{"id":5246,"date":"2026-09-13T11:12:52","date_gmt":"2026-09-13T11:12:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ozone.me.uk\/?p=5246"},"modified":"2026-09-13T11:36:56","modified_gmt":"2026-09-13T11:36:56","slug":"3d-design-for-friend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ozone.me.uk\/?p=5246","title":{"rendered":"3D Printing a Replacement Fridge Part"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"3D
\nA friend of mine needed a replacement part for his fridge. It is the small mechanism
\nthat pushes the ice out of the ice maker.<\/p>\n

This is one of those situations where 3D printing really comes into its own.
\nSourcing a small replacement part like this from the original manufacturer can be
\nnearly impossible. And even when it is available, manufacturers will often only sell
\nthe complete assembly rather than the small plastic component that has actually failed.<\/p>\n

So, instead, I made one.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

As usual, I documented a little of the process to share here.<\/p>\n

Designing the Part<\/h2>\n

I started by measuring the original part and recreating it in Fusion 360.
\nThis is probably the most interesting part of the process: taking a physical object,
\nworking out its important dimensions and geometry, and recreating it in the virtual world.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/ozone.me.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Part-Design.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n

Preparing It for Printing<\/h2>\n

Once the model was finished, I exported it to the printer software.
\nThe slicer converts the 3D model into hundreds of thin layers that the printer can
\nbuild one at a time.<\/p>\n

For this part, I used a layer height of 0.16 mm<\/strong> and printed it in
\nPETG<\/strong>. I chose PETG because it is reasonably tough and handles low
\ntemperatures well, making it suitable for this type of application.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/ozone.me.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/3d_printing_slices.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n

Print, Test, Adjust<\/h2>\n

Of course, designing a replacement part rarely works perfectly on the first attempt.
\nThere are usually a few iterations: print it, try it, discover what doesn’t quite fit,
\nadjust the model and print again.<\/p>\n

In this case, it took three versions before I reached a design that I was happy to
\ngive to my friend.<\/p>\n

He is going to install it in the fridge, and hopefully it will give him a few more
\nyears of use.<\/p>\n

The nice thing is that the difficult part is now done. The replacement part exists
\nas a digital file. If it ever breaks again, making another one is simply a matter of
\nloading the file and pressing Print<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

About an hour later, a new replacement part exists.<\/p>\n


\nA tiny example of local, on-demand manufacturing \u2014 but a very satisfying one.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A friend of mine needed a replacement part for his fridge. It is the small mechanism that pushes the ice out of the ice maker. This is one of those situations where 3D printing really comes into its own. Sourcing … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-3d-printing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ozone.me.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5246","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ozone.me.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ozone.me.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ozone.me.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ozone.me.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5246"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/ozone.me.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5246\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5261,"href":"https:\/\/ozone.me.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5246\/revisions\/5261"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ozone.me.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ozone.me.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ozone.me.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}