• This is how I created the brackets

    braeden larson • 02/20/2018 at 16:38 • 0 comments

    The valance on the top of window blinds is held in place with two small plastic brackets. In my house, these brackets have broken on multiple windows so the valances could no longer be held up. I was asked by my father to recreate the brackets with my 3D printer and to print replacement brackets so he could hang the valances which had come down. To do this, I first used a black sharpie to darken one side of the transparent bracket. This allowed me to take a clear picture of the bracket. I then used a photo editing program to convert the photo to a clear, black and white, outline of the bracket. The outline was needed to convert the image to an SVG file. SVG files are 2D graphics that you can interact with. I converted the SVG file I had created into a STL file using http://svg2stl.com. I imported the STL file into Sketchup and when I had finished correcting the size and shape of the new virtual bracket, I exported it as an STL file which could then be sliced and printed. I used Cura to slice the bracket and my Monoprice IIIP 3D printer to print the brackets. I printed the brackets out of PLA at around 75% infill. These were strong enough to hold the valances up with two brackets per window.