KB3D Design Blog 7th May 2020

It's been 2 years since my last blog.  Same story - too busy with work to have time to update.  What's new here?  More Wintergardenz designs & rendered images.  The portal structure on the right here is one of about 8 shapes for submitting to Degraves Lane in Melbourne. I put it in a photo image of the street to show the customer what it will look like.  Hope it does the trick.  

If you could zoom into this you would see I have shave some hair off the head of the man with white hair.  But I thought it looked better so I left it like that.

3D Printer

I bought this about one year ago and it's like going back to school (YUCK). Very hard making sense of it all but I am getting on top of it at last.  Surprising how many other people around the world are having difficulties with 3D printing. I use ABS for most things as it is tough and temperature tolerant.  I have made loads of things for house repairs and improvements. Bushes for a breadmaker, guides for a sliding door, a wall mounted holder for a pocket modem, a replacement spigot for a pool fence spring hinge (these hinges are $80+ for a pair). etc and so on.  Also made a few components for one of my clients as freebies and some practice  for me. Its a Geeetech (Prusa) printer and can print within a volume of 200mm cubed. Cheap from China.

Hell Pizza fireworks display case

This job might have been last year. Len at Pyro wanted a polystyrene case with an acrylic cover.  Good excuse to do a bit of image rendering in Solidworks.  He supplied JPEGs of each firework and graphics for the acrylic cover. Not my usual type of work but enjoyable all the

same. It would have been nice to be given one of these display cases but there must have been hundreds of dollars worth of fireworks inside.  Since then I have been doing a bit for Len for his "Detonation Plant".  He has been given the contract to 'blow up' all of those car 'air-bag' units that were found to be faulty and exploding shrapnel into peoples faces instead of blowing the bag out.  Think he has an explosives license or something.  It all has to be done in a strictly controlled environment.

Graeme Crosby motorcycle components

Graeme has popped over with loads of stuff over the years.There is always a project on the go.  I did some fork yokes for Honda and Suzuki recently. All CNC'd out of aluminium. Then there were 'clip on handlebar' clamps and front and rear disc carriers for his new retro Z900. Haven't had a ride on it but he was given one direct from the factory and it looks fantastic.  Almost as good as the original 1970's design.

February 2018

Norton 500 single cyl. Expansion pipe

Another busy year with the annoyance of Vodafone declaring that they are ditching all email services (like all of our house is with Vodafone).  It took months to switch everything over to a different domain provider (Google unfortunately). No such a big fan of Google these days.  Their charges are going through the roof.
The most challenging job I can remember this last year is an expansion exhaust pipe for a Norton 500 single cylinder motor cycle.  It had to be made up from small bands - all tapered and all different sizes so that the diameter of the pipe gradually changed from 45mm to 87mm from front to end.

 The image on the left here is the first few bends made up from approx 30 segments.  Each segment had to be capable of being rolled up from a Flat Pattern and welded to make a tapered band.  All I had to go on was a sample pipe  that had been welded up to fit the bike.

The image on the right here shows the full exhaust pipe.  The segments are not very visible in this image as it is looking from a distance and I have switched off all edges for an overall effect.
Peter from Service Engineers Ltd called and said he thought my pipe was 300mm short and asked me to double check dimensions etc.
Panic..  He went off to fit the pieces to the actual bike and called back a few days later to say that it fitted perfectly. Phew.  Photo below. What a relief.  Just waiting to hear how much difference it has made to the bike's performance.

Racedays LED display trailer

Just like the previous racedays trailer (which was pushing the limits for trailer size - by my reckoning) - this new one is even bigger much to my dismay.  But this time they don't want the whole display pivoting to a horizontal position.  That means I can add bracing where it is most needed.

Image on the right shows the Solid model used for construction but gives no indication of the actual size of the thing.  Luckily for me it all worked out and went like a dream.
Total display size when folded out is 9 metres x 1.8m high

 Photo on the right here is near the end of construction.  The electronics guy sitting on the boot of his car at the far end gives you some idea of the size of this thing.

Slim touchscreen kiosks for Downtown KFC store

An intricate type of job for Fingermark Global Ltd.  As usual the customer (KFC) requested some radical changes to these kiosks as the design progressed.  Not least of which was that these kiosks (4 in all) had to be mounted to a stud wall that had not been built yet.  I had some basic architectural drawings with a few dimensions but as always it all changed as the weeks rolled on. We had a 'sit down' meeting with the Architects, and the joiners, and a few other representatives from KFC I think - and final sizes were agreed upon for the stud wall.  To complicate things,  this wall was being built in Rotorua and transported up to Auckland in one piece ready to fit our kiosks to. Well it all went to plan (ish) and the new KFC outlet opened on it's scheduled day.  Photo on the right here.
Apparently KFC like them and they are wanting more for their Australia stores but these ones have to be floor mounted (not on a wall).  Design already finished and submitted.

