Sometimes - You Just Have To Make Your Own.



ABNPFDR

Active Member
Sep 24, 2014
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I was trying to mount my old GoPro (Hero 2) to my MTB the other day and the handlebar mount just was not working. The carbon bars are tapered and the clumsy clamp just was not working. I have a Barfly 3.0 MTB for my Garmin and I was thinking that it would be neat to have a mount that just snaps right in.

So I made one. Took a few prototypes but I modeled it in CAD and then sent it to the 3D printer at work. Took a few prototypes to get the fitting nice an tight - and to get it to be strong enough but Volia!

IMG_0758_edit.jpg

The weight flexes the Barfly MTB a little too much, the aluminum K-Edge would work better. The Barfly 2.0 on the road bike is more stable but the dual position mount puts some back and fourth wobble on it. I have other mounts on the workbench but a much cleaner installation than that awful bar clamp.
 
Nice. Which CAD package did you use? Solidworks? MasterCam? Cadkey? Autodesk?

Most of my prototypes get CNC milled out of aluminum, but I'm doing some mold masks off a 3-D printer in resin. The high-accuracy printers are something to behold. Super smooth surface finishes and the accuracy will soon rival machining tolerances.
 
Good stuff, I am guilty of "McGyverisms" myself. I grew up having to make do with the materials I had so I developed a creative side. Too bad such talents are going away in our throw away society.
 
@Bob - Autodesk AutoCAD. I have Solidworks as well but I know AutoCAD better. I also have 3DSMax from back in the days when I was doing some modeling for a video game. I know Max the best.

I only wish I had access to CNC milling machines. Would love to make stuff out of aluminum.

We got one of the 3D printers at work more or less as a toy. It's really there as a proof of concept to see if it can be integrated into our workflow. It's not a good one but will teach us what we need to know. I'm the only one at the company that knows how to design in 3D so I get to play with it. Cool, because I've been working on building an RC scale replica of a Shorts 330/C-23 Sherpa airplane and the biggest issue I had was a clean rudder linkage. I wanted to hide it in the horizontal stabilizer but had no way to make the parts for it... now I do.
 
3-D printing has become very inexpensive.

Mt wife's cuz is an RC nut. If you're printing linkage components...you're into it even more than him. That's pretty committed work to go to that amount of work and detail.

I should talk...I machined a stainless steel adjustable butthook (get yer mind out of the gutter, JH!) for one of my Anschutz 3-position target rifles. That was something like 20 individual pieces parts just to avoid paying Annie a ton of money for an off-the-shelf assembly. Yeah...I'm stupid like that.

Nice job on the mount design! Try it a K-Edge...probably rock solid then.
 
CAMPYBOB said:
3-D printing has become very inexpensive.

Mt wife's cuz is an RC nut. If you're printing linkage components...you're into it even more than him. That's pretty committed work to go to that amount of work and detail.

I should talk...I machined a stainless steel adjustable butthook (get yer mind out of the gutter, JH!) for one of my Anschutz 3-position target rifles. That was something like 20 individual pieces parts just to avoid paying Annie a ton of money for an off-the-shelf assembly. Yeah...I'm stupid like that.

Nice job on the mount design! Try it a K-Edge...probably rock solid then.

I say what a man wants to hook in his butt is his own business. You will get no criticism from me.
 
Here...try this!

Anschutz%20Butt%20Plate.jpg


No wait. On second thought, you'ld actually enjoy it...
 
Sorry Bob I was born a giver, not a receiver. "Not that there is anything wrong with that".
 
Damned backwoods lawyer! I can hear banjo music drowning out the sound of a 3-D printer that's making Tenn. sex toys!

Which resin did you use, ABNPFDR? Any concerns about the mount taking the constant vibration of the GoPro?
 
It's ABS plastic. I'm not worried about the part of the adapter that the go pro mounts to. With the direction of the lay up its pretty strong. The only part of it I worry about are the Locking tabs. I have an idea for the next prototype if they don't hold up.
 
I can't tell what fillet radius you used at the bottom of the splice joint fingers, but I would use a full radiu on the next version just to eliminate a potential stress riser area.

I agree that the lock tabs are the thinnest and potentially the weakest area. Even Garmin has some trouble with busted tabs...probably operator error from ham-fisted folks that could bust an anvil with a rubber mallet...and there's lots of *****ing about those tabs on the various websites.

It might be possible to thicken them up a few thou.

Overall...outstanding job and a cool approach to mounting the GoPro. Colin may be in touch for one of those!