck]

By the way, I expanded on the original fB post a little bit to add a couple more photos and a link to a quick video I made today at work going through some of the questions I got. Here's a link to that in case anyone might benefit:

Question: what size Gridfinity magnets are appropriate for the magnet holes in the shifter holder & lid?

I just received my very 1st Gridfinity magnet purchase pack and I obviously had bought the wrong size, hence my question to get this right the 2d time.

 

[ENDianDigital]

Question: what size Gridfinity magnets are appropriate for the magnet holes in the shifter holder & lid?

I just received my very 1st Gridfinity magnet purchase pack and I obviously had bought the wrong size, hence my question to get this right the 2d time.

Sorry to hear that. Yeah, I used non-standard magnet sizes from what I think is typical for gridfinity and that mainly had to do with a deal I got on the ones I used.

If memory serves (someone else asked the same question a few days ago) the magnets are 6x2mm. If you want to go 1:1, the magnets I used are included in the BoM on Thingiverse.

Last note: I still have not added magnets to the one in my truck and am still happy with the friction fit. After living with it for a few weeks and some posts earlier in this thread, I do think bringing the walls of the lid in a bit (~.1-.3 mm) or even slightly raising the shift box base similarly would be a good idea to ensure the magnets really snapped together. Just food for thought.

 

[21st Century Truck]

Sorry to hear that. Yeah, I used non-standard magnet sizes from what I think is typical for gridfinity and that mainly had to do with a deal I got on the ones I used.

If memory serves (someone else asked the same question a few days ago) the magnets are 6x2mm. If you want to go 1:1, the magnets I used are included in the BoM on Thingiverse.

Last note: I still have not added magnets to the one in my truck and am still happy with the friction fit. After living with it for a few weeks and some posts earlier in this thread, I do think bringing the walls of the lid in a bit (~.1-.3 mm) or even slightly raising the shift box base similarly would be a good idea to ensure the magnets really snapped together. Just food for thought.

Thanks. And BTW, I love the new avatar

 

[BennyTheBeaver]

Final notes: This version is plain as it gets, no features whatsoever besides the embedded shift box. I also fixed a weird issue that I just noticed where one of my bolt hole stanchions decided to attach to the internal gridfinity feature instead of the console's outside wall and then disappeared when I removed that feature. Shouldn't matter for previous models as I think its plenty strong as is (and maybe even helps to get your wrench back there). Lastly, I made another mat insert for this version as well.

Gentlemen, start your printers

Link to the Thingiverse post for those just joining the thread: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6978586

(shoutout to 2wheeltraveler for making the first remix on the project!)

My printer has been acting up but I'm going to try print this with Carbon Fiber infused PETG. If I can get through the prints unscathed, I will post my results.

Thank you!

 

[ENDianDigital]

My printer has been acting up but I'm going to try print this with Carbon Fiber infused PETG. If I can get through the prints unscathed, I will post my results.

Thank you!

If you want to hold off a bit, I'm going to try seperating the body with the convoluted tool boggle sent me. Feel free to give it a go now of course, but I do think the sidewall will be much sturdier and locked in once I use that tool. I just haven't had time to work on it yet.

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