Cortenz outdoor fireplaces 

I met Gareth of 'Cortenz' at The Auckland Home Show.  He was talking to Pete from Wintergardenz and all 3 of us had managed to locate and buy some cans of Russian beer from one of the stalls nearby.  Good stuff too.   Anyway we were introduced to one another and I have since done loads of design jobs for Gareth - all out or Corten steel - it goes rusty on purpose and used for "rustic" outdoor stuff.  Some images below..

Maurice from Morrinsville

Maurice turned up at my office one day with a scale model of a jet boat engine.  He had a few STL files that he had acquired from the internet and asked if I could convert them into solid models and make changes to them.  Anyone who has tried converting an STL image file into a solid will know it is nigh on impossible. But there is a free CAD program called 'Freecad' that allows you to do just that in a roundabout way and in a nutshell - I managed to get some usable solids from them. While I was busy doing that - Maurice (who is a lawn cutting guy) went out and bought himself a 3D printer.  The pressure was on now - I had to be able to do this.  I must say I was lucky with Maurice's job because I have tried Freecad again since with other STL files and it didn't work.  These days Maurice is taking a break from cutting grass and he is selling model jet boat engines to his mates and whoever else online.  Images here of a 3D converted model.

A J Hacket - Sentosa Singapore is finished & open

AJ is happy - and I am happy.  I did such a lot of work on the Sentosa project.  Video below..

 Other projects throughout 2017 include:-

Genweld Ltd - welded structures

Service Engineers Ltd - Slide carburettor

Fingermark Ltd - more Post Office kiosks

AakExpress Ltd - complete new designs for boat trailers

Gerard Lighting Ltd - various light fittings

Rainworks Ltd (Laurie Dee) Rainwater harvesting ideas.

February 2017

February 2017

It's been over a year again - too busy to attend to websites etc. Don't know where the time went.
This year and late last year was dedicated to some new clients such as Gerard Lighting,       Ecoboil Ltd, Rainworks,  Miss Lolo furniture,  Nick Walkley Engineering, AJ Hacket bungy jumping,  Tower Cranes,  Valore sinks, etc. etc. 
Some of which I can't mention yet as their designs are still in patent pending mode.

AJ Hacket - Sentosa bungy park

A monster of a theme park being built on Sentosa island in Singapore.  The towers are half way built already and the swimming pool below is looking almost done.  I have spent a massive amount of time on this job but there is a hell of a lot in it including some head scratching stuff that I hadn't done before.  Brian Sutton was my mentor on all of this.  He has loads of history when it comes to bungy equipment and previous projects.
Look at the image to the left - can you believe people would get pleasure out of being hauled up to the top of a tower on a steel cable - only to be let go and swing back at an alarming rate clearing the ground by only 6ft at the bottom of the stroke?  Maybe I'm too old to appreciate the thrill of it all. There are bungy jumping stations at the top and a Vertical Sky Walkway where you get to run down the side of a tower with a steel cable clipped to your back.  Live and let live I say but I am not going on any of these rides.

Sentosa bungy swing loading chariots
 Sliding & latching handrails,  rolling chariots on vee castors with stops and dampers and electric interlocks at either end.  Take a look at the slings on the left side image.  That's what the riders get strapped into - in a lying down position on top of the chariot.  Then the chariot is pushed away leaving the riders dangling 6ft up from the ground until the winch on the top of the tower winds the rider up to the top - and lets go..
It's pretty clever how the fences and gates and chariots etc are all connected to a controller through the 2 consoles behind the fence so that the winch can't let go until everything is in the right place.

The image on the right shows the winch cable
passing over a pulley block (in red) as it is
led over the roof to a winch.  Another control console allows the tower operator to winch up and let go.  All of the tower gates etc have limit switch interlocks - as you would expect.

LED street lights\

A design for a swivel head for LED street lighting for an Auckland lighting company.  The swivel can be locked in position between -5 degrees to +15 degrees to allow for illuminating bank sides and situations where the subject is not directly below the lamp head.  A 3D printed model was done in China and came back near perfect, (image below)  Solidworks "Simulation Express" was a valuable tool when it came to doing FEA reports on the components.

Supermarket Hydroponics Gondola

A Realfoods project mid 2016.  Hydroponically growing vegetables inside a supermarket.

