The Shed – September-October 2019

clear the sloping ceiling. There are two

vertically aligned 12mm diameter holes

set 600mm from the right-hand edge

to attach the hinges, and one 12mm

d i a m e t e r h o l e s e t 10 0 m m i n a t t h e m i d d l e

of the right side for a door handle.

The glass took only four days from

order to be ready for pick up. I made a

wooden frame for the glass to protect

the edges when it was carried into the

house and up the stairs.

Fitting 3D-printed hinges

To get gravity to make the door self-

closing, the door has to lift as it turns

through 90 degrees. This could be

achieved by either offsetting the top

hinge a few centimetres so that the

hinge line was not vertical, or making

the hinge line vertical with the bottom

support a screw thread that lifts the

door as it turned. I developed designs

for both concepts, and eventually settled

on the screw concept.

I had no doubt that I could make a

suitable 3D-printed hinge that could

handle the loads and do the job.

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vertically aligned, and bolted to the glass

using stainless-steel bolts that pass f

Cover plates

Using 3D printing I was able to make

cover plates for the handhold wall

attachments and the shower hose

outlet. The shower set came with

a cover plate that masked the hole

in the wall where the shower hose

attached. But this cover plate has to

be in place before the hose fitting is

screwed into the elbow. You can’t

visually check that the joint is sealed

after you’ve tightened it up. That

appears to be standard practice in the

trade. There has to be a better way!

I designed and printed a two-part

cover plate that I could fit after

installing and checking the shower

hose fitting was sealed properly. The

two identical halves clip together and

sit round the hose fitting. I used a

similar design to make covers for the

wall fittings on the two handholds.

There should be a product like this

available in the hardware shops in a

range of sizes, colours, and designs.

Above: The shower hose fitting screwed and
sealed in place
Right: The shower-fitting cover plate
installed