Garden rake with adjustable handle and ergonomic grip

My wife needed a small rake in the garden, so I designed and printed one.
The handle bar is made out of a 16mm diameter pipe commonly used in household tools. It comes from a broken marc.

The rake is reinforced by internal tubes in the fingers and there is a tube for a 4mm diameter carbon fiber rod in the handle clamping part. I think it will work without the rod but will be less strong. Of course you can use other materials for this. Carbon fiber rods can be purchased in your local hobby shop. I thing placing carbon fiber rods into 3d printed parts is a good way to reinforce them.

Print the rake with HIPS or ABS with 3 perimeters 25% or more infill. No supports needed.

Print the linkage with ABS in a horizontal position with the flat face on the plate. Use 3 perimetrs with 25% infill. Use supports everywhere. You can easily remove the supports from inside and you do not have to worry about the quality of the supported surfaces, it will not be visible. The hole for the rod is not circular but ellipse to compensate the small deformation due to the bridging in horizontal printing position. The horizontal position makes the parts much stronger in longitudinal direction. I think the layer adhesion will not be strong enough if you print in vertical position but you can try.

In the linkage you will need to use one M5 carriage bolt and a M5 nut.

I have used semi-flexibe material for the grip, with minimal infill. The hole in the grip is 17mm to compensate the shrinkage.

I have used thick CA to fix the parts on the pipe.

Print instructions

Category: Outdoor & Garden Print Settings

Printer Brand: Prusa

Printer: I3 MK3S

Rafts: No

Supports: Yes

Resolution: 0,2

Infill: 25%

Filament: ABS, Semiflex