The customers can pick out lettuce, herbs etc while they are still growing and pop them in their shopping trolley.  Each plant has been grown on in a nursery and has a barcoded tag.  Coloured lights can be used to improve the growth depending on which plant it is.  The gondola shown in this image on the right is double sided.

Realfoods blow moulded bottles (below)

What a wierd shape.. Again,  it's what the customer wants by all accounts.  Supposed to look like a melting tub of gooey syrup. Rendering on the right here simulating a box full of them on a supermarket shelf.

Fingermark Post Office Dropbox

A new concept in New Zealand - up and running now on Auckland's North Shore.

Designed for the customer to use a credit card or Eftpos card to pay for the parcel fee - then enter details and have a sticky label printed out there and then.  Next - a hatch is electronically unlocked on the right side where the customer can open up and drop their parcel inside.  The hatch is mounted on spring loaded hinges and an electronic solenoid re-locks it when it is left to close again.  Every day someone will come and open the main door and empty the large bag inside  and replace it with a new empty one.  These units are in petrol stations, in The Warehouse Store, and in Countdown supermarket. 

Once there is enough data on customer useage there will be  more in other New Zealand locations. (image below)

An actual unit to the left here before all of the artwork and stickers were applied.  There are 7 of these around North Shore Auckland so far.

Wintergardenz projects

Too many variations to show really.  John's brother 'Pete' is keeping me busy with more and more designs for commercial greenhouses.  Sometimes he comes in with 2 or 3 in the same day.  John is keeping going with the regular sized greenhouses and some new accessories.  Lots of orders for the Elite range of greenhouse with the stone or brick base.  Sample commercial job shown below rendered with a realistic background. This one is 6 metres wide x 15 metres long. 

Furniture for various companies & shops

Everyone wants realistic rendering these days. who knows where it will end.  I am more able to do renderings this year because my PC blew up last year and I was forced to spend some cash and buy a new one.  The sales guys in PB Technologies talked me into going for the latest CPU and motherboard and water cooling etc etc and the final bill was a bit staggering.  It's really fast for rendered images though so I suppose I can go for another couple of years before I need to upgrade yet again. Some funiture designs & renderings below.

KB3D Fabricating work

A bit of hands on welding and grinding has come back into my life again. I am welding Stainless rods into filter baskets for Mactrap, making welded steel gates for people, and I even built a wooden picket fence for a friends sister last year. I made a jig for curving ballustrade rods some years ago.  It's a bit rusty but it's out again and up and running.  Ineka's balcony project shown below.

September 2015

This year has had it's ups and downs again.  More trailer designs (Aakron), More greenhouses (Wintergardenz) , Plastic packaging has returned again (Realfoods Ltd). Mudbuggy for Daryl in Wellington. I took the initiative and terminated my Solidworks support from this year onwards. It has occured to me that $2500 per year is a lot to fork out for Service Packs that fix bugs that should have worked anyway. Not value for money in my opinion. Four years without support will buy me another Solidworks licence (If I want one).

Realfoods packaging
More plastic packaging and related wrappers in progress. The products shown here were for a Turkish manufacturer who Realfoods used to import foodstuffs into New Zealand. This one was for hummus, crackers, and salsa.

Daryl - mudbuggy
Tubular steel frame fitted with rally seats & 1200cc Suzuki engine with reverse gearbox.  The front suspension took a while to work out but I got the bump steer ratio worked out quite fast. I got a lot of the CAD components for free online from Grabcad.  They seem to have everything for MX5 cars etc. I have used Grabcad much more than  3Dcontentcentral in the last year.








Jonno's stuff
Jonno came around again in July.  The latest thing this time is front mounted skydive helmet  cameras. Apparently the top mounted cameras can snag the parachute lines. Not funny eh?

I did a couple for him and he went off and 3D printed them on his brothers printer.  He asked if I could wrap his logo around 3 sides of the casing and cut it out.  Found a way to do it. (see image here). Right now he is in USA skydiving.  Will be interesting to catch up when he returns.
This is a camera mount for a Cookie G3 helmet. It has a gps unit inserted inside (not visible)  Also did one for a Z1 parasport.  I think Jonno was talking about others too.  He is going to sell the 3D printer files online for anyone who wants to make their own.



Aakron box trailers

The boat trailers arrived from China this year. Only a couple of issues with welding and vibration damage.  Aakron came up with a new twin axle suspension idea and that worked too.  This time I have designed a range of Box Trailers with cages. China manufacture again.  Aakron give a 3 year warranty on all trailers so they are pretty sure that what they send out is good quality stuff. The image here is a CAD model placed on an image of a street to look like it's actually there. ie: the trailer doesn't actually exist. Not a bad representation though. Quite difficult to get the lighting right to match a gloomy Winter's day.









