Adding bushings to steering deflector nozzle to increase precision (remove slop)

[jacoviii]

cool

 

[2kwik4u]

@Bruce still haven't gotten to the garage to measure. I'll take a blind shot that these will work though. Where can I send my $10?

 

[bthessel]

So I found a part that might work for this from McMaster-Carr. I bought 2 different lengths to try. 100 pieces are $7.00. I may have to trim them a little to put one in the top and bottom. or just use the longer one without a flange on one side.

 

[bthessel]

So I found a part that might work for this from McMaster-Carr. I bought 2 different lengths to try. 100 pieces are $7.00. I may have to trim them a little to put one in the top and bottom. or just use the longer one without a flange on one side.View attachment 127119View attachment 127118

Using 2 short ones and cutting them down the flange on them is a little to thick to fit in the clevis, I ended up cutting down a longer one and it is pretty good. I have 98 left if anyone needs a few I can drop them in an an envelope and mail them to you, just private message me your address

 

[Bruce]

@bthessel, what is the inner and outer diameter of those?

Molded nylon should last longer than the printed PETG that I am using.

 

[zipper]

Was going to ask what the material was and if you can print nylon or delrin. I did a quick search about materials. Complete 3D Printing Filament Comparison Guide 2019 [All 17 Compared]

 

[bthessel]

@bthessel, what is the inner and outer diameter of those?

Molded nylon should last longer than the printed PETG that I am using.

McMaster-Carr

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The ones I bought were 91145A166 and 91145A167. They are for a 1/4" bolt. The full specs are on that page. I ended up cutting down the 167 just a little to make it fit the height of the stearing ear and put the flange side on the bottom. if the clevis was just a tad bigger on the cable end you could probably do 2 shorter ones (91145A162?) and put one in from each side and not have to trim them at all.

 

[Bruce]

I added a half length version of the PETG steering bushing so they can be used from the top and bottom.



This is the full length version which will only have a flange on top - Steering Bushing 4 Pack Full Length

This is the half length version which allows for flanges top and bottom - Steering Bushing 5 Pack Half Length

 

[captainhook]

Neat idea, I’ll have to try designing something for my recently acquired 3D printer. The play in the steering has always annoyed me.

 

[captainhook]

I spent entirely too much time in Fusion 360 designing these, and it took about 6 design iterations to get the correct size. I also fought with my printer for enough hours to have spent the extra money on a Prusa MK3S+ that I wanted instead of this Ender 3 V2 but we’ll save that story for another time and I’ve just decided I hate PETG and will use PLA for everything. It takes less time to print new bushings and swap them than I spent trying to print PETG. Anyway, I recorded a video showing the difference in play. Port side has the original garbage bushings that are too small and thin. The starboard side has the 3D printed bushings in the top and bottom.

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Stock bushings vs. 3D printed

 

[RobbieO]

I added a half length version of the PETG steering bushing so they can be used from the top and bottom.

View attachment 142907

This is the full length version which will only have a flange on top - Steering Bushing 4 Pack Full Length

This is the half length version which allows for flanges top and bottom - Steering Bushing 5 Pack Half Length

Have you replaced the full length blue ones with a white one that is different material? I haven’t installed the blue ones yet, but if the white ones are superior I’d like a couple of those. Thanks. I would prefer the shorter ones so I have a flange on the top and bottom. Thank you!

 

[Bruce]

Have you replaced the full length blue ones with a white one that is different material? I haven’t installed the blue ones yet, but if the white ones are superior I’d like a couple of those. Thanks. I would prefer the shorter ones so I have a flange on the top and bottom. Thank you!

Both blue and white are the same PETG material.

I buy white in 5KG rolls and blue in 1KG rolls. These are near the limit of what an FDM printer can print so I print them in batches using fresh filament on a freshly cleaned printer with a tiny 0.25mm nozzle. I have fresh blue filament more often.

If you have not ordered this is the link for shorts. https://jetboaters.net/threads/steering-bushing-5-pack-half-length.31521/

 

[Bruce]

I spent entirely too much time in Fusion 360 designing these, and it took about 6 design iterations to get the correct size. I also fought with my printer for enough hours to have spent the extra money on a Prusa MK3S+ that I wanted instead of this Ender 3 V2 but we’ll save that story for another time and I’ve just decided I hate PETG and will use PLA for everything. It takes less time to print new bushings and swap them than I spent trying to print PETG. Anyway, I recorded a video showing the difference in play. Port side has the original garbage bushings that are too small and thin. The starboard side has the 3D printed bushings in the top and bottom.

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

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Stock bushings vs. 3D printed
View attachment 152531

Glad you got them to work. I tried with a 0.4 mm nozzle initially then dropped to a 0.25 to be able to print the barrel section with two walls. I also went through several revisions before getting it right for my boat then made additional revisions after sending them out to others.

I would be curious to know how long your PLA prints last. There is no significant heat exposure so that should not be an issue.

 

[captainhook]

Glad you got them to work. I tried with a 0.4 mm nozzle initially then dropped to a 0.25 to be able to print the barrel section with two walls. I also went through several revisions before getting it right for my boat then made additional revisions after sending them out to others.

I would be curious to know how long your PLA prints last. There is no significant heat exposure so that should not be an issue.

I hadn’t even considered a smaller nozzle since I’ve had such great luck with 0.40 mm. I’ll check my slicer but I have set to print 2 walls and I think my design ended up 0.67 thick. I think one of my iterations was 1 mm thick but that wouldn’t fit in the steering hole in the jet nozzle.

