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Super Glue Gun 12: Glue Gun Design with Fusion 360 Part 2 -- Episode 330

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element14's The Ben Heck Show

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Super Glue Gun
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The Ben Heck Team has finally reached the conclusion of the Super Glue Gun project.  Ben puts the finishing touches on the design using Autodesk Fusion 360, prints the parts, and does final assembly on a proof of concept.  Does the super glue gun live up to his name?  Does it have what it takes to make it on the consumer market? Let us know in the comments below!

 

 

Ben does some more design on the gun barrel using Autodesk Fusion 360.  After getting a few pieces in place, along with front and rear wood to hold the barrel in place, he thinks he's found a way to get the wires through.  He's made a few changes to the motor cap container such as putting a groove into the bottom of it. That should be enough to get the AC and temperature sensor wires out of the barrel.  He'll need to make a place for the motor drive because wires take more space then you think.  You have to be sure to account for them in your design, including any folds, loops or bends they might do. He does a section analysis to “peel back” the surface and ensure the design works with the motor driver.  He’ll print the four halves separately, the two halves of the barrel along with the two halves of the barrel, and glue them together so they represent what a solid piece would look like.

On the front hot end of the gun, you have the AC barrel heater along with the temperature sensor.  He’ll design it with assembly in mind rather than just glue and screw it together.  Kapton tape  is used to insulate the parts from heat as well as electricity. Everything fits together once assembled.  This includes the AC wires, the sensor wires, and the motor drive wires coming out of the back.  This will all go into the base of the handle where all the electronic controls are contained.  Once he glues the halves together he’ll have a completed prototype.  He’ll have to also make some adjustments to allow for an opening for the programming port. Once assembly is complete he’ll test make sure it works before completing the build. Ben does a motor test to ensure that everything is wired correctly.  This is a proof of concept as the 3D printed plastic won’t last long under the heat.  He’ll need to change the temperature profile.  To do this he’ll re-extrude the glue, see what its temperature is, and then scale the thermistor settings to match that.  After doing an extrude test, Ben presents the final reveal!  Along the way to making a really cool glue gun they’ve gotten hands on experience with triacs, touch sensors, and new microcontrollers.

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  • Glue gun turned out really good. And I learnt about the ATTiny20 image

  • Great work!  I do think it would sell a few under the Ben Heck Brand.  It would be the kind of thing I'd put on my Christmas list for a unique gift.

     

    -Sean

  • Hmm... It looks great, Ben &co. And it works, which is the best part!

     

    I like the vents on the front. I think you might add more to the sides to release some of the heat while still keeping the structural integrity of the gun, although, yes, you will need to use a different material. Maybe still a 3D printed material, but alternative to ABS like nylon? At least it would allow for longer testing before going into production and choosing the final material.

    And if you had a greater distance from the heating element to the walls of the gun, that might help as well. The barrel is quite thin at the moment. It could be, perhaps, rounded, and it might still print rather well (standing up rather than horizontally). I see no problem adding some bulk there.

     

    Also, you might be worried about it being overly bulky, but ordinay glue guns don't have half of the stuff that you're adding. Yours will inevitably be bulkier. Adding that might even help with stabilization, you'd have more room for a wider stand.

     

    The gun handle seemed too long to me... if you consider average sized hands.

     

    The stand is problematic as Karen pointed out. As soon as I saw how close it was to the nozzle I thought people would burn their fingers trying to pull it back. But you could have something sticking out on the sides like Trevor suggested above so you'd pull it from there.

     

    I didn't see the anti-dripping function working, and it seems the glue would drip onto the stand which would make it a problem pulling it back.

     

     

    Overall, great project, and I would like to see it improved further. Good job.

  • How about outsourcing a 3D print of the case both in two halves and in a heat resistant plastic/resin in order to give it a more thorough test ?

  • I thought it actually came out well and you made great progress to complete the prototype at the end.  It looked great and when working seemed to work well. 

     

    Maybe on the stand you could of had a small handle out the side of body the gun which could be used the return the stand rather than pushing it in from the front.

  • Very good final episode and post mortem.

     

    Overall, the build worked great and most of the problems could be easily resolved.

     

    One major feature you forgot to tout was the no drip feature.  That alone puts your design ahead of the competition.

     

    Well done.

     

    DAB

  • Awesome! This was a great episode.  Very much like real life, where somethings go smoothly and somethings don't.  Workarounds and redesigns are the daily bread of engineers.

    Gene