Commercial tunnel houses for Wintergardenz Ltd

Quite different from the usual greenhouse designs.  These are large polytunnel houses with bay widths of 10 metres or smaller.  Any length is possible.  This one below is 50 metres wide (5 bays) x 100 metres long.There are pitched roof designs coming through soon too. Wintergardenz built the first one to try out and installed it at The Fieldays Show near Hamilton. Image on the left here..

Gamma Bracing Ltd

Different sizes of bracing frames to fit between the wooden studs in house construction. These structures were being made in China and now get sourced in New Zealand.

Other projects ongoing

Zeanova - Restaurant Brands kitchen equipment

Mactrap - New type of waste water filtering in progress

Teakwarehouse - Directors chairs

September 2014

September 2014
A year on and different opinions about some things (eg: no more praise for Google Adwords).
If I had to say something about it I would say "No Comment".

Anyone need an acrylic fence - or want to know how it will look?
What about this then.  I used a photo of the proposed fence position and used it as a background image in Solidworks. Then added my 3D solid model assembly and tweaked the lighting direction, colour and shadows etc. etc.  Don't think I even ran it through Photoworks.  It looks real doesn't it.

Also priced up the posts from a local Auckland pool fencing company. They are $125 each +gst.  Then got a price for the tube steel and plate so I can make my own (stronger too) and material costs come to approx $8.  Add galvanising cost and my welding and drilling time and we are looking at a posts I can make and sell for say $75.  The 8mm acrylic panels are standard size and cost approx $100 each.  All I have to do is drill 4 holes in each one and charge maybe $10 for that.  Now we are looking at $185 for a panel and a post. Multiply by the amount of panels used and you have it.  I added a T-section aluminium top rail to add stiffness to the whole fence and panels.
Post design

Vehicle trailers seems to be the theme this year.  Don't ask me why,  it just happened that way. As below..

Pyro Company
 A trailer design for Pyro fireworks company.  5 metres long x 2 metres wide.  Pallet truck loading through 2 double doors at the back and 2 serving hatches on one side.  The inside is lined with plywood and Aluminium clad exterior.  A bit of rendering to do here in Solidworks  utilising one of the standard background images that no-one ever seems to use.







Don Knight Race-days trailer
A large 5 metre long trailer with a structure on top which mounts 4 large LED cabinets and another LED cabinet on each end hinging out like pages in a book.  The whole LED display is over 7 metres long and can pivot to a horizontal position for transport and driving into a low ceiling garage.  The whole unit weighs around 2000Kg I reckon and will be operational pretty soon.  Twin axle and electric brakes.




 Aakron trailers
A range of boat trailers for Aakron Trailers in Silverdale.  Lots of stock simplification going on here by standardising on subassemblies.

Mactrap under bench grease trap
Design for left hand and right hand units this year. PLC controlled with easy operator access.  Dennis & Elspeth at Mactrap went on a country wide road tour this year beginning at The Fieldays Show in Hamilton.  Lots of interest by all and some units in service and still running and performing,  Mactrap reckon these units remove an enormous amount of grease from kitchen waste water.  Further info pending copyrights & published information.





Craig Hawkins Unigrip rifle handle
Developed and rapid prototyped for Craig Hawkins.  Craig showcased his new product at 'The Fieldays Show' too and attracted a lot of interest.  I believe he is manufacturing 1000+ units to start with.
https://twitter.com/SODAVanessa/status/476930245082107904


Gamma bracing
3D models & files supplied for Gamma bracing frames. 
They fit in between the wooden studs in a building and strengthen against earthquake, wind damage, etc.

http://gammabracing.co.nz/index.php/gallery/photos.html















Leader tag tool
Many hours spent getting this one to work.  We went through multiple design phases before settling on a final concept.  This tag tool applies ear tags to cows, deer, sheep, goats etc. Rapid prototyping and casting all developed from Solidworks models.  All prototyping over now and production very close at hand.
http://leaderproducts.co.nz/Shop/Accessories_panel.cfm?CategoryID=1&FamilyID=1&TagGroupID=23&useTagGroupID=17&psCode=&Pak_ID=1&Config_ID=0&Init_ID=0&return_to=Accessories_panel.cfm

Realfoods Ltd
Various packaging solutions for Realfoods Ltd. for foodstuffs & snacks.  It's like going back to the old days again designing plastic containers and lids & cardboard packaging & fibrites.
Other stuff this year:

