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3D Printed First Gen parts

I'm pretty good at designing and printing parts, but I ended up just cutting a new armrest out of 3/4 inch hardwood plywood I had lying around. It took about 2 hours start to finish. It would have taken much more than that to design and print this part and would have used probably close to a roll of filament. I ended up just pulling off the existing remnants of the armrest, tracing it out on the wood and cutting. Sometimes it's best just to grab the jigsaw...

This week I also made a door hinge pin retainer clip because I didn't trust the aftermarket generic ones and didn't feel like paying and waiting for something that may or may not fit. My creation ended up looking nothing like the OEM part and may even be robuster, but it took at least a couple hours to get a design that worked. I've also made a blower knob, a liftgate actuator, and believe it or not, a front wheel spindle socket that actually worked since the nut is so big and is just barely more than hand-tightened. I've made dozens of parts for things around the office, house, garage, motorcycles. Most of the time it's because I can't find things for purchase that meet my particular spec. I use Fusion 360 for design because it's free for hobbyists. But having said that, you better have some time to waste because designing and printing useful parts is a pretty involved skill.

View attachment 464156

I had hoped someone would offer a 3D printed armrest for the manual window Explorers. This is a nice alternative.
 






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