credit: thingiverse
Materials Prep
Obtain a plastic soda bottle that is sized for your prey. I used a 20 oz/591 mL Sprite bottle with a 70 mm inside diameter (ID), for a theoretical mouse girth of 30 mm.
Squarely cut off the bottle top; do this right above the label top using scissors or a utility knife.
You want to maintain as much of the flat bottle walls as possible, and following the label top makes it easy to cut the edge square. Cut and thread two 100 mm lengths of ABS feedstock for use as stabilizers.
If you’d rather use M3 bolts, you can skip this; I didn’t have the correct length bolts, so I used feedstock instead. See below for feedstock threading instructions.
Cut one length of feedstock for use as the flap hinge pin. It should be about 20 mm longer than the ID of the bottle.
You want all feedstock as straight as possible, so if necessary, slightly bend it to remove any coiling curves.
Printing Skeinforge
both MouseMotelLid_0.3.stl and MouseMotel_0.3.stl.
I used an infill of 0.5.
Print MouseMotelFlap_0.3.stl. Print MouseMotel_0.3.stl;
it needs to be warp-free, so a heated build platform is recommended.
Assembly
Clean up the holes in both prints with a drill bit and trim the flap and entry tube with a utility knife as needed.
A few threads of plastic in the entry tube are OK, but this is the entrance to the motel and you want it to be as inviting as possible for your guest.
The M3 nuts and hinge pin should fit snugly in the ring, but the hinge pin should fit loosely in the flap hinge. The flap hinge should fit loosely in the front cutout, and when closed it must lay flush on the top of the entry tube.
This last fitting is important because if it doesn’t lay flat the mouse could lift the flap and check out early.
Place flat side of MouseMotel on horizontal surface and lower bottle over it.
Mark the bottle for the four holes: one for each side of the flap hinge pin, and two for the stabilizers.
Remove the ring and drill or punch the holes in the bottle at the marked locations. The holes should be slightly larger than the feedstock diameter.
Insert the flap hinge pin into one hole of the ring and guide it through a pillow block, into the flap hinge, through another pillow block, and finally into the opposite ring hole.
The hinge pin should be flush with the outside of the opposite ring hole, such that one side protrudes out of the ring and the other doesn’t.
Press M3 nuts into ring. If they are loose, use a drop of hot glue to secure them. Place bait in bottle. I used a small dollop of creamy peanut butter. With flat side of MouseMotel facing out, insert long side of feedstock hinge pin into correct hole in bottle. Tilt ring into bottle and align opposite ring and bottle holes. Push hinge pin into bottle hole. The ring should now be attached to the bottle with the hinge pin.
Rotate ring, and screw stabilizers entirely into captive M3 nuts. They will likely be long, so place MouseMotel on the edge of a table with the stabilizers facing downward.
With the entry hole level, mark then cut stabilizers to the correct length. If bottle rocks, unscrew stabilizers as needed.
That’s it! You are now a MouseMotelier!
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