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My Adventures with 3D Printed Insoles - Part 1/4

12/12/2014

15 Comments

 

Part 1 - Introduction

What I aim to show within the next few articles is how anyone without any qualifications, experience or knowledge in the podiatry field (that's me) can produce comfortable insoles using a completely free open source tool chain. There have been many 3D printed insoles before, certainly the more expensive multi-material printers have been showing off their exploits for a while now, however with this new democratised power of the maker movement, I would like to show and share some new found skills.

I am going to split this article into 3 further posts, each one focusing on 3 accumulative techniques that I have been experimenting with, each technique is not mutually exclusive, they can be mixed and matched with each other.

It can be assumed that I have produced all of my prints with Filaflex, the softest and most elastic material for FDM printers. If anyone wants an FDM printer recommendation for printing shoes/insoles then look no further than the Lewihe Sneaker printer, tested at 120mm/s printing of Filaflex and with a large build volume for shoes.

Here is a little overview of each post :

Part 1 - This Introduction

Part 2 - Open Core Mesh
Part 3 - Variable Density
Part 4 - Form Fitting
Rainbow Insole
Rainbow Insole

Open Core Mesh

Variable Density

Variable Density Insole
Variable Density Insole
The omission of the top and bottom layers of the print to expose the infill structure. This increases ventilation and can soften the feel of the print. It is also quicker to print and uses less material. Some nice infill patterns can finally take centre stage too.
With the later revisions of Slic3r and also Simplify 3D, there is now the ability to change print the properties for various discrete areas of the model to be printed. I did say this was an open source tool chain and I haven't used Simplify3D so my observations will be made using Slic3r. Slic3r can now use "Modifier Meshes" which are stl models imported onto the virtual build plate. Where these intersect your model, you can specify a whole new set of slicing parameter changes for this intersected zone. In the case of a variable density insole, it is the infill percentage that is modified.

Form Fitting

My Left Foot Print (3D)
My Left Foot Print (3D)
Another piece of the jigsaw, is how to create the surface of the insole to fit the form of your own foot. I will show you with the aid of my cheap 5 year old flat-bed document scanner how this surface is achieved.
It is difficult to describe in pictures just how flexible and comfortable this printed insole is.

What Next?

It's hard to say where this is going to go. There are many thousands of diabetic sufferers that have foot amputations due to ulceration, in far too many cases this is caused by ill fitting shoes and is preventable. This could provide a quick, low cost, and comfortable solution. What about a scanner and printer in every high street shoe shop or podiatrist clinic/medical centre, that would be a start.

It would be great to automate the various parts of the software tool chain into a wrapped up turnkey solution (free and open source of course), effectively to de-skill the process further. However this is outside of my individual skill set, although I am happy to collaborate further if anyone is interested.

The disclaimer here is that I am only providing information, this is not medically certified and is not designed to be such, but hey in many parts of the world, people walk round on planks of wood or old car tyres so everything is builder beware. Go forth and MAKE!!!

Read Part 2 - Open Core Mesh here.

15 Comments
Ralph Ferro link
12/12/2014 11:10:51 am

Great post and extremely informative.

Reply
Joshua Rowley link
17/12/2014 01:57:59 am

Very interesting stuff - looking forward to hearing more about the flatbed scanner!!

Reply
Dave Gordon
17/12/2014 12:16:53 pm

Hi,
This is very interesting to me. My 84 year old mom needs a custom insole to help her walk. She has a bone spur that makes walking painful. I could really use all the information you have to try to duplicate your process. What information you give me doesn't have to be in perfect form.
Sincerely,
Dave Gordon

Reply
Richard Pasillas
18/12/2014 06:11:38 am

Great read! Can't wait for the next installment!

Reply
J.F. F.
1/1/2015 12:32:36 am

Very interesting stuff. Waiting your progress.

Reply
Viswanath Sundar
5/4/2016 08:14:12 am

Dear Sir
I am new to this field, i wish to create a insole for the sports person to enhance performance and reduce injury. we have foot pressure map analysis platform with the help of the data we need to create a insole for a particular individual, kindly help me in this regard
Thanks in advance
S.Viswanath

Reply
Eazy Print link
25/5/2016 07:46:21 pm

Really 3D printing is a great way, to give life to your imaginations. Use 2D printing, to promote your beautiful things, by creating flyers and leaflets at <a href="https://www.eazy-print.co.uk/">eazy print</a>, and invite them for your items' exhibition.

Reply
Eazy Print link
25/5/2016 07:50:48 pm

Really 3D printing is a great way, to give life to your imaginations. Use 2D printing, to promote your beautiful things, by creating flyers and leaflets at eazy print, and invite them for your items' exhibition.

Reply
opqrstu3D link
2/2/2017 01:17:48 am

Hello steve,

I am into Slic3r infill only printing, but could not figure out how to modify meshes. Your articles showed me the way and open a whole lot of new possibilities in 2D/3D infill only printing. Thanks a lot.

Reply
Steve Wood link
2/2/2017 07:09:16 am

Cura now supports modifier meshes too so you may want to take a look at that: https://youtu.be/PUwf79wySUY

Reply
Bob Jones
5/2/2019 10:21:13 am

Hi i have made two pair of your design orthotics for my Wife and my self using pla, my wifes are for her sandles i needed to soften the front edge in hot water for them to stay in one place as the inner sole had already been cut, mine were for my work boots i stuck an inner sole to them we are both very happy with the results thank you for the trouble you have gone to make this posible keep up the good work.
Regards
Rhiannon & Bob Jones

Reply
Maria Camargo
21/3/2019 07:50:33 pm

What size is the model in thingiverse (https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:523543), and how can I scale it correctly for other sizes? for example mine which is 6.5 in the American system

I would greatly appreciate your response :)

Reply
Spence Spencer link
10/9/2020 03:17:21 pm

We are a small medical clinic in the US and would like to inquire about you services.

Reply
Oklahoma link
16/2/2021 04:17:38 am

This waas a lovely blog post

Reply
Alexander Soto
6/4/2021 12:00:46 am

Hola!
Estoy muy interesado en adquirir una IMPRESORA 3D con BAROPODOMETRO para la elaboración de PLANTILLAS ORTOPEDICAS PERSONALISADAS, quiera recibir información sobre las especificaciones técnicas y el precio.

Reply



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    Steve Wood

    CAD design engineer, builder and tinkerer.

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