Here’s an older but fantastic video that is as edifying as it is short. [Topias Korpi] demonstrates a 3D printed flexture with a dial indicator on one end, and an M3 screw on the other. As the screw is turned, the dial indicator moves steadily with roughly a 15:1 reduction between the movement of the screw and the indicator. Stable deflections of 0.01 mm are easily dialed in, and it’s neat seeing it work while the flexture itself shows no perceptible movement. A demonstration is embedded below the page break and is less than a minute long, so give it a watch and maybe get some ideas.
Flextures are fantastic designs capable of a wide variety of physical functions, and just as [Topias]’s demonstration shows, they can be a natural complement to 3D printing. In fact, flextures are an important part of the design and function of JWST’s mirror actuators, which are responsible for making astonishingly small adjustments to each of the space telescope’s 18 mirror sections.
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