3D Print This MRI Protected Torque Wrench If You’re Wealthy

MRI machines include a wide range of security warnings. Maybe most significantly, it’s important to be very cautious to not take ferrous steel objects anyplace close to them, since robust magnetic fields can ship them flying, inflicting injury and accidents. To that finish, you would possibly end up in want of magnetically-safe instruments when engaged on such machines. [Sam Schmitz] not too long ago whipped up a nifty instance of an MRI-safe torque wrench himself.

It’s a 3D printed design which could be produced on a Formlabs Fuse 1+ as a single piece in nylon utilizing a selective laser sintering course of. The torque wrench works in a deceptively easy method. Because the deal with is rotated, a flap  mates with the flat facet of a fin on the shaft. This enables the shaft to show. Nonetheless, apply greater than 0.6 Nm of torque, and the fin will finally give in, snapping over the lip and stopping any additional rotation that may over-tighten the fastener. [Sam] suggests these printed torque wrenches largely come out to the proper torque spec when printed, and may survive a thousand cycles or extra whereas remaining in a usable spec.

The wrench does have one disadvantage although—it’s apparently painfully loud to make use of. When the deal with snaps previous the detent, the “click on” is sort of piercing. [Sam] has measured the sound at as much as 125 dB. Not precisely the most effective in relation to ear security!

Should you work on MRI machines usually, you have already got the tooling to do your job. Nonetheless, it’s neat to see that such a specialised device could be simply and reliably 3D printed… with the slight disadvantage that you simply want a $60,000 SLS printer to do it. SLS isn’t available on the DIY stage simply but, however it’s slowly getting there. We’re ready with bated breath.