Drilling Template for Bag Clip

Andrei's Bag Clip is a great design, but what if you've printed one that doesn't work due to insufficient tolerance? Or if one breaks (when you force it open)?

Happened to me — chose the wrong tolerance for my printer / filament. Couldn't get the jaw to move easily, so had to try and force it which resulted in a broken clip. Because I didn't want to waste the filament I started thinking about ways to fix the deficient prints. Apart from the plastic pin / hinge they seemed perfectly fine, so drilling out the plastic pin(s) and replacing those with a metal bolt should alleviate the problem.

But where to drill exactly? From the outside you can't see where the pins are located…

Luckily the .stl file could be used to figure out the exact location, so I used the original model to create a mold of sorts in OnShape. This mold can hold the parts of the bag clip firmly in place. Once the clip is in the mold, you attach a top / bottom cover with holes for the exact location of the plastic pin(s). Using these holes you can mark where to drill (with something sharp like a pin or pincers). After removing the cover(s) you can then drill through the clip — while the parts are held in place. Then it's just a matter of fitting a suitable bolt / nut.

Worked for me!

Used the original model to create a mold of sorts. This can be used as a template for drilling, so that the plastic pins (hinges) can be replaced (by a metal bolt for instance).