Sink Stopper Repair

My grandparents have a sink that is very old. A small plastic piece from the stopper had broken off. Replacements didn't exist and a new sink would have cost way too much money. So I decided to design and print the replacement.

• CAD Software (I used Fusion 360)
• 3D Printer
• 3D Printer Filament (something durable like PETG)
• Calipers

First pull out you calipers and take some measurements. You can write them down on a sheet of paper or you can do it digitally.

I started by basically stacking cylinders on top of each other.

• Create a sketch on the bottom / xy plane
• Draw a circle around the origin with the measured diameter from Step 1
• Extrude the circle the measured amount from Step 1
• Create another sketch on the top face of the cylinder just created
• Draw a circle around the z axis with the next measured diameter from Step 1
• Extrude this sketch the desired amount
• Repeat until the base structure is done

The injection molded piece had a hole to allow a portion of the part to flex in and out in order to open and close the sink-plug. I designed this cutout next:

• Create a sketch on the front plane
• Draw a point where the center of the cutout will be
• Draw two perpendicular lines and make sure that they cross in the point you created
• Draw a rhombus connecting these points
• Do a symmetrical cut through the entire part

• Add fillets near sharp corners for rigidity
• (Optional) We will print the part on its side for optimum strength. This results in overhangs which need supports. You can cut off a portion of the cylinders (as seen in the picture) to make sure the part prints support-free

• In your slicer, place the part on its side
• Enable supports (not needed if you did the optional step in Step 4)
• Slice and print

If the part doesn’t fit make some changes using the "Press Pull" feature in Fusion 360.

(Optional) Sand the part smooth

You're done!