NOT RESPONSIBLE IF YOU CRACK OR SCRATCH YOUR SCREEN!!! USE AT YOUR OWN RISK.
I like to play some games on my iPad mini. One week after playing a little more than normal I noticed that my hands and forearms hurt. It felt like carpal tunnel. So I decided to create some ergonomic grips for the iPad that I can use when i play.
These Grips were designed using OnShape.com. It took me about 30 minutes so don't expect perfection. Since I was planning on using a flexible printed material I made the fit a little snug. exactly 6mm the same thickness of my iPad 4 mini. If you want to print using a more rigid material on an FDM printer use the 7mm version. Then I suggest you put something like a screen cloth in the gap so the glass is held by soft cloth instead of rigid plastic.
If you wish to customize it I have setup the onshape document for you to do that. You will need an onshape account. It is free. You will need to copy or clone my project so you can have a copy of your own that you can edit. Here is a link to mine. https://cad.onshape.com/documents/799699a6bba36c18de814134/w/e28d4b8a7da668fd72e9c75a/e/3f43d1b7d89bd5aee4cfdd50
After you open an editable copy of the document you will go to the tab called Part Studio 1. On the left side you will three variables that you can easily control. (X) #GapThickness is used to control how thick the gap is. aka how thick your tablet is. Keep in mind that a normal FDM printer is not very precise so you will need to give yourself some extra space. I suggest at least half a millimeter. (X) #SideBezelLip and Bottom is used to control how much space your side bezels take up. You can change the default values by double clicking the variable. Change the number in the small window that pops up and check the green box. You will see the drawings and 3D renderings update. When you are ready you will click on the parts in the parts list on the lower left side of the screen. They are called Left grip and Right grip. click on each of them one at a time then right click - Export.
Best of luck.
Printer Brand: Formlabs
Printer: Formlabs Form 2
Supports: Yes
Resolution: .1
Infill: Solid
Notes:
Form 2 is a desktop SLA printer. I printed this prototype using their Flex V02 so there would be little to no chance of the printed parts scratching or cracking the screen.
NOT RESPONSIBLE IF YOU CRACK OR SCRATCH YOUR SCREEN!!!
Formlabs Form 2 printer with Flexable V02
I printed the grips oriented as shown in the image. With SLA prints it is important to wash the parts in IPA for about 20 minutes. Then I rinsed the parts in water. At this point they were soft. I was able to use the knife to gently scrape excess material from the flat smooth fronts of the grips. The next thing to do was cut the supports off. The sharp knife was too dangerous so I used the snips or cutters. Please note that at this point I had NOT done any post curing with a UV light.
Removing the supports
As you can see there are MANY supports. These are required for this SLA printer when using a soft material.
Supports are cut. Next cut the nubs closer to the part.
I did a fast rough cut to get most of the supports removed. Then I came back and cut the nubs closer to the part. This makes it so I don't have to sand as much.
Sanding. I started sanding by hand and gave up.
I ended up using a sander with 120 grit. it still took about 8 minutes to smooth them out. I don't know if it would have been better to sand before or after I UV cured the parts. Because at this point the parts were soft. Later after I cured them the parts were a lot more firm.
Final steps.
I UV cured the parts at 60 degrees C for 60 minutes. They are firm but flexible. They fit my iPad nice and snug.
The author marked this model as their own original creation. Imported from Thingiverse.