3D Printed Mouse Droid Parts

In the Mouse Droid Builders Facebook Group there was a post from member Azman Sugi who posted pictures of his Mouse Droids Train (the way we have seen them in some books and on Wookiepedia). 

Seeing this gave me the idea that it was time to revive my 3D Printed Mouse Droid Parts project. First step was to get a hold of a lower shell to do all of the work on. The lower shell below is cut out from foam-board using the plans that were shared by Ziz. The foam-board was acquired from one of those Dollar Stores. A simple box cutter (the type that you can break off tips) was used to cut out the parts. As for assembly I use a hot glue gun and clear tape. At this time I am still modifying bottom of the shell to better suit the tires once things are all mounted in place. The front wheels area will need to accommodate the tires turning left and right for steering. Once the modifications are complete I will draw things out on a CAD program for the bottom of the shell to match up with Ziz's plans.

Michael Erwin created a 3D printable set of wheel rims for a full scale Mouse Droid with a three hole bolt pattern to match the hardware included with the Resurrection chassis. Paul Murphy took Michael's rear tire design and changed it up so that it would use the standard parts sold by RJ Speed for their "Legends" ladder frame chassis which used a four hole bolt pattern. In wanting to try to make as many of the parts myself I created a new hub to work with Paul's wheels which would adapt it to a 1/4 inch steel shaft.  

[Note: To find Paul's Mouse Droid Designs go to: Onshape and search for "MSE-6 greeblies"]

These hubs and rims were coupled with a axle design that I created based on my design from my A&A Mouse Droid.  

I will be sharing my axle parts shortly online. Feel free to message me if you need them. 

With the way that these wheels & hubs are displayed here in the pictures they are on the shaft with a friction fit. They would work fine as is if you were making these parts for slaves in part of a Mouse Droid Chain such as Azman's. Maybe you might add a little glue or something to the shaft to keep the hubs from popping off the ends if you drilled out the hole too large.

Here is a list of parts used for the rear axle build.

Next on the list of stuff is to create a way to transfer power to those rear wheels so that this design can be used universally. Keeping the spirit of designing the parts and using my 3D Printer to make as much as I can here are my thoughts. Since I have those long 3mm screws coming out of the back of the wheels I might use them along with another shaft collar with a long set screw. The long set screw will be pinned down in place with a small piece of sheet metal being held in place by those 3mm screws. 

So I'll be using two 16 tooth sprokets, a length of 0.250 chain, a 80 tooth 32 pitch gear, and a 20 tooth gear to transfer power from a motor and to the rear axle. 

Foam Tires:

When ordering foam tires for your 3D Printed rims you must understand that every machine & material is different. So you must measure the rims and send the information in for the proper size to be delivered to you. When ordering state in the comments: "NEEDS to be XXmm OD. No truing or cleanup just a raw edge. " XX = the OD you specify. You can order your foam tires from this website: http://tmrcracing.com/Donuts-Donuts.htm

When ordering tires from this place follow this information to place the order correctly (OD stands for outer diameter, and ID stands for Inner Diameter):

The tire compound is "Black" and request No truing or cleanup, you want just a raw edge.

Front tire (donut): 75mm OD X The width of your wheel rim X The OD of your front wheel rim minus 2mm will equal the ID of the front donut.

Rear tire (donut): 80mm OD X The width of your wheel rim X The OD of your rear wheel rim minus 2mm will equal the ID of the rear donut.

When you get them they may be off a bit. He said he'll try and get them as close as possible to the dimensions you specify. However I have found you chuck your wheels in a drill press and sand them down if you need to.

Gear tower transmission:

I took my basic design from my A&A Mouse Droid and tried to improve on it in a new way since I am now able to 3D print.  Here is what my design is looking like. I was able to find files for the gears and hubs so I added them into pictures to help you understand.

I am including the different views & phases that the design has gone through. 

So my son asked that I continue to prototype this build on out 3D printer as opposed to getting the bottom tray laser cut or done on a CNC router table.