Huge shoutout to Wallow86 for laying the groundwork in figuring out the back curve of the Fern. I originally was just going to use his design, but his variant of the headrest wasn't as easy to get in North America. I also preferred the soft mesh cushion one to match my Coal Fern, so I decided to see how well it fit. Upon receiving the headrest I realized it was different enough to warrant a remix. The top hook portion of his design also didn't match my Fern, so I am wondering if there are different versions of Ferns out there.
No warranties of any kind with this design as it was modified to fit my use case. If you find it useful that's great, if not you are free to remix it. Use your judgement if you want to add foam anywhere to reduce wear or damage to your Fern. I am short (170cm so this may be too low for taller people) and at the lowest setting it acts more as a neck rest, and at the highest setting it is perfect for me. On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being perfect and 1 being a hack job, this is probably a 6. It probably works decent enough and I am not motivated to refine it any further at this point. I am printing this on PLA+ with a 50% infill and will report back if it breaks.
What you need to buy for this version:
- The headrest you see in my photos. It cost me $20 USD shipped on Aliexpress, and was also available on Amazon Canada and USA. You will need the headrest, and the washer/bolts provided (2). Link to mine: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005822531722.html
- 2x M6 Nuts (I believe). I had some lying around and I think they are Metric as this is a Chinese product. For the Americans out there, a 1/4 nut won't fit as the thread pitch is different.
- 4x M5 20mm allen socket screws. You might be able to get away with a different head.
- 2x M5 nuts
- Some felt to put in the hook contact points for a tighter bracket fit, and to prevent wear. The headrest actually comes with some mesh material that you can cut and use
Update: a version with the bracket holes 20mm higher up has been added. This is untested, used at your own risk!
The author remixed this model.
Modifications:
Main Bracket:
- Completely redrawn with similar dimensions in the main body
- Top hook shape changed to fit the top of the Fern backrest better and thickened for strength
- Lowered mounting point so that at the lowest headrest setting the headrest is almost resting on top of the Fern, and the back of the headrest cushion almost hitting the bracket. I did this as I am short, and also because I didn't feel comfortable with all of the force acting as a moment on the mounting bolts. With this, some if not most of the force will be shifted to a compressive force into the hook and Fern headrest. This is negated if you raise the headrest though.
- Overall length shorted by 3mm~ for a tighter fit (felt is still recommended)
- Angled hex side cut to accommodate the provided headrest hardware
Mounting Plate:
- Completely redrawn shape to accommodate the different headrest
- Attempted to match the spherical concave of the different headrest mounting point
- Opted for an M6 nut (Or whatever matches the provided hardware) for strength
- Angled and adjusted holes to accommodate provided headrest hardware - spring washers might be helpful as to maintain printability the non-curved surface parallel with the printer build plate is 10 degrees off where the nut sits
Bottom Hook:
- No changes from Wallow86's version. I may thicken it if it breaks.