In the spring of 2021, my father-in-law invited me on a 2 day ride trip down between Lake Powell and Blanding, Ut, on the Hole in the Rock Trail. A section of the trail the Mormon Pioneers took when settling Bluff Fort. I can't imagine taking that trail with oxen, horses, and wagons. Those pioneers were built different.

Along the ride, my father-in-law showed me an issue he was having with the Lock n' Ride windshield on his General XP1000. There are two rests molded in to the top dash panel, directly behind the front hood that the windshield sit on. The problem is, they are much smaller than the width of the windshield gasket. This causes the gasket to roll over the rests and the windshield slip down. In some cases, a small gap is created along the top of the windshield.

After we got back from the ride, he and I started talking about solutions for a fix. We discussed how easy it would be to 3D print a solution. A quick trip on to the internet later, a 3D printer showed up on my front steps. The Creality Ender 3 V2.

We started with a basic design. A rectangle block the same width of the gasket and roughly .5" thick. We determined the lift was a bit much and we wanted the block to match the shape of the rests we were covering. We wanted these blocks to blend in and look like they were part of the machine. Like it was designed correctly from the start. Two revisions later, we had a completed prototype that met our needs and wants.

The first prototype was printed with PLA. We quickly learned, after a hot weekend in southern Utah, that PLA gets all squishy and deforms easily under the hot sun. A quick bit of research later, I settled on PETG for the next prototype. The PETG doesn't degrade under UV rays from the sun like PLA does, making it the much better choice for these window blocks.

Since then I've been producing these blocks with grey PETG filament that can easily be painted to any color the customer wants. As of the end of Aug '21, I've sold over 50 sets of these blocks.

You can see more about these on the Products page. If you'd like to order some, use the Contact page.