Independent Projects
I have completed many projects as part of my formal education, but I wanted a space to describe the other projects I am working on outside of school.
Hydroflask Car Expander
Ender 5 Screen Holder
Microphone Covers/Collars
I am part of the band at my local church and we often have trouble with the microphone battery covers breaking. They are prone to being tightened too much and cracking around the base. Buying new covers can be expensive for a smaller church, often over $10 for just two covers. I found that printing new covers would be fairly easy and much cheaper at only about $0.09 per cover with the downside of adding many hours of printing time.
The files to 3D print the battery cover was available on Thingiverse, but after printing one I found I didn't like the flat bottom. While searching for the battery cover I found that another version of the battery cover was available for the PGX2 microphone and was compatible with the SLX2. This cover was rounded on the bottom and saved me the time to edit the original files. I did like the way the the mic collar looked though so I kept that part and decided to paint them to differentiate between microphones.
The files
Shure SLX2 Collar and Battery Cover
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2563513
Mic Battery Cover for Shure beta 58A - PGX2
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3297312
Plastic types
For this project, I used two types of plastic: PLA and PETG. I used the PLA for the microphone collars because it didn't need to be as strong and I already had it in white so it could be painted. I used PETG for the battery covers to get the improved strength needed in case the microphone was dropped or handled roughly.
Printing Process
Painting
The painting process was as you'd expect. I didn't have any sandpaper to rough up the print so I just taped off the collars that were multi-colored and layered the paint two to three times.