One version was just barely too thick of a collar and I had to pry it out which wound up separating the collar from the barrel so I’m interested in how long they last too. I boat in brackish water so we’ll see how long they last as I haven’t read much about PLA and salt. Either way if they fail it won’t be a big deal at all. I’m trying them out today. The funny thing is I didn’t even consider the steering slop a problem and just accepted as “that’s the way it is” until I read this thread. Then every time I drove the boat I was aggravated. ?

Of all the stuff I’ve printed, these were probably my favorite. Tweaking the design and popping a new one out in four minutes is awesome.

 

[drewkaree]

Using 2 short ones and cutting them down the flange on them is a little to thick to fit in the clevis, I ended up cutting down a longer one and it is pretty good. I have 98 left if anyone needs a few I can drop them in an an envelope and mail them to you, just private message me your address

PM sent

 

[captainhook]

I hadn’t even considered a smaller nozzle since I’ve had such great luck with 0.40 mm. I’ll check my slicer but I have set to print 2 walls and I think my design ended up 0.67 thick. I think one of my iterations was 1 mm thick but that wouldn’t fit in the steering hole in the jet nozzle.

One version was just barely too thick of a collar and I had to pry it out which wound up separating the collar from the barrel so I’m interested in how long they last too. I boat in brackish water so we’ll see how long they last as I haven’t read much about PLA and salt. Either way if they fail it won’t be a big deal at all. I’m trying them out today. The funny thing is I didn’t even consider the steering slop a problem and just accepted as “that’s the way it is” until I read this thread. Then every time I drove the boat I was aggravated. ?

Of all the stuff I’ve printed, these were probably my favorite. Tweaking the design and popping a new one out in four minutes is awesome.

It's that time of year again that I start really wishing for summer and thinking about boating stuff. This project was part of the catalyst that set me on a quest for a better printer and I've since upgraded to a Prusa MK3S clone and enclosure. I still have the PLA version on my boat and just checked it and they seem fine. They're of course hard to see when installed and I've sprayed Fluid Film on them I'm sure but they seem to be holding up well. I now can print PETG with this machine perfectly and own a 0.25 nozzle so I reimported this design into my slicer and realized that the slicer was indeed printing two walls even with a 0.4mm nozzle (regardless of layer height, checked 0.10mm and 0.20mm). I have to admit, I'm a little disappointed that I don't have another thing to print, because I was gonna make this perhaps my first ABS or ASA or even Nylon () print but no dice.

 

[Bruce]

In 2020 I installed the first prototype PETG bushing on my starboard jet. Last night I replaced it and the metal bushing on the port jet with well greased half length PETG bushings. I did not think that two flanges would fit but they did very tightly.

I was happy to see that after 2.5 summers of use the first PETG bushing was still functional. The flange had separated from the tube but both parts were in place and doing their job.

The steering feels really good with the new bushings installed.

 

[captainhook]

In 2020 I installed the first prototype PETG bushing on my starboard jet. Last night I replaced it and the metal bushing on the port jet with well greased half length PETG bushings. I did not think that two flanges would fit but they did very tightly.

I was happy to see that after 2.5 summers of use the first PETG bushing was still functional. The flange had separated from the tube but both parts were in place and doing their job.

The steering feels really good with the new bushings installed.

View attachment 200867View attachment 200868

I just had mine apart to do steering cables again and they did the exact same thing--holding up really well other than the flange coming off on the top on the starboard side. I'm pretty impressed with PETG thus far. I've had it dunked in brackish water for hours under pressure from the water movement, left some in the sun as an umbrella grommet in a patio table (direct sun), used it to make parts that need a little flex to snap into/over something--great material.

The funny thing is this part was the catalyst for me to move on from my Ender 3 V2 which had just ended the 'honeymoon phase' where it worked great for a few months and then didn't. I couldn't get it to print these bushings to save my life so I upgraded to a Prusa MK3S clone which was just great. I'm curious how my Bambu Lab X1C will do with parts this small, I may print some tomorrow while the steering components are still loose to see how it does.

EDIT--Reading my previous posts in this thread apparently I used PLA? Funny, PLA has been a good material as well but these days I definitely would've gone with PETG or hell maybe this is a good excuse to splurge and buy some PC!

 

[drewkaree]

Hey Bruce, thanks for the reminder (for me), and a progress report of these. I have been meaning to look into this, but nothing was broke, so I didn't want to fix it. Now that I HAD to do some work on it, I got a chance to see how bad my OEM bushings are, and I need to address them.

What would be the turnaround time for the 5-piece half height set?

 

[drewkaree]

I just had mine apart to do steering cables again and they did the exact same thing--holding up really well other than the flange coming off on the top on the starboard side. I'm pretty impressed with PETG thus far. I've had it dunked in brackish water for hours under pressure from the water movement, left some in the sun as an umbrella grommet in a patio table (direct sun), used it to make parts that need a little flex to snap into/over something--great material.

The funny thing is this part was the catalyst for me to move on from my Ender 3 V2 which had just ended the 'honeymoon phase' where it worked great for a few months and then didn't. I couldn't get it to print these bushings to save my life so I upgraded to a Prusa MK3S clone which was just great. I'm curious how my Bambu Lab X1C will do with parts this small, I may print some tomorrow while the steering components are still loose to see how it does.

I just recently acquired the Ender 3v2 for other purposes, and simply haven't had the time to assemble it. Wasn't considering doing this, as @Bruce already has the setup, but your umbrella grommet is a great idea, as those things seem to break from uv exposure or just mysteriously vanish somehow.

Not close to experienced enough to throw more money at a printer just yet, but you have given me something to be aware of