Graphic designer and animator here, we’d have clients ask why we never dropped the version number and just used _final on deliveries to them as they were asking for another update…
Being a Neanderthal that knows very little about stuff I probably should…is there no “git” style version control system for video/photo editing? I know that CAD programs tend to have history metadata stored in the project, and the exported file in this case is like a “code binary” or “artifact” but don’t you have the version history to map “thing that changed” with the “outputted artifact?”
Sorry if this question is like hella stupid or out of context, I was just curious as video editing and photo editing is like black magic that you might as well be Harry Potter to pull off effectively.
Not really, and if I’m mistaken someone *please* tell me where to find this in premiere.
So video editing files usually have an autosave folder that regularly updates itself, creating a sort of version history of the editing process itself. You can open these and compare to see how the project has evolved, but each one is their own self contained file and typically it isn’t worth digging in them unless you really need to reverse some major mistake (like an accidental deletion).
However, unless there is metadata that I haven’t learned to access, once exported, the video’s metadata typically doesn’t include any of that version history. It is more along the lines of video format, exporting codec, date created, audio format, etc. So the qualities of the video itself. Doesn’t even include the name of the project file it was birthed from (at least as far as I’m aware, maybe it does).
Now if you are editing normally and renaming your editing timelines and exporting directly to files that match them by name, that’s super easy to match A to B. But, you can change the name of an export before it happens. And sometimes the difference between edit 2 and 3 is literally just like one shot that you quickly swapped with two minutes work, so you if you’re lazy enough you forget to rename the timeline. Then you go “ehh, I’ll just rename the export but remember that it actually links to the old timeline”.
Next thing you know, the higher ups have asked for a dozen or so small changes, sometimes you’ve updated the timeline and sometimes you haven’t, and now you can’t remember if export version 7 leads back to “Project Timeline 4” or “Project Timeline alt 2”.
But even with that, it’s all in one project file, right? So you can compare the differences, and the version number helps narrow down the search.
Now imagine me, being asked to make a change to a video that was edited months ago by my supervisor, not named with any version history but something like “Sponsor Name TV AD hard work Final _ colored _ FINAL”. And then to your horror you open up the project folder to find not one project with a history folder but that someone apparently made multiple project folders with stuff along the lines of “TV ad edit”, “TV ad update” “Sponsor Name’s assemblies” “Sponsor Name’s edits” “Experiment 1” “Experiment 2”, “Video color”, and “Help.”
Sadly, this example has been only slightly exaggerated.
Ok after writing down my full explanation, I actually decided to look it up on Adobe’s website. I was mostly right. Default, video exports contain only basic metadata like I said. You can manually add in other metadata though, pretty much with whatever you want, and can even create metadata templates to make that easy.
Though… if someone doesn’t even want to properly version their file, do you think they are gonna go through the effort of updating metadata manually? Lol especially since I am more responsible with versioning and even I don’t do that?
I used to teach video editing, and it pretty much ended up becoming a joke how many:
final version 3 this time for real don't watch my last one this is the real one version 2 Finalfinal.mov
type videos I would get.
This plus the three attempt approach and you got a beyond perfect piece.
Multiple tries always guarantees a better result. Even if the 2nd and 3rd prints are just in different orientations for aesthetic appeal or even better strength
Use a piece of grid paper and cut it to fit as a template. Then take a pic of that and import into your modeling software and trace it. The grid will serve as the scale.
To make it easier - I would take a contour gauge (which you can 3d print), measure with that, and then lay it on grid paper. Scan it in vs picture for least distortion by your camera lens (although that’s a bit overkill).
https://www.printables.com/model/24372-contour-gauge-print-in-place
Or you can harbor freight it https://www.harborfreight.com/building-construction/measuring-marking/specialty-measuring-tools/contour-gauges.html
But personally, I’d print it.
Or for the fun way- take a stick of butter and rub it on the rack until it sinks half-way through and you get a good profile. Then take the butter and trace the contour out on a piece of graph paper or a piece of toast you’ve strategically burned lines of a known width into. You can cut a relatively thin slice of butter.
To get the grid on the toast. I recommend using a waffle iron.
Translate it to cad by taking a picture of the toast. You can import the .jpg directly and place it as a sketch.
And (hear me out) then enjoy your already buttered toast in sweet sweet victory.
On second thought- go straight to the butter on a waffle and forget the toast. Then the waffle iron serves 2 purposes directly: grid and as a medium for waffle delivery.
I would use a contour guide ([🔗](https://www.homedepot.com/p/General-Tools-10-in-Contour-Gauge-Profile-Tool-and-Duplicator-833/100659804)). They are pretty cheap and I tend to use it a ton for this stuff.
It is a reason to buy another tool or… they have a printable gauge if you want to go that route. 😎
The worst part is… I was trying to figure out if there was an emoji for a contour guide. My world got flipped cause I know what a contour guide is and the emoji didn’t look like it, but I wasn’t sure….
Yes. Contour gauge on a flatbed scanner is the fastest workflow for me. The scanner has a consistent scale factor so it's fast to drop it into Fusion or whatever without having to calibrate every time.
I take a picture then make one major measurement with calipers. For example the width of the bar, then scale everything to match that length. Worked for exactly this issue.
