Another Useful 3D Print

Several years ago, one of the local ski resorts replaced an old 2-person chair with a modern high-speed-detachable quad. They made some of the chairs from the old lift available to the general public. I remember not having much money at the time but I scraped up $250 and bought one. My wife and son brought it home.

The chair sat in my backyard for several months until I scraped together a bit more money and built a frame for it out using wood from Home Depot. Unfortunately I couldn't find a support bar that fit the chair well and so it has been a little off balance. That has not keep people from sitting on the chair and swinging in it and so I haven't spent much effort fixing it.

Last week my son decided that with the help of the 3D printer, we could print a bushing that will hold the bar straight on the support bar. He pulled out my digital calipers and measured the inner diameter of the chair attachment tube and the outer diameter of the support bar. Then he printed a sleeve to go over the support bar. It took over a day to print. Now we will install it this weekend and should have a straight chairlift swing.

After printing the new part, I talked to one of my colleagues who does a lot of 3D printing. As I have mentioned before, he is constantly keeping his 3D printer busy. I asked him his secret and he said, "I look for problems and pain points in my everyday life. Then I try to see if I can print my way out of them."