3d Printed Control Yoke

[Avro748]

Good news;

I thought I would have to do some complicated woodworking to get my yoke fabricated, but I found someone willing to print it for me. I carefully created plans, sent in the STL, and so far the price comes to about $90, which isn't bad at all. I'll post updates once I receive the pieces. I think the most difficult part will be the PTT switch, as it is the unusual RAF kind.

Update: Price came down to $75 including shipping, pictures further down.

[Shawn]

Not to be a debbie downer but I would be concerned with the strength of the yoke if it's 3D printed with filament. I have a 3D printer and they are fantastic for small parts but with the hundreds of layers all relying on the strength of its neighboring layer they aren't necessarily all that strong. A good option might be to use the 3D printed yoke to make a plastic mold.

Cheers
Shawn

[Avro748]

http://i.imgur.com/MuqDg2Y.jpg

I crudely taped the parts together for the photo, but I think it turned out fairly well for $75

[Shawn]

That looks awesome, nice print job for sure. Once it's assembled and finished you won't be able to tell the difference from the real deal. On my printer I'm guessing those parts would be a 24-30 hour print job so $75 is a great deal. I would suggest running wire guides through the yoke and then filling it with an epoxy resin both for strength and weight. Would you be willing to share the STL file? I would be interested in having a go printing one myself.

Cheers
Shawn

[Avro748]

The only problem is that if I fill it in (it is completely hollow), I won't be able to put wiring through it for the PTT switch. It was printed in PLA using a Rostock Max, according to the owner's website. The model itself I made by ripping the yoke from the VC model of Rick Piper's HS748 and using it as a guide, as it was extremely low-poly. I then used 3ds max to create a hi poly tube and modified it to fit the shape. I feel that this process could come in handy for any hard-to-find yoke. What I will do is paint the cap in the middle black and wrap the grips in black electrical tape and it will look like the real thing.

I can put together a yoke model fairly quickly, and I enjoy doing so, so it would be no problem for me to make you any kind of yoke as opposed to sending you this one.

[Shawn]

I was thinking you could run some flexible hose through the yoke prior to filling it so you could still run your wires afterwards. I don't really need a yoke as I'm currently building a JetRanger sim, I just liked the look of yours a lot and thought it would be good fun to print and build. Thank you for the offer to build me a yoke though, very king offer indeed. And your right, this would be an awesome way for people to get a proper looking yoke in their sim, especially if it's a bit of an odd duck. I am hoping to eventually build the centre stick handle that is commonly seen in Jetrangers and a lot of the early WWII fighters.

[Shawn]

I just noticed you are from BC Avro748, I'm in Kamloops myself, maybe we're neighbors? :)

[Avro748]

I used to live on the Island, I don't anymore though, I moved to the states recently. Anyway, I've attached the STL I used, again the parts are arranged to fit the round bed of the Rostock Max, so you might need to tweak it slightly. Change the file extension to STL when you download it, I had to change it to PDF to upload it. I will warn you that the 748 has an unusually wide yoke, 17" across.

[Shawn]

Thanks Avro, much appreciated.

Shawn

[budman9mm]

This is really a beautiful piece of work. It definitely gives me some food for thought. Just curious if you had a company print it or was it a private individual?

[Avro748]

Just curious if you had a company print it or was it a private individual?
In a way it was both. I went to 3dHubs, which is like Uber for 3d printing. They themselves have no printers, but they source work to hobbyists who own printers. The hobbyists add their printer to 3dHubs and choose what they earn. You upload your STL and it will give you a rough quote from every hub, then you send your STL to the hub itself where the printer owner will look at your file and give you a more precise quote. Since all printers are different, you can talk to the hobbyist directly and they will help you improve your part to suit your needs.

The hardest part is actually modelling the yoke and setting up the model for printing. I'm considering creating a tutorial for it.

[budman9mm]

I was thinking about getting a 3D printer myself, but the route you went seems like a much better idea. If you do a tutorial I would love to know when you get it done!

-Dustin