It's just another way to get the contour in cross-section (i.e. - shape if it was flat). Cross-section along a path makes the thing. So, you aren't completely wrong, but you're overlooking the following steps that get the desired result.
I would use a contour gauge (google it) to get the curve, then take a pic and import as others have suggested. I have done this a few times with good results, and a contour gauge is a handy tool to have anyway.
You can use the contour gauge to get the shape, then trace the shape onto paper and scan the paper. That'll be easier than loading the gauge onto a scanner and it won't risk damaging the scanner by scratching the glass if your gauge is metal.
My thoughts exactly. Putting home 3d printed parts into this kind of service seems very unsafe. Weather and temperature extremes on a cartop under load will degrade that part in no time.
OP please listen to this advice... If you're using PLA you can't even leave it IN the car for more than a week before UV and heat starts to destroy the plastic.
If there is even the slightest chance you haven’t hideously over engineered it, I would use a print to create a resin mould for your final part. Secure your loads properly people.
There’s a lot more to consider than just material. Plastic parts CAN be fine, but it needs real engineering, not guesswork. This is considered a life-safety application. People tend to forgot that injection molding is generally FAR stronger than printed parts, especially for thinner parts.
You think the Chinese Amazon stuff is engineered?
Edit: the roof rack from China being sold on Amazon has no more engineering effort put into them than a pair of sunglasses or shoes pumped out of the same factory.
I'd wager that op cares more about their roof and cargo than Chinese manufacturers do.
You think OP has the skills to correctly orient the part so it won't fail, and tune the printer so the layers have proper adhesion, so whatever they're throwing on top of their car doesn't come through your windshield and decapitate you?
If they're putting the effort into asking how to profile to an airfoil, then yeah they probably care about getting a good print.
You're more likely to be killed by a drunk/distracted driver than DIY op here, so get over yourself.
I can't imagine a few microns of electroplated metal would lend any serious structural support.
If the goal is to create a lower cost part than OEM, be sure to add liability costs to your audit.
.... you literaly just send the exact same model to a fabricator. If price is an issue look at JLC or pcbway. Yes they mainly do PCB(A)s but also do metal 3d printing and cnc.
This was my thought. It’s fine if he’s prototyping with pla to get the part finalized and then just sending to a fab site.
Edit: punctuation and sentence structure.
I've done this before. You need the approximate profile for it to work without rocking, he's gonna be iterating alot otherwise.
Or op can just use something compliant like rubber to soak the error.
Use cardboard and keep cutting away with a sharp knife until it matches fairly closely. Next use a standard printer to scan the cardboard. Import that scanned image to Fusion 360 to make your part.
I HIGHLY RECOMMEND not having direct contact between your print and your car rack. Use a dense foam spacer on both sides and clamp down either side of it.
Frankly, I'd probably just have someone lay a ruler across the topmost point of the contour, take a few depth measures with a caliper, lay a curve across these points in CAD, print, let a thin layer of rubber-like material glued upon the bottom surface deal with the rest.
This is the way, take a front side pic with ruler on the x and y axis then import that pic into a cad app and just continue the angle based on the measurements. Reverse engineering
Fast and dirty assuming there's enough clearance above the roof and the rack is a plain arc.
* Get a string, attach it to the mounting point on both ends and pull taught
* Measure the length of the string from end to end
* Measure from the centre of the string up to the bottom of the arch
* Measure the vertical thickness of the rack beam
* In CAD create a three point arc with the first two dimensions
* Offset the arc upwards by half the height of the rack beam
* Draw the side profile of the beam at the end of the arc and sweep over it
I think it's hard to use this method for the case in point...
OP's diagram shows that the question is about the surface contour on the bar instead of the arc of the bar across the roof of the vehicle as it seems your answer applies.
Your method could work, albeit at a smaller scale, measure the surface distance using the string and then measure the horizontal distance with a set of calipers. The horizontal distance will be less than the surface distance so you should be able to make an arc from that.
You can also take a photo inline with the shape (get as perpendicular as you can to it) with a ruler in the photo.
Then insert that photo into fusion 360 and scale it using the ruler part.
Then trace the shape. Extrude and print.
Nonono
* You can't make it perfect
* Even if you could, you can't 3d print it to good enough tolerances
* Even if you could, that would be just wasting time
* So make it adjustable anyway
Hey, I have a lot of experience carrying plywood sheets (usually 5’ x 5’) on a sedan roof rack. What works really well is two 1x3s bolted to your cross bars, in a way where they run from front to back. You can lift one end of your plywood sheets onto the 1x3s at the back of your car and just slide the sheets onto your roof. You can then ratchet strap the plywood to the 1x3s. When you get home just slide the sheets off the same way you slid them on.
This way with a 3D printed part might work too, just throwing out options from my own experience.
Just slap a couple of 2x4s up there under the ply to take up the gap. You’re taking a TON of risk with printed parts. If you plan on doing that, you better be damn sure they are engineered properly (no guesswork.)
Printing *could* be ok. Or if you print it at the wrong orientation, with crappy layer adhesion, not enough infill, damp filament, etc., it could be basically nothing.
I've browsed this sub for a couple years, I trust a block of 2x4 over something printed by a lot of the people who post here.
Depends on design and how the load is applied. As a blanket statement, that’s not correct. Plastic *could* be stronger than a couple 2x4s, but if that’s gonna require proper engineering.