• Zeanova - more fast food kitchen units
• Harnex - now called Portamaid copyright pending
• Wintergardenz - Elite and multizone greenhouses
• Jolly Good Co - 1 litre plastic container for foodstuffs
• Mike Strickland - boat hook
• Vending Direct - more vending machine upgrades

November 2012 Update

It's been a long time since I was here...again
What's been happening?   Different stuff.
Thanks to Google Adwords - I get calls and e-mails from new customers all of the time.  So much so that I haven't got time to update my blog,  or even fill in the Google Adwords survey form. Just been too busy.  There have been quite a few individuals rather than companies contacting me for all sorts of ideas and requests.
Here are some since last year..
Mike Strickland - yachting accessory
Craig Hawkins - rifle accessory and electric fence modification
Giles Draper - rubber bellows for large marine engine
Shane Blind - sculpture designs into 3D and production
Colin French - pharmaceutical dispensers
Richard Herrick - Ipad holder for exhibition stands

Existing clients have kept me fuelled with new projects too..

Vending Direct and Tui beer promotions
The 'Tackle a Tui' promotion went on for a month or so and provided a challenge I have never attempted before. Design a floor mounted tackle bag that 2 national rugby teams can run at all day long. The Hurricanes and the Crusaders gave the first model such a pounding that they bent the leaf springs and a lot of the rest of the unit. Quite a few All Blacks included in this crowd. When it came back it looked like it had been in Jurassic Park for  the weekend.  There were 3 leaf springs inside the bag that were 50mm wide x 10mm thick.  I would have thought that would be enough for anybody to run at and bounce back.  Not so..
Check out the springs in this side view ..
After this I changed the springs to 12mm thick and added an extra one (4 mounted side by side). The underfloor structure also got beefed up. That worked - and 10 units were built and given out to the competition winners who took them
home to get their mates round
to play with. A few stiff shouldered guys have
eventually put them up for sale on Trade Me.

 

Wintergardenz Greenhouses

John at Wintergardenz is now receiving requests for commercial sized greenhouses.  Adelaide Zoo ordered one earlier this year and it has really taken off since then. I am now supplying floor plans and renderings for huge multi lane and multi length greenhouses.  The rendering takes so long I have to leave my PC running overnight and sometimes over the weekend so that 'Solidworks Photoview360' can calculate all of the refraction and reflections through all of the glass panels - as below.

Leader Products Ltd    http://www.leaderproducts.co.nz/
Various designs and improvements to Leaders cattle & deer tag applicators. There is a final product in China right now being pressure die cast and assembled. Not in the market place yet so no image of new design available.  Existing applicator as below.

 

Mactrap grease trap systems  http://www.mactrap.co.nz/
Dennis at Mactrap is currently manufacturing 10 grease traps to our new design for 'under bench' installation in fast food restaurants etc.  Again no image available until completion and copyrights established.  The 2 prototype units worked and performed up to expectations.
Harnex design
Lightweight product carriers.  This unit hangs from your shoulders and can be used to carry many different products and consumables for long periods of time.  Designed to reduce stress in the back and torso to an absolute minimum.  All of the weight is supported by the shoulders and the legs.  Images unavailable until after production for copyright reasons.
When not attending to these projects I have been busy with the usual customers ie:-
Zeanova - online parts ordering web page
Valley Wholesale - more toolboxes and UTE equipment
Eurolocker - automated locker systems


Te Ana Lodge bookings have increased again since last year.
  We haven't had many chances to get down there this year and have had to pop down mid week to see to the goats on various occasions.
http://www.kb3ddesign.com/teanalane/  Our new cleaner lady Maria is doing a brilliant job in the house and we have had mounds of really good feedback from our guests again.
Check out our walkthrough video as below..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtcHZo2-8XY



Te Puru Beach House
Our new property on the beach at Te Puru

Coromandel. We got the keys in September
and set about with minor renovations and
kitting out with furniture.  Bookings already
and our first guests absolutely loved it.  There
are kayaks to take out to fish for snapper and
kawhai and on low tide you can collect pipis
(like clams) from the beach and have a seafood
feast around the outdoor fireplace.
http://www.kb3ddesign.com/tepurubeach/





Solar dehydrator
Just getting it out again this year now that tomato prices have come back down to Summer prices.
The sundried tomatoes I produced last year went in bags in the freezer and we have been thawing them when required and keeping them in the fridge in herb and garlic infested canola oil. We are on the last bag now so last year's supply has just done it in time.
Photos to follow soon..