Over-engineered JST connector pliers

JST connector plug-pulling pliers with many improvements
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updated May 10, 2023

Description

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On Printables there are many variations of pliers designed to pull JST connector plugs out of their sockets. To me, they were all sub-optimal. I decided to design some JST connector pliers that addresses all the deficiencies I found.

The original plug-pulling pliers and derivatives probably came from Micro Center. My design is original, done from scratch in OpenSCAD, and customizable. It's even possible to make other kinds of pliers from this.

Improvements in this design over others available:

  • Jaws are shorter to provide greater leverage with lesser handle force.
  • Jaw teeth are parallel when pliers are open to the width of a JST plug.
  • Parts snap together, and stay together, with no extra fasteners or tools.
  • Large contact area between handles and hub (3X other designs) provide maximum strength at a high stress point.
  • Leaf springs open the pliers automatically.
  • Handle cross section is rounded on the outside for comfortable grip, without grasping flat beveled surfaces.
  • Handles are tapered where forces are lesser, to save material.
  • Handles are longer, enough to fit adult hands.
  • Handles are closer together for easier handling.
  • Optional finger bumps make it easier to pull JST plugs without the handle slipping from your grasp.
  • Optional eyelet is included for hanging the tool on a hook or peg board.

The overall design can be customized in many ways using the OpenSCAD customizer.

Update 10 May 2023: Made clip thinner to prevent breaking when printed with PLA, which is too brittle for the original thicker clip. Split into separate STL files for Cura users.

Print Settings

Printer: Prusa i3 MK3S

Supports: No

Resolution: 0.20-0.30mm layers, 0.4mm nozzle

Infill: 4 perimeters, 30% cubic, solid at axle base

Filament: Prusament PETG 

Notes:

At 0.3 mm layer height, this takes about 1.5 hours to print.

4 perimeters and 30% cubic infill is the minimum you should use. I printed one at 30% infill and one at 40% infill and didn't notice any difference in stiffness. PETG flexes anyway.

Solid infill should be used for a couple of millimeters above and below the base of the axle on the "male" part, to distribute the shear load across more area. Use a cylindrical infill modifier in the slicer for this.

Post-printing

To assemble the male and female handle parts, you must compress the leaf springs a bit to allow the axle to be inserted into the bearing. You can press the springs against each other as you align the axle with the hub, and it should slip together.

After the two halves are together, insert the snap-lock clip into the slot at the top of the axle. You need to sqeeze the ends together to get it through. This may require significant force. Once you manage to get the teeth into the channel, push it in all the way until it snaps.

If you ever need to remove the clip, use needle-nose pliers to squeeze together the locking teeth while pushing.

How I designed this

Designed completely in OpenSCAD.

Some features I am pleased with:

  • Beveled edges everywhere, without resorting to the slow minkowski() operation. Rendering this part is fairly quick. Beveling was done mostly with clever scaling of extrusions.
  • Serpentine handles with a cross-section to maximize comfort on the outer side of the handle. Each handle is a polyhedron that follows a bezier-curve path while the handle cross-section is re-shaped slightly along each point on the path.
  • Jaw design adaptable to creating other kinds of pliers by designing a different cutout. The cutout for this design creates a simple hook for pulling a JST plug from a socket.

 

Category: Hand Tools

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Model origin

The author marked this model as their own original creation. Imported from Thingiverse.

License