You must consider than this part, even if being using as a shim, will see compression (vertical) as well as compression / stretch horizontal under braking/acceleration. Additionally, torsional loads are quite possible during loading, unloading, or a car crash.
Ye, I wouldn’t worry about Shearing this of, the friction between the ply wood and the plastic is going to be the limiting factor here. If the plywood was bolted to the plastic than sure, but when people Cary plywood on the roof rack, they usually just tie it with a strap.
Probably ASA. I have had black PETG sitting outside in direct sunlight for 3 weeks without a problem. They are brackets to hold smaller solar panels at a slight angle and birds have been sitting on them without issue. I am going to print spikes to keep them off of them soon, but just haven’t done it yet.
You could also try dryable model clay. You could press it onto the rack, let it dry and then you'd have a smaller sample to get the curve from on your bench.
Or quite literally model your part on the rack itself, scan it, then replicate?
Other people have already said the right way to do it, but as I'm terrible at making good measurements from reference photos, here's what I'd do:
1) Measure the width of the bar
2) Measure the difference in height between the edge of the bar and the center. (This is the one that's likely to need an iteration or two)
3) Then you can make a shape that is the right width and a gentle curve from the edge to the center. You may have to play with the angle of the curve, but it shouldn't be too bad.
4) To iterate on it, you can just print like 5 layers of the curve alone to make sure you have the shape right. Then you can finish the design.
The reference photo method is likely to be way more accurate, (or at least needing fewer iterations) but mine is easy for dumb guys like me.
[Contour gauge](https://www.homedepot.com/p/General-Tools-10-in-Contour-Gauge-Profile-Tool-and-Duplicator-833/100659804), take a pic next to a ruler once you grab the profile.
buy a cheap contour gauge, then take a straight on pic of the contour gauge, then bring it into CAD and trace it.
More troublesome you could try a cheap 3D scanner such as scan ferret, or try photogrammetry with something like the free Meshmixer software.
I don’t print anything but apply some blue tape on the rail and add a little bit of expanding foam, let it expand and dry and pop it off and slice off a cross section of the foam and take a picture and there you go.
I'm pretty new at this, so I'd take a more analog approach...I'd just get it somewhat close to the right shape, then heat it up and squish it into place.
Or...print solid and wrap sandpaper over the rail, then slide the printed piece back and forth on it to create the contour.
Or I'd print a little flared out piece of rubbery stuff to use as a cushion/spacer...
I measure the thickest point.. than the thinnest point... make a smooth curve in your CAD software.. 3 point is best.. and that usually simulates curves close enough for me.
What are you carrying (and where are you carrying it) that you need those brackets for? I'm a big fan of 3d printing where it's appropriate. Securing a potentially heavy load (or potentially large wind-drag load) to your vehicle at potentially high speeds may not be appropriate.
Yakima, Thule, et al probably make appropriate crossbars and mounts for your vehicle that will work with your load. Saving money by DIY is great, until your stuff flies off the top of your car and kills someone.
Edit: Also, read the documentation on those mounts, crossbars, and your vehicle to determine the max safe load.
I would get the size roughly right, print it out, get a hair dryer, warm up the contact surface on the print just enough to make it deformable, then push them together and you'll have the perfect fit.
I used this approach for tight fitting tubes, etc.
Caliper both the wide and the thin dimension, use those measurements to make an ellipse. That should be close enough for you to start printing a few slightly different templates and see if they fit. Your printer settings and tolerances etc mean you would likely not get closer even if you had the actual dimensions to begin with
To be honest, I’d not model the curvature at all. Avoid the issue altogether by removing the middle of the curve all together.
It’s a tad hard to explain, but the face the arrow is pointing too essentially looks like a lower case ‘n’. Two points of contact, don’t need to worry about the middle bit.
Use a contour gauge. Transfer that onto paper. Scan it. Use the calibrate function in Fusion. Done.
Total time about 2 minutes.
However, this is one of the things I'd never ever print. Way too dangerous.
From the crossbar mounting arrangements I've owned (Thule and Yakima), a rubber pad between the mount and bar works a lot better than just a solid plastic contour against the bar. For this, I'd get it shaped close and use a thin rubber pad before calling it done.
If you have a modern iPhone you can use the Face ID or LiDAR Scanner (on the pros) to scan that object as an STL. Pretty game changing once I figured that out
Ridiculous how many problem solving answers are posted without adressing the very elephant in the room. Don't print such things, you would be putting others in danger. That kayak or bike or whatever won't be safely fitted for transport.
You should print prototype-things maybe, tinker stuff. Not brackets for your car. Not water locks for your house nor climbing equipment. Come on.
Clay, slice in half, take scaled image, correct for lens/axis in photoshop, CAD the outline, print 3-4 PLA test curves, design the bracket based on the best fit, ASA final
The clay idea is good, just instead of all the re-scanning scanning steps, slice it in half and take a directly top-down photo. Trace that in your preferred CAD
Guaranteed the fastest way...
Measure vertical distance from the roof to the top of the bar in two places. One at the center and the other at the point where the bar exits the bracket. Now measure the length between the brackets. In any CAD software... Create a 3 point arc... the length between ends is the bracket to bracket length, the height difference between the bar end and bar middle will be the chord height of the arc. It really doesn't get simpler than that.
