Surveying 3D models

Trimble S6 battery

Parani SD1000. This model has both the extra battery and the blank plate

Trimble part 5198

Generic plumb bob

Plumb bob with Gammon reel

Wild T2 striding mount

Panorama Antenna for MiFi's

Digital Antenna 295-PW for MiFi

This is a plunger for a Leica cheapy fiberglass level rod that they could never get parts for. Both the original injection molded parts and a much more 3D printer friendly model are included

Geodimeter part R71204512 which is the air balance for the original 360?ø prism

Geodimeter 571 126 130 which is the plastic part inside the leveling bases (571 125 950) that breaks when they are knocked over

Preview
I forgot to place up the HO Bilby tower I did a while ago. I was going to test my big printer with this when it arrived and never did and at this point I doubt I will print it. The wires at true scale are really too small to print so everything has been enlarged to 1 mm or 87 mm full scale (3.4" Bilby braces, ... yikes!). The entire tower is 401 mm tall or 15.75 inches, however, the model is in 17 shells. Just don't print the bottom couple of shells and it will be less obtrusive. Don't kid yourself, this wispy thing will be hard to print and it might just be easier to print it in exterior panels and use a hand printer to string the supports

If someone prints this, I want pics!

[GALLERY=media, 40]HO Bilby tower 1 by Norm Larson posted Jul 13, 2017 at 2:46 PM[/GALLERY] [GALLERY=media, 42]HO Bilby tower 3 by Norm Larson posted Jul 13, 2017 at 2:47 PM[/GALLERY] [GALLERY=media, 41]HO Bilby tower 2 by Norm Larson posted Jul 13, 2017 at 2:46 PM[/GALLERY]

You made all this with a 3D printer. Wow 🙂

I didn't really print all of them .. Most were just modeled so that I could design something else. Most of what I print these days has nothing to do with surveying unfortunately, like fairings, fenders and side pods are the current mania. Well I say it has nothing to do with surveying, but, all of the design work I have done on Ariel's has come from a laser scan and model of the car done back in 2007 with a Leica HDS6200. Below is the prototype fairing for the left upper suspension arms, the idea being to smooth the turbulence of the arms into a small amount of down force. The louvered fender was molded from a 3D print I did years ago (2011) on Shapeways and started me down the tried and true pattern, then mold, then part, expensive path that I will not go down again. Print to part is what I am about now, we will soon see how well that works. 3D printing can offer a bridge for those items where the demand is not big enough for the cost of molding, but, there still is a demand, which is way cool.

Very cool Norm.
What software are you modeling in?
And... what printer do you print on?

I am using Inventor Pro which is getting long in the tooth as it is a 2013 edition. I have used RapidForm and really like it. I really don't want to go down the subscription route, so, I will change to either Blender, Rhino or ZW3d. Since i know Inventor like the back of my hand, I am in no hurry.

My big printer is an AON-M which has a 18"x18"x25" build area and I have a palette system for it, but, it has 6.5 feet of TFT tubing for each extruder already, so, it is a poor choice for the palette. That 6.5 feet of tubing has already caused me lots of issues and I have had to make a device that contains the spools, keeps them dry and provides the printer with filament on an on demand kind of way. Basically after the 6.5 feet there wasn't enough pull to use the 10Kg spools I have, so, I made the Rube Goldberg device below. The AON is enclosed with liquid cooling and chamber heating and can print virtually anything available now, so, it is my work horse. I also have a Rostock Max V3 that I have changed to 24v, added a Prometheus system dual extrusion and lots of light weight silliness. I use the Rostock when the AON is busy with a three or four day print and for smaller items. Then the third is a 4 extruder color system Prusa i3 Mk IIs. It is currently in the mail, but, the plan for it is for my wife's projects. I will probably get a FolgerTech FT-5 for the Palette system at some point, as they are fairly cheap and the modifications to make them much better are already available. Just add an all metal hotend and 713maker parts and it will be a work horse too. The FolgerTech prints large too and being that it doesn't have an enclosure, I would have to use PETG or PC on it exclusively.

If you click the below thumbnail you will see how crazy the filament storage box got. Now that I know Arduino better, I would have done it differently, but, it is what it is. 12v Power supply from the stock Rostock, a stepper motor, Arduino Uno board, a movement switch, an adjustable delay board, an adjustable regulator and a stepper motor board

Since the media section is going to go away, these are clickable thumbs of the Bibly tower model that are/were above.

Did you build the tower model from some USGS, C&GS, or other plans or model an existing one or design it yourself?
It looks very cool.

I used this:

Rich Leu, post: 297759, member: 38 wrote: Since Most Model Railroads Are Of An Earlier Era

Page 9 in this PDF (not page 9 in the book) has a detailed dimensioned drawing of a Bilby tower that would give you enough information to construct a scale model.

Iƒ??m afraid an accurate HO scale model (1:87.1) would be pretty flimsy. For example, the 1 3/4ƒ? x 1 3/4ƒ? angle iron that makes up the bulk of the outer tower would only be 20 thousandths in HO scale. I donƒ??t know if you can even buy material that small. And it sure wouldnƒ??t survive the first time the cat decided the layout was a good place for a nap.