3d printing kayak gear

I've been here a while, mostly trolling deep posts for relevant info over the years, not really posting. I hadn't had my kayak out for a few years and had accumulated a bit of gear I needed to hang off the old bird. In the meanwhile, I had realized I'd put in some 3d printers, a CNC router, and a laser cutter into my kitchen.. I guess I'd better start using one rather than spending more dough.



I have a Perception Sports Pescador 12 which is a repop off Wilderness Systems now-ancient Tarpon 120 design. It put a Lowrance mount up in a really difficult spot to get at. Someone on thingiverse had posted up a rail mount, but it was a really bad design and the author had just pushed two solid files inside each other. They didn't mesh and it didn't print right, but I was able to 'virtually' mic off it's dimensions in CAD and redo it. I also busted out the calipers and measured the distances for the m3 thread holes in the back of a Lowrance 4-series to make a blingy sun shade. The rail holes are 6.35mm, that's 1/4 inch for Americans that don't engineer in the modern era.



I have a mini laketroller to mount, and I don't have a lot of really flat paces to put the scotty mount. I measured the mounting holes and made this little backing slip. It's flat on one side and rounded on the other, so I can reprint it and put it in either a flat spot or a rounded one.



I legit own a ton of RAM hardware from cycling and biking and kayaking, so I don't feel bad printing out arms. They're hecka strong if you print them in the right orientation with the right material. All of this here is PETG, which is basically water bottle material with an added material to make it more pliable under heat. My strategy is to print it out a bit over-extruded at a very high temp, which gives a rough surface but no porosity. The material is also hydroscopic, so the first time you put it in water, it will take on as much as it's usually going to take on and won't give it up easily. It's really great for this purpose.



On the 1" rail on the left side, you can see the thumb screws 3d printed on the RAM mount. They're just captivating a cheap 1/4" stainless steel nut. All the RAM arm hardware came from cheap stainless steel assortments from harbor freight.



I'm pretty sure I left my scotty trap-ease on my porch and someone walked off with it. From other projects, I have a ton of this 1" t-slot railing, so I just CAD'd this up. I think it's maybe a pound heavier, and I'm pretty sure when push comes to shove I'll leave it and just pull pots by hand again.

Anyways, anyone else have a 3d printer? I stopped publishing my designs to thingiverse on some ideological reasoning but I think it's pretty useful for this hobby.

Bonus post - some pretty fly 3d printed fly reels. I haven't tried them out, but I've given a ton of them out as gifts. I'd be thrilled if I heard someone resorted to one and caught something. They should be good for at least 5lb fish I reckon.

Pretty cool!  I like the sun shade and the reels.  Awesome job.

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Thanks for posting. I have a Form 2 printer. I was just looking though thingverse yesterday for a lowrance 1" ball mount. Didn't like what I saw and decided to design my own. Before I started I looked on eBay just to see how expensive they were, $12, free shipping, as this is for my second kayak I'm in no hurry, and it will be stronger than the printed one so ordered and done!

Very nice!! As the consumer level units are coming down in cost it's much easier to justify the purchase with all the things you can print.

Sweet!  I've been printing a few kayak related things with my Printrbot Simple.  Here's a thread I did earlier this year:
http://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=18763

 I love that sun screen.  I am also interested about how well those fly reels work. 

However, I am curious why you 3D printed the rod holder mount rather than milling it out of aluminum with your CNC? I did a few for Scotty mounts a couple months ago prototyping different designs.  Aluminum is actually cheaper/pound than filament if you source it locally, which I find to be kind of strange.



HDPE cutting boards work well, too. I hand cut one years ago, but upgraded it to me more adjustable (angle-wise) this year with the CNC machine I built over the last year.
I 3d printed the 1/4 - 20 knurled knobs from thingiverse and used the brass toilet tank mounting bolts. Much cheaper than buying track specific bolts.

OK .... who want to print a drive well to marry a mirage drive with a trident 13!? .... I've got a boat to use as a guinea pig!

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However, I am curious why you 3D printed the rod holder mount rather than milling it out of aluminum with your CNC? I did a few for Scotty mounts a couple months ago prototyping different designs.  Aluminum is actually cheaper/pound than filament if you source it locally, which I find to be kind of strange.

The scotty part isn't actually a mount, it's a backer for the inside of the kayak setup to fit up against either flat or concaved spots. Printed in PETG it's as strong as it needs to be, but if I were to make something that needed more strength I'd use the cnc router for sure. The other parts I did here were just quicker and easier to print out. The one from the earlier photo is on the underside of this now:



I'd also have to clean off the old router, it hasn't seen any action since I got a co2 laser a few months ago.



I forgot about these - I printed out a bunch of these in carbon fiber PLA, they hold a razor blade with a few m3 screws and nuts. Super strong, very sharp.



Another neat aspect of 3d printing is you can manufacture things you otherwise couldn't. I'm not sure when or where I'd try this swimbait, but it gets printed out in one piece and articulates along each hinge .

OK .... who want to print a drive well to marry a mirage drive with a trident 13!? .... I've got a boat to use as a guinea pig!

If I had one to pull dimensions off of, I'm sure I could CAD it up, but that'd be a massive massive print. Probably better to print one in really low resolution to make a mold off of. At that point I'd just buy a hobie I think

However, I am curious why you 3D printed the rod holder mount rather than milling it out of aluminum with your CNC? I did a few for Scotty mounts a couple months ago prototyping different designs.  Aluminum is actually cheaper/pound than filament if you source it locally, which I find to be kind of strange.

The scotty part isn't actually a mount, it's a backer for the inside of the kayak setup to fit up against either flat or concaved spots. Printed in PETG it's as strong as it needs to be, but if I were to make something that needed more strength I'd use the cnc router for sure. The other parts I did here were just quicker and easier to print out. The one from the earlier photo is on the underside of this now:



I'd also have to clean off the old router, it hasn't seen any action since I got a co2 laser a few months ago.



I forgot about these - I printed out a bunch of these in carbon fiber PLA, they hold a razor blade with a few m3 screws and nuts. Super strong, very sharp.



Another neat aspect of 3d printing is you can manufacture things you otherwise couldn't. I'm not sure when or where I'd try this swimbait, but it gets printed out in one piece and articulates along each hinge .

OK .... who want to print a drive well to marry a mirage drive with a trident 13!? .... I've got a boat to use as a guinea pig!

If I had one to pull dimensions off of, I'm sure I could CAD it up, but that'd be a massive massive print. Probably better to print one in really low resolution to make a mold off of. At that point I'd just buy a hobie I think

I already have a Hobie. I want a boat better than a hobie.

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