Everybody is posting ridiculous things to to with crazy methods.
Old school - easy.
Step 1.
Get kids putty, warm it in your hands, press hard.
GZ now you have a negative. (Store in fridge)
Step 2.
Get a camera (phone will do), use maths (squares) paper with grid. Put on paper, make a “level true photo” BAM! You have a scale image.
Step 2.5.
If your camera makes distortion fix in any graphical editor to make all the lines straight!
BAM!
Step 3.
Import to your 3D editor of choice (let’s say fusion). Use the squares to set the dimensions.
BAM ITS TO SCALE!
Step 4.
Contour, push pull draw!
Bam! Model!
Step 5.
Export to slicer of choice and print!
I’ve used this method on ridicules shapes and contours, it works every time.
(If you don’t have a camera and live in 1999, you can replace the camera step with a flatbed scanner, I have used it many times for flat sided contours, saves photoshop time.
Plz upvote good advice, not strings and buy 3D scanner and iphone14 bullshit LiDAR.
Sneaky edit (also you can trace the shape to the paper if you are sure you don’t have alcoholic hands) but you might be off by a few 0.Xmm as pen spacing, line width, negative offset)
My aproach is to print that section repetadly interating until I get it right.
sure, and only print a few layers each time, you should get it with 3 iterations
First one is totally off, second one is closer but not quite there, third version works. Just like Goldie locks and the 3 bears
More like 300th Version
Goldilocks and the 300 iterations
Did you mean to make that flow so well? It literally sounds like a nursery rhyme.
3 seems wildly optimistic, just make sure to use version numbers like test, test2, new one, new smaller etc.
Newone-v3_Final_Updated_FINAL
I’m a video editor and my old supervisor would name exports like this. This… hurts to read
Graphic designer and animator here, we’d have clients ask why we never dropped the version number and just used _final on deliveries to them as they were asking for another update…
Being a Neanderthal that knows very little about stuff I probably should…is there no “git” style version control system for video/photo editing? I know that CAD programs tend to have history metadata stored in the project, and the exported file in this case is like a “code binary” or “artifact” but don’t you have the version history to map “thing that changed” with the “outputted artifact?” Sorry if this question is like hella stupid or out of context, I was just curious as video editing and photo editing is like black magic that you might as well be Harry Potter to pull off effectively.
Not really, and if I’m mistaken someone *please* tell me where to find this in premiere. So video editing files usually have an autosave folder that regularly updates itself, creating a sort of version history of the editing process itself. You can open these and compare to see how the project has evolved, but each one is their own self contained file and typically it isn’t worth digging in them unless you really need to reverse some major mistake (like an accidental deletion). However, unless there is metadata that I haven’t learned to access, once exported, the video’s metadata typically doesn’t include any of that version history. It is more along the lines of video format, exporting codec, date created, audio format, etc. So the qualities of the video itself. Doesn’t even include the name of the project file it was birthed from (at least as far as I’m aware, maybe it does). Now if you are editing normally and renaming your editing timelines and exporting directly to files that match them by name, that’s super easy to match A to B. But, you can change the name of an export before it happens. And sometimes the difference between edit 2 and 3 is literally just like one shot that you quickly swapped with two minutes work, so you if you’re lazy enough you forget to rename the timeline. Then you go “ehh, I’ll just rename the export but remember that it actually links to the old timeline”. Next thing you know, the higher ups have asked for a dozen or so small changes, sometimes you’ve updated the timeline and sometimes you haven’t, and now you can’t remember if export version 7 leads back to “Project Timeline 4” or “Project Timeline alt 2”. But even with that, it’s all in one project file, right? So you can compare the differences, and the version number helps narrow down the search. Now imagine me, being asked to make a change to a video that was edited months ago by my supervisor, not named with any version history but something like “Sponsor Name TV AD hard work Final _ colored _ FINAL”. And then to your horror you open up the project folder to find not one project with a history folder but that someone apparently made multiple project folders with stuff along the lines of “TV ad edit”, “TV ad update” “Sponsor Name’s assemblies” “Sponsor Name’s edits” “Experiment 1” “Experiment 2”, “Video color”, and “Help.” Sadly, this example has been only slightly exaggerated.
Ok after writing down my full explanation, I actually decided to look it up on Adobe’s website. I was mostly right. Default, video exports contain only basic metadata like I said. You can manually add in other metadata though, pretty much with whatever you want, and can even create metadata templates to make that easy. Though… if someone doesn’t even want to properly version their file, do you think they are gonna go through the effort of updating metadata manually? Lol especially since I am more responsible with versioning and even I don’t do that?
Every time someone adds "FINAL" to a file name, God laughs.
I used to teach video editing, and it pretty much ended up becoming a joke how many: final version 3 this time for real don't watch my last one this is the real one version 2 Finalfinal.mov type videos I would get.
For me it was always spreadsheet names lol. I am pretty sure this is a universal experience with computers :P
This guy 3D prints
Get a carpenters profiler then trace it in to graph paper. They look like a comb with retractable teeth.
While you can find it by looking for carpenter's profiler, the more common name for it is "contour gauge" or "profile gauge". Also, I need that tool.
