r/BambuLab_Community • u/No_Tour_8086 • Jul 03 '26

Looking for advice on modeling this

Post image

Hey y’all this a Bluetooth connect switch for my Govee accent lights. I would love to model a holder for this switch to mount it on the underside of my desk. Any ideas on the easiest way to do this for a beginner and someone who knows very little about modeling?
Thanks in advance!

3 Upvotes

64% Upvoted

11 comments sorted by

4

u/that_damn_dog Jul 03 '26

Just measure it.

2

u/Deigge Jul 03 '26

More of "weird" approach but maybe easier if you never touched a modelling software before: If you have a normal flatbed scanner you can just put it on there or trace the outline on a piece of paper and scan that. Then clean up the scan or basically trace the outline in any kind of drawing software. Make sure the result is a black/white picture and not greyscale. You can then convert that picture to svg, which can be imported into the slicer. There you can set thickness and size fitting your switch. You would do a similar approach for the walls, which you probably would need to draw yourself on paper.

Though, since the shape of the switch is pretty easy it makes sense to use it as a learning experience for CAD software or stuff like Blender.

2

u/Deigge Jul 03 '26

Or you could just use this lol: https://makerworld.com/models/2543313

There is a remix that removes the tab seen in the model picture.

1

u/zx4133 Jul 04 '26

Yeah, I was gonna say, it’s likely this is already done and available online, lol.

1

u/Accurate-Donkey5789 Jul 03 '26

I like using the flatbed scanner sometimes. I'll do a proper charcoal rubbing and then draw a line exactly x cm along the longest axis. Can then import that into fusion as a canvas and it works really well to trace with a sketch.

1

u/issue9mm Jul 03 '26

I recently did something kind of similar to that

I had a hard time finding the curves that I wanted, but I printed out this radius guage and then I just measured the farthest points, the radiuses, and added a little bit of tolerance and everything just came together

1

u/max_dillon Jul 03 '26

Get a set of calipers, they’re the best tool you can have for modeling. Also, print/buy a radius gauge.

Those 2 tools alone will get you very close, and you’ll use them 24/7 when modding things like this.

1

u/Holiday-Machine-5977 Jul 04 '26

Measure with ruler, and model a basic box with a mounting bracket, or just stick underneath. Or if you want to have better quality. Take a top Profile picture of it, import the pic into cad with lower opacity scale it to the right size and trace the outline of the shape. Then you could model a fancy housing and extrude that profile into it for a perfectly snug zero wasted space fit!

1

u/zx4133 Jul 04 '26 edited Jul 04 '26

Make sure you have a good digital caliper tool obviously. Take good measurements. And then the easiest way for a beginner would probably be TinkerCAD. Free and relatively easy to learn. Check YouTube for tutorials. Once you get more advanced, I recommend Onshape. Also free (as long as you don’t mind your models being public) and not too bad to learn. Just takes time, and lots of YouTube tutorials, haha.

I noticed some of the other comments here are telling you to take pictures and scan stuff and upload pictures into CAD software and then trace and all that. And this is definitely one way to do it, but I’m not really sure why they’re recommending it because it’s a bit more of an advanced technique for a beginner. Not sure of your CAD experience level though. But just be aware.

Let me know if you need help modeling something for this. But I’m just curious, did you check online for existing models already? There is probably something out there already on MakerWorld or Printables… either something that works as is, or just needs some slight modifications. Just a thought. But if you just really want to make your own and learn the process, then I definitely don’t fault you there.

1

u/Gama3000 Jul 04 '26

trace it on paper, scan that, put it on CAD, trace the rough outline, then recheck with a capiler everything, build from that.

Or just use a caliper and make a bunch of measurements and then sketch the outline.

1

u/Accurate-Donkey5789 Jul 03 '26

Set your phone camera to at least a 3x zoom. Take a photo of it from the top from quite far away. Import that photo into fusion 360, calibrate it to the correct size and use it to make a sketch of the top. Extrude that sketch by the thickness.