Library › 3D printing › Print-in-place mechanisms ·

Print-in-place: two-axis gimbal (nested rings, Ø76)

Name: Print-in-place: two-axis gimbal (nested rings, Ø76) dimension sheet
Creator: Xem Studio
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

How do you 3D print a gimbal (universal pivot) in one piece? · Hardware · basis: Xem Studio design: concentric sphere bands, 45° cone pivots; one designed running gap of 0.40 mm

Also called: print in place gimbal, 3d printed gimbal rings, print in place universal joint, gyroscope rings stl, nested rings gimbal

Exact dimensions. True size, with no printing tolerance added.

length: 76.0 mm
width: 76.0 mm
height: 8.0 mm

Notes

3D print in place — prints already assembled, moving, in one job. Drawn at true size with no printer tolerance added; the 0.40 mm running gaps are part of the design.
Running gap 0.40 mm per side, 0.80 mm on diameter — part of the design, drawn as is. On the 45° faces the same 0.40 mm is measured square to the face (0.57 mm along the axis).
Bed: all three rings lie flat and concentric on the bed; the two pivot axes (X and Y) are horizontal at mid-height, 4 mm up.
Support while printing: the facing edges are concentric sphere bands (the inner one only 13° off vertical at the bed), and each pivot is a 45° cone on a horizontal axis in a 45° cone socket; nothing overhangs more than 45°.
Captured: each ring hangs on two opposed cones, so it cannot drop out; the sphere bands keep the 0.40 mm gap at every angle.
Freeing it: hold the frame and turn the middle ring through a full turn, then the inner disc; the first turn breaks the bed contact.
Motion: the middle ring turns 360° about X and the disc 360° about Y — checked in the model every 30° × 45° with no contact; together they point the disc in any direction (two-axis gimbal).

Print-in-place: two-axis gimbal size chart

key	value	what
gap_mm	0.4	running gap per side on every moving interface (radial, axial, under captured parts) — part of the design, not a tolerance
outer_d_mm	76.0	frame ring outside diameter
h_mm	8.0	all three rings, as printed
ring_1_sphere_d_mm	54.0	middle ring outer sphere band
disc_sphere_d_mm	36.0	inner disc sphere band
pin_d_mm	5.2	45° cone pivots, two per axis
center_hole_d_mm	10	inner disc
rotation_x_deg	360 continuous	middle ring in the frame
rotation_y_deg	360 continuous	inner disc in the middle ring
mount_holes	4 × Ø3.4 on Ø67	frame

Where the files are

Other publishers' files are linked, not hosted. "verify" = check the license at the link before commercial use.

Xem Studio

Print-in-place mechanism design (geometry computed in the generator)

web

Xem Studio design

Free files

★ Free files 4 parts. Xem Studio design: free to use, print and sell things from; not to be republished as files. Xem Studio Design License. index.json

print-in-place-two-axis-gimbal-assembly	The whole print as laid on the bed (3 bodies, already assembled); STEP keeps each moving body a separate solid	STEP · STL
print-in-place-two-axis-gimbal-frame	Frame ring Ø76 × 8 with the X-axis cone sockets and 4 × Ø3.4	STEP · STL
print-in-place-two-axis-gimbal-ring	Middle ring: sphere bands inside and out, X-axis cones, Y-axis sockets	STEP · STL
print-in-place-two-axis-gimbal-disc	Inner disc: sphere band Ø36, Y-axis cones, Ø10 centre hole	STEP · STL

Let your AI pull this. Add https://xemstudio.com/mcp to Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or any MCP client (free, no account, one minute) and it can look up exact sizes, mating fits and free STEP/STL from every chat.

Set it up →

Plain text: sheet.txt · JSON: /api/geometry?object=print-in-place-two-axis-gimbal