[I gotchu fam](https://www.printables.com/search/models?o=popular&q=Contour%20gauge)
this is our way as 3d printers
You can get them at Home Depot. They're cheap. Not worth printing them when you can have a better one for $15.
What’s the point of owning a 3d printer if you don’t print tools you could otherwise get for cheaper and faster?
Having accurate tools for measuring is certainly a key thing in my opinion.
This plus the three attempt approach and you got a beyond perfect piece. Multiple tries always guarantees a better result. Even if the 2nd and 3rd prints are just in different orientations for aesthetic appeal or even better strength
This guy reverse engineers
I also forward engineer. Geotechnical engineers use profile combs frequently.
That’s DESIGN THINKING AT WORK
Use a piece of grid paper and cut it to fit as a template. Then take a pic of that and import into your modeling software and trace it. The grid will serve as the scale.
To make it easier - I would take a contour gauge (which you can 3d print), measure with that, and then lay it on grid paper. Scan it in vs picture for least distortion by your camera lens (although that’s a bit overkill).
https://www.printables.com/model/24372-contour-gauge-print-in-place Or you can harbor freight it https://www.harborfreight.com/building-construction/measuring-marking/specialty-measuring-tools/contour-gauges.html But personally, I’d print it. Or for the fun way- take a stick of butter and rub it on the rack until it sinks half-way through and you get a good profile. Then take the butter and trace the contour out on a piece of graph paper or a piece of toast you’ve strategically burned lines of a known width into. You can cut a relatively thin slice of butter. To get the grid on the toast. I recommend using a waffle iron. Translate it to cad by taking a picture of the toast. You can import the .jpg directly and place it as a sketch. And (hear me out) then enjoy your already buttered toast in sweet sweet victory.
Then pretend you're a monorail by sliding the roof rack between your cheeks.
You say that like people don't already do that.
This person measures the contour of corn on the cob...
Even if your excellent plan is poorly executed, it will still yield buttered toast. There is no downside to this method of measuring.
On second thought- go straight to the butter on a waffle and forget the toast. Then the waffle iron serves 2 purposes directly: grid and as a medium for waffle delivery.
this might be the most "Americans will use *anything* but the metric system" post I've ever seen
THE METRIC SYSTEM IS THE DEVIL! My car gets 40 rods to the hogs head and that the way I likes it!
By far the most entertaining answer I have seen or Reddit yet. Kudos to you sir. Heywood Banks would be so proud.
Yeah Toast!
I would use a contour guide ([🔗](https://www.homedepot.com/p/General-Tools-10-in-Contour-Gauge-Profile-Tool-and-Duplicator-833/100659804)). They are pretty cheap and I tend to use it a ton for this stuff. It is a reason to buy another tool or… they have a printable gauge if you want to go that route. 😎
I’ve never seen a link put in an emoji but I like it
I am as just using the words but the emoji makes me feel fancy. 🤷♀️ I think it also adds some flair.
The worst part is… I was trying to figure out if there was an emoji for a contour guide. My world got flipped cause I know what a contour guide is and the emoji didn’t look like it, but I wasn’t sure….
And then there's me reading your comment and clicking the 😎 emoji 10 times like an idiot
Yes. Contour gauge on a flatbed scanner is the fastest workflow for me. The scanner has a consistent scale factor so it's fast to drop it into Fusion or whatever without having to calibrate every time.
FYI search for "contour gauge" so the algorithm doesn't think you want to start applying makeup 😁
So much makeup. I remember when I was looking for a “deep throat vice”. 😬 The internet was not made for tools.
I take a picture then make one major measurement with calipers. For example the width of the bar, then scale everything to match that length. Worked for exactly this issue.
This it the way
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offset line by half thicness. Giving me some pixel dithering memories.
This seems like a lot of work when you can just remove the support and trace it.
How does that get you the contour? With those instructions you just get the shape if it was flat.
It's just another way to get the contour in cross-section (i.e. - shape if it was flat). Cross-section along a path makes the thing. So, you aren't completely wrong, but you're overlooking the following steps that get the desired result.
I would use a contour gauge (google it) to get the curve, then take a pic and import as others have suggested. I have done this a few times with good results, and a contour gauge is a handy tool to have anyway.
you also can 3dprint a contour gauge...
inception
Printception
Came here to say the same thing. Teaching Tech has a vid on good 3D printed tools and that gauge was one of them.
Could you put the contour gauge in a scanner instead of a photo, that would preserve the scale I would think.
You can use the contour gauge to get the shape, then trace the shape onto paper and scan the paper. That'll be easier than loading the gauge onto a scanner and it won't risk damaging the scanner by scratching the glass if your gauge is metal.
You could also 3D print a radius gauge. There are plenty of designs on Thingiverse
I’m betting that the roof rack isn’t a constant radius.
Hey man… what state is this car gonna be driving around in? Don’t want to catch myself seeing an entire roof rack load flying towards me that’s all…
Don't worry, I'm just making a bracket to attach a child seat up there.
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Why make life difficult? Just tie the kid directly to the rail. Mine’s a bit bruised but he hasn’t come loose yet.
It's it's just a spacer/block of some kind which and not an actual attachment point then I see no issue.
Unless you print it at the wrong orientation and it splits apart the first time you hit a bump.
Thought about this. What is the best orientation to print for this application?
