I made these to help a quadriplegic friend prevent what is called “foot drop.” The angle at the front helps stretch the Achilles tendon while he’s seated in his power chair. Also, it’s a standing chair which allows him to stand up, and the inserts will help further stretch them.
Fusion 360 render
Printing begins
Moving right along
Finished
Installed
Good fit. Measure twice, print once.
I’ve got a friend who may find those useful. PLA may be a bit weak for her, are yours in ABS?
I used PLA. I made a set for him soon after getting my Snapmaker, but they were just simple wedges that raised the front of the foot 1/2". They used the standard infill setting and I thought they might be too weak, as well. They were not. They held up just fine for several months now. He is a C5 quadriplegic, and he uses a standing wheel chair, which allows him to achieve the standing posture so necessary for good health, periodically throughout the day. Even with his full weight (est. 135 lbs.) on them, they never broke or even cracked.
The version you see in the pictures is a new set that raise the front of his feet 3/4." Now that I am familiar with the CAD program I was able to custom build them to seat over 21 ridges running down the footplate plate (see pictures), and add bolt holes to secure it more firmly through the holes in the footplate (The original version used cable ties through holes I drilled into the wedges.) The print was done as a fast build, and I installed them about a week ago. So far PLA has not failed in the least.
Since these raise the front of his feet even more, I have been concerned that the infill (honeycomb, I call it) might make the build too weak, but so far, no problems. Were there to be a failure, I would not hesitate to try PLA again, though with a higher percentage infill and perhaps do a medium quality build
Thanks for the info. She’s a wisp of a girl so your chap @ 135 lbs. is a good test! I hadn’t considered the business of stopping them moving, I need to give it a tad more thought.
Happy to help and answer any other questions you may have to the best of my ability.
