Setable Date Label for Gas Can, Maintenace

I created this to keep track of what gas can had the oldest fuel, but found it to be useful for tracking when my water filters were last changed as well.

Uses 12mm magnets by default - you can change this in the customizer.

Basic Models

Printing

I printed in PETG, no supports. Make sure you have your extrusion multiplier tuned, as over extrusion can make it difficult to turn the rings. Should work fine with PLA as well.

You will need to map the text to the correct color filament; even numbered objects are the text.

Watch which objects your slicer tries to print first - for beat results, print the text second. This way it is filling the holes in the larger parts, which will produce a cleaner result and reduce the chances of the small text features detaching from the build plate.

If you slicer tries to print the text first, you can override it. In Orcaslicer, there is an icon nest to the print sheet called Customize current plate. 

Click this, and set First layer filament sequence to Customize.

From here you can set the color order so that the base color comes before the text color.

Assembly

If using magnets, install them in the bottom housing first.

Place the outer ring (the one with the largest bore) in the top housing (the one with 2 windows) with the numbers visible through the window. Install the inner ring (the one with the step) with the step fitting through the outer ring. It should be flush with the bottom of the housing. Carefully test that both rings can turn.

• For the 4-ring version (Gas can label), install the smaller ring upside down in the  bottom housing. The text should be visible through the bottom window. Place the last ring on top of it, with the numbers facing up.

• For the 3-ring version (maintenance label), install the last ring in the bottom housing with the numbers facing up.

Place the top housing & rings on top of the bottom housing & rings with the month ring on the lower housing visible through the left window of the top housing.

Push a piece of scrap filament through one of the holes, cutting it so it sticks out about 1/8" on each side. Repeat for the rest of the holes.

Use a soldering iron to melt the extra filament down to the housing surface on both sides of each pin. This will serve as rivets to hold the case together.

Usage

The lower rings are intentionally more difficult to turn so they won't accidentally move with the upper ring. You may need to turn both the upper and lower ring together.

The month and second digit of the year should turn reasonably freely, and lock in place at each digit.

Building Your Own

The OpenSCAD file is provided if you want to customize the labels. There is no control for text overrun, so watch for any text placement errors before printing.

You will want to have the enable lazy union setting turned on in OpenSCAD preferences (you need to have the developer version of OpenSCAD - don't bother with the "stable" release, they never get updated). With this setting turned on, you can export the model as 3mf and have the text as separate objects to easily set text color (will not work for stl export).

In the slicer, everything will be grouped into a single assembly. If you want to nest the parts differently, you need to re-assemble each part with it's text. Instructions provided are for Orcaslicer.

• Right click the model, ad select Split > to Objects

• Confirm that you wish to disable auto-drop Z (otherwise the text on top of the stepped ring will drop).

• Go to the Objects tab

• Select Model 1 and Model 2

• Right click and select Assemble

• Repeat for 3 and 4, 5 and 6, 7 and 8.

Now each part can be moved independently, and the text will stay with the part when moving it around the build plate.

To set the text color, change the color on each of the even-numbered objects.

Customization Options

Basic customization is done in the first 3 sections: Labels, Zip Tie, and Magnets. These are the only sections you will need to customize in most cases.

In the Advanced section you can change the font size, style and depth,  as well as the numbers on the date rings. The Ring and Case sections should be used cautiously - changes here ave not been tested for usability. On the Developer tab you can show and hide each individual part to check fitment.

Labels Section

All labels are optional - leave blank if you don't want them. Leaving ring labels blank will also omit the symbol with it. If you want the symbol without text (eg, if you are using a single label for both windows), simply put a space as the label.

• top label Text entered here will be displayed at the top of the case

• center label This text will go between the 2 windows

• ring1 name This is the label for the left window

• ring2 name This is the text for the right window

• ring2 split When set to false (unchecked), the right ring (year) will be a single ring instead of inner and outer. Mostly used when you want to use this for something other than year.

• ring3 When this is enabled, a ring will be added under the month ring, visible through a window in the back.

• ring3 label A comma-separated list of text for each stop on ring3. Be careful of overrun when changing this (you may need to increase the ring size or decrease the ring font height)

Zip Tie Section

• zip tie location Use this to set where the zip tie ear is added (left, right or both)

• zip tie direction When set to inline, a single slot for the zip tie is created. When set to across, 2 slots for the zip tie will be created. This is intended for wrapping the zip tie around something like a pipe. The ear on the top case gets extended to be flush with the bottom. See also zip tie spread.

• zip tie width The width of the zip tie slot (x direction when inline, y direction when across)

• zip tie thickness The height of the zip tie slot (y direction when inline, x direction when across)

• zip tie spread When in across mode, this sets the distance between the 2 zip tie slots. It is capped by the case size; if you try to set it too high a message will be printed to the console and the maximum allowed will be used instead.

Magnets Section

• magnets When enabled, holes for magnets will be added to the bottom case

• magner dia The diameter of the magnet hole. There is only 0.2mm (1 layer) between the magnet and the bottom surface for maximum magnet strength. Tested with 12mm magnets, smaller magnets may not be sufficient. There is no check for sizing - too large a magnet can break the left ring pivot. You will need to increase ring diameter and ring bore for large magnets.

Advanced Section

• delimiter If you want to use a comma in any of the ring labels, you will need to change this to a different character. You will then use that character to separate the labels (this applies to all the rings, so you will need to change the label list for all of them to use the new delimiter).

• ring1 labels Comma separated (or custom delimiter separated) list of labels for the left ring. Provide one for each stop on the ring.

• ring2 labels Comma separated (or custom delimiter separated) list of labels for the right ring. Provide one for each stop on the ring. If ring2 split is enabled, this should only be a single character.

• Ring Font Height Font Size for the ring text

• Label Font Height Font size for the case labels. Applies to both window labels, as well as top and center text.

• Text Depth Sets how deep to make the text. Default is 2 layers.

• Font Family Sets the font to use for all text. System dependent; see Window > Font List in OpenSCAD  for available options on your computer.

Ring Section

• ring thickness The typical thickness of a single ring. When ring2 split is disabled, the right ring will be double this value; when ring3 is disabled, the left ring will be double this value.

• ring diameter The outside diameter of the primary rings. The lower rings (ring3 and inner section of split ring2) will be 4mm smaller diameter. In my testing this was the best size difference; if you really want to change it, you will need to change the value of split_reduce in the source code.

• ring bore The size of the center hole in the rings.

• notch depth Sets the depth of the large notches in the rings (distance from outside diameter to the lowest point of the notch).

• notch diameter Sets the diameter of the cylinder used to create the notch.

• detent size This is the diameter of the locking detent. Changing it will affect how well the rings lock in place. The depth of the detent groove is hard-coded at 0.2* this value.

Case Section

• thickness  Sets the thickness of the case above/below the rings. Make sure it is at least 1 layer larger than the text depth.

• clearance This sets the clearance all the way around - above the rings, inside diameter, outside diameter. Be careful when adjusting - with too much sideways clearance, the detent will not hold the rings from spinning.

• case_hole This is the size of the corner holes for the filament "rivets". The countersink is this size + 4mm. Turn this setting up or run a 3/32" (2mm) drill bit through if you have difficulty getting the filament in the corner holes.

• fillet The corner radius of the case. The default value matches the corner hole for best printing.

Developer Section

Uncheck the parts you don't want displayed to see how parts fit together.