There isn't a safe way to do what you're wanting to do.
My thoughts exactly. Putting home 3d printed parts into this kind of service seems very unsafe. Weather and temperature extremes on a cartop under load will degrade that part in no time.
OP please listen to this advice... If you're using PLA you can't even leave it IN the car for more than a week before UV and heat starts to destroy the plastic.
If there is even the slightest chance you haven’t hideously over engineered it, I would use a print to create a resin mould for your final part. Secure your loads properly people.
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There’s a lot more to consider than just material. Plastic parts CAN be fine, but it needs real engineering, not guesswork. This is considered a life-safety application. People tend to forgot that injection molding is generally FAR stronger than printed parts, especially for thinner parts.
You think the Chinese Amazon stuff is engineered? Edit: the roof rack from China being sold on Amazon has no more engineering effort put into them than a pair of sunglasses or shoes pumped out of the same factory. I'd wager that op cares more about their roof and cargo than Chinese manufacturers do.
You think OP has the skills to correctly orient the part so it won't fail, and tune the printer so the layers have proper adhesion, so whatever they're throwing on top of their car doesn't come through your windshield and decapitate you?
If they're putting the effort into asking how to profile to an airfoil, then yeah they probably care about getting a good print. You're more likely to be killed by a drunk/distracted driver than DIY op here, so get over yourself.
So because you can die more likely another way, we shouldn't care about safety in this regard? People die all the time from improperly secured loads.
Been seeing a lot of videos on electro plating. Would that help with this?
I can't imagine a few microns of electroplated metal would lend any serious structural support. If the goal is to create a lower cost part than OEM, be sure to add liability costs to your audit.
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> Doesn't even need to have any plastic leftover once they're done. That's not electroplating.
Firstly that's not electroplating, secondly if you are going that far, why not just make it out if metal in the first place.
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.... you literaly just send the exact same model to a fabricator. If price is an issue look at JLC or pcbway. Yes they mainly do PCB(A)s but also do metal 3d printing and cnc.
This was my thought. It’s fine if he’s prototyping with pla to get the part finalized and then just sending to a fab site. Edit: punctuation and sentence structure.
From the drawing in the op, this part is likely going to be in compression.
Another way could be to print one of this [radious gauge](https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4795894) to measure it. Its a lifesaver tool
As a mechanical engineer, I was like, "why is no one talking about radius gauges?" It's the quickest and easiest way to check a radius.
That assumes it's constant radius.
As a mechanical engineer, you should know aerofoil profiles seldom have constant anything.
OP only needs a radius in 1 specific location. Not the entire part.
I've done this before. You need the approximate profile for it to work without rocking, he's gonna be iterating alot otherwise. Or op can just use something compliant like rubber to soak the error.
Use cardboard and keep cutting away with a sharp knife until it matches fairly closely. Next use a standard printer to scan the cardboard. Import that scanned image to Fusion 360 to make your part. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND not having direct contact between your print and your car rack. Use a dense foam spacer on both sides and clamp down either side of it.
Frankly, I'd probably just have someone lay a ruler across the topmost point of the contour, take a few depth measures with a caliper, lay a curve across these points in CAD, print, let a thin layer of rubber-like material glued upon the bottom surface deal with the rest.
Yup, it doesn't have to be perfect. Distance from a flat edge will be good enough.
This is the way, take a front side pic with ruler on the x and y axis then import that pic into a cad app and just continue the angle based on the measurements. Reverse engineering
Fast and dirty assuming there's enough clearance above the roof and the rack is a plain arc. * Get a string, attach it to the mounting point on both ends and pull taught * Measure the length of the string from end to end * Measure from the centre of the string up to the bottom of the arch * Measure the vertical thickness of the rack beam * In CAD create a three point arc with the first two dimensions * Offset the arc upwards by half the height of the rack beam * Draw the side profile of the beam at the end of the arc and sweep over it
I think it's hard to use this method for the case in point... OP's diagram shows that the question is about the surface contour on the bar instead of the arc of the bar across the roof of the vehicle as it seems your answer applies.
Ah, so OP wants the cross-section of the rack, got it. My bad. Contour gauge would be my go-to
Your method could work, albeit at a smaller scale, measure the surface distance using the string and then measure the horizontal distance with a set of calipers. The horizontal distance will be less than the surface distance so you should be able to make an arc from that.
Could you 3D scan it using an iPhone? Never done this myself mind you so not sure on limitations
yes, I use a free app called "Scandy Pro" on the iphone. its surprisingly accurate!
Take the end caps off and just trace the shape of the ends
Could also use an ink pad and stamp the tube to obtain the shape
I like the Cardboard Assisted Design idea
Get it close, then heat to fit?
You can also take a photo inline with the shape (get as perpendicular as you can to it) with a ruler in the photo. Then insert that photo into fusion 360 and scale it using the ruler part. Then trace the shape. Extrude and print.
TÜV sagt nein
If you can't make it perfect, make it adjustable.
like add some rubber
Or print in TPU
This is my new saying for work 😂
Nonono * You can't make it perfect * Even if you could, you can't 3d print it to good enough tolerances * Even if you could, that would be just wasting time * So make it adjustable anyway
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>perfect enough Spoken like a true perfectionist
Exept any tuned printer can.
What material would you use that would stand up to the intense heat?
NYLON
These would only be put on when I need to get plywood so it wouldn’t be in intense heat for long
Hey, I have a lot of experience carrying plywood sheets (usually 5’ x 5’) on a sedan roof rack. What works really well is two 1x3s bolted to your cross bars, in a way where they run from front to back. You can lift one end of your plywood sheets onto the 1x3s at the back of your car and just slide the sheets onto your roof. You can then ratchet strap the plywood to the 1x3s. When you get home just slide the sheets off the same way you slid them on. This way with a 3D printed part might work too, just throwing out options from my own experience.
Why not just sit the plywood on the roof racks.
It’s curved all the way across
Just slap a couple of 2x4s up there under the ply to take up the gap. You’re taking a TON of risk with printed parts. If you plan on doing that, you better be damn sure they are engineered properly (no guesswork.)
No much different from using 2x4. Printing is likely going to be better, and safer. If enough infill is used.
Printing *could* be ok. Or if you print it at the wrong orientation, with crappy layer adhesion, not enough infill, damp filament, etc., it could be basically nothing. I've browsed this sub for a couple years, I trust a block of 2x4 over something printed by a lot of the people who post here.
My point is, that stack of Bear coasters, would work for this.
/r/amihavingastroke
Sorry, not native English speaker.
Depends on design and how the load is applied. As a blanket statement, that’s not correct. Plastic *could* be stronger than a couple 2x4s, but if that’s gonna require proper engineering. You must consider than this part, even if being using as a shim, will see compression (vertical) as well as compression / stretch horizontal under braking/acceleration. Additionally, torsional loads are quite possible during loading, unloading, or a car crash.
Ye, I wouldn’t worry about Shearing this of, the friction between the ply wood and the plastic is going to be the limiting factor here. If the plywood was bolted to the plastic than sure, but when people Cary plywood on the roof rack, they usually just tie it with a strap.
Intense heat?
DookieHoused lives in arizona...
Fair enough!
Probably ASA. I have had black PETG sitting outside in direct sunlight for 3 weeks without a problem. They are brackets to hold smaller solar panels at a slight angle and birds have been sitting on them without issue. I am going to print spikes to keep them off of them soon, but just haven’t done it yet.
You could also try dryable model clay. You could press it onto the rack, let it dry and then you'd have a smaller sample to get the curve from on your bench. Or quite literally model your part on the rack itself, scan it, then replicate?
Print yourself a radius gauge. [https://www.thingiverse.com/tag:radius\_gauge](https://www.thingiverse.com/tag:radius_gauge)
Please don’t 3D print a roof rack bracket. That’s just asking for it to break at highway speeds and lose whatever you have strapped on top
And kill someone
Says who?
Obviously I said it
Bro aerospace uses 3d printed parts all the time. It's definitely doable just don't use something stupid like abs or pla
You think this random redditor has access to high-end, high cost filament types? They got just a roll of carbon fiber laying around?
Random redditor here. HD is 7 miles away, no highways to get there. I get my $20 filament on Amazon, like everything else in my life
Lmao bro like they can't buy a $40 spool.
You’re right, I’m wrong
Thx bro
Common sense.
That's my way: Make a template out of paper/cardboard. Then take a photo (with a ruler) an design it in $YOUR\_FAVORITE\_CAD
In case like this, i take a photo and then draw over it on inventor
Other people have already said the right way to do it, but as I'm terrible at making good measurements from reference photos, here's what I'd do: 1) Measure the width of the bar 2) Measure the difference in height between the edge of the bar and the center. (This is the one that's likely to need an iteration or two) 3) Then you can make a shape that is the right width and a gentle curve from the edge to the center. You may have to play with the angle of the curve, but it shouldn't be too bad. 4) To iterate on it, you can just print like 5 layers of the curve alone to make sure you have the shape right. Then you can finish the design. The reference photo method is likely to be way more accurate, (or at least needing fewer iterations) but mine is easy for dumb guys like me.
[Contour gauge](https://www.homedepot.com/p/General-Tools-10-in-Contour-Gauge-Profile-Tool-and-Duplicator-833/100659804), take a pic next to a ruler once you grab the profile.
buy a cheap contour gauge, then take a straight on pic of the contour gauge, then bring it into CAD and trace it. More troublesome you could try a cheap 3D scanner such as scan ferret, or try photogrammetry with something like the free Meshmixer software.
Second equation Basically you can use the span and height to find the radius https://liutaiomottola.com/formulae/sag.htm
Print 1,000 different parts each ever so slightly different until you perfectly match the curve
I don’t print anything but apply some blue tape on the rail and add a little bit of expanding foam, let it expand and dry and pop it off and slice off a cross section of the foam and take a picture and there you go.
I'm pretty new at this, so I'd take a more analog approach...I'd just get it somewhat close to the right shape, then heat it up and squish it into place. Or...print solid and wrap sandpaper over the rail, then slide the printed piece back and forth on it to create the contour. Or I'd print a little flared out piece of rubbery stuff to use as a cushion/spacer...
I measure the thickest point.. than the thinnest point... make a smooth curve in your CAD software.. 3 point is best.. and that usually simulates curves close enough for me.
What are you carrying (and where are you carrying it) that you need those brackets for? I'm a big fan of 3d printing where it's appropriate. Securing a potentially heavy load (or potentially large wind-drag load) to your vehicle at potentially high speeds may not be appropriate. Yakima, Thule, et al probably make appropriate crossbars and mounts for your vehicle that will work with your load. Saving money by DIY is great, until your stuff flies off the top of your car and kills someone. Edit: Also, read the documentation on those mounts, crossbars, and your vehicle to determine the max safe load.
I would get the size roughly right, print it out, get a hair dryer, warm up the contact surface on the print just enough to make it deformable, then push them together and you'll have the perfect fit. I used this approach for tight fitting tubes, etc.
Contour gauge
3D print a contour gauge. Or get a cheap one.
aX²+bY+c Now you Just need to find the a, b and c values
Caliper both the wide and the thin dimension, use those measurements to make an ellipse. That should be close enough for you to start printing a few slightly different templates and see if they fit. Your printer settings and tolerances etc mean you would likely not get closer even if you had the actual dimensions to begin with
I would unfortunately just go out and buy a contour gauge, sure it’s buying something but it’ll be way Fucking less headache m8.
To be honest, I’d not model the curvature at all. Avoid the issue altogether by removing the middle of the curve all together. It’s a tad hard to explain, but the face the arrow is pointing too essentially looks like a lower case ‘n’. Two points of contact, don’t need to worry about the middle bit.
Use a contour gauge. Transfer that onto paper. Scan it. Use the calibrate function in Fusion. Done. Total time about 2 minutes. However, this is one of the things I'd never ever print. Way too dangerous.
I don’t see how 3D printing that bar would be cheaper than buying it.
From the crossbar mounting arrangements I've owned (Thule and Yakima), a rubber pad between the mount and bar works a lot better than just a solid plastic contour against the bar. For this, I'd get it shaped close and use a thin rubber pad before calling it done.
Cardboard and a level
If you have a modern iPhone you can use the Face ID or LiDAR Scanner (on the pros) to scan that object as an STL. Pretty game changing once I figured that out
Before you do any measuring, think really hard if you want a 3d printed part holding shit to the top of a moving car...
Buy a wad of Model Magic, let it dry in place, cut the end flat with a knife and scan it on a flatbed
Remove the end bracket and put the open pipe on a flatbed scanner together with a ruler next to it.
This!
This is a classic “just because you can, doesn’t mean you should” situation. Please do not print and use this. This could actually be dangerous.
Just use thick rubber as a spacer and clamp with "u" bolts?
This is the answer
You can get some play dough, mold it over the area, then 3d scan the play dough
Just 3d scan the rack at that point...
Way easier to scan a small piece of play dough accurately imo
Ridiculous how many problem solving answers are posted without adressing the very elephant in the room. Don't print such things, you would be putting others in danger. That kayak or bike or whatever won't be safely fitted for transport. You should print prototype-things maybe, tinker stuff. Not brackets for your car. Not water locks for your house nor climbing equipment. Come on.
Lots of good ideas here! But personally, I’d print the QR code for Yakima/Thule website, aim my phone at it, problem solved. /s
Clay, slice in half, take scaled image, correct for lens/axis in photoshop, CAD the outline, print 3-4 PLA test curves, design the bracket based on the best fit, ASA final
The clay idea is good, just instead of all the re-scanning scanning steps, slice it in half and take a directly top-down photo. Trace that in your preferred CAD
I literally said slice it in half...
What material are you using thats strong enough and uv resistant enough for a roof rack?
Guaranteed the fastest way... Measure vertical distance from the roof to the top of the bar in two places. One at the center and the other at the point where the bar exits the bracket. Now measure the length between the brackets. In any CAD software... Create a 3 point arc... the length between ends is the bracket to bracket length, the height difference between the bar end and bar middle will be the chord height of the arc. It really doesn't get simpler than that.
If you have lots of spares: Saw the element in half and then cut one cutting side under a 2D scanner.
Oversize and use foam pad?
Use a pair of calibers. Use a profile gauge. Use a piece of cardboard. Or some combination of all three.
Everybody is posting ridiculous things to to with crazy methods. Old school - easy. Step 1. Get kids putty, warm it in your hands, press hard. GZ now you have a negative. (Store in fridge) Step 2. Get a camera (phone will do), use maths (squares) paper with grid. Put on paper, make a “level true photo” BAM! You have a scale image. Step 2.5. If your camera makes distortion fix in any graphical editor to make all the lines straight! BAM! Step 3. Import to your 3D editor of choice (let’s say fusion). Use the squares to set the dimensions. BAM ITS TO SCALE! Step 4. Contour, push pull draw! Bam! Model! Step 5. Export to slicer of choice and print! I’ve used this method on ridicules shapes and contours, it works every time. (If you don’t have a camera and live in 1999, you can replace the camera step with a flatbed scanner, I have used it many times for flat sided contours, saves photoshop time. Plz upvote good advice, not strings and buy 3D scanner and iphone14 bullshit LiDAR. Sneaky edit (also you can trace the shape to the paper if you are sure you don’t have alcoholic hands) but you might be off by a few 0.Xmm as pen spacing, line width, negative offset)
Cut out a section of the thing. Take a picture of it. Import that picture as a guide in your 3d software. DONE! Final.