My quest to fabricate the perfect DSG paddles

[Diggs24]

I too was like you (less the 3D printing hobbyist part). Have you seen these? nczworks Illuminated paddle shifters

Here is my video detailing them and installing.

I talked with him quite a bit while waiting for them to arrive and he is a pretty cool dude. I've seen one example that snapped when someone pulled too hard, so I wonder if you could also inlay a metal bar for strength alongside the light tube? I'd be interested in seeing them a bit wider too, but that may get in the way and cause accidental shifts.

Good luck on your journey and I'll be tuning in!

I didn’t pull it too hard. Not sure where you got that from.

 

[Acadia18]

I didn’t pull it too hard. Not sure where you got that from.

You just don't realize your own supernatural strength.

Edit: How are they holding up after a bit of use? Was the one that broke just a fluke, or do you really have to be gentle with them on the extended parts?

 

[Diggs24]

I didn’t put them back in yet.

 

[norsairius]

These look pretty good to me: https://www.dsg-paddles.com/products/dsg-replacement-paddle-shifters-for-mk7-r-gti

I like their looks better than the ones on Amazon (those just look off to me in the GTI for some reason). Just my $0.02.

They’re not exactly cheap, but they’re still appreciably less than some of the other offerings out there. I think I’ll order them. I’ll report back if I do and after I get a chance to try them out.

Edit: Just ordered these in silver. I like how they match the silver trim on the steering wheel, based on what I saw in the pics from the site at least. Also, I found a coupon code online that knocked 15% off the price (15OFF).

Edit 2: That said, back to the topic at hand from the OP: How's your progress on fabricating the perfect paddles for you?

 

[It's Sam]

back to the topic at hand from the OP: How's your progress on fabricating the perfect paddles for you?

It's going, to say the least. I'm focusing on honing in my design skills right now, since it's been a minute since I've done any big projects.

Currently I'm trying to narrow down what I'm adding based on the suggestions here and what I've been hoping to incorporate. I actually have a similar feeling to you of not quite feeling like the amazon paddles match the interior. I ran a set of silvers and currently a set in black on my GTI, and they just don't quite look right.

I think my design will ultimately follow a similar style to S2T and the eBay ones someone posted earlier. Not copying them, but the same style of a solid paddle rather than hollow/milled out.

At the same time, my main goal is to design a solid base to clip into the wheel so anyone can design their own paddles to tack onto the clip/mount/whatever you call the thing on the wheel. Once I have that nailed down the variety of designs will really open up (hopefully).

 

[ATK]

@It's Sam,
How are those design skills coming along? Still excited to see what you come up with!

 

[Keehs360]

I also went the amazon route. They’re super tight, no wobbles at all. I wish they were half an inch longer on the top and a whole inch longer on the bottom. But they’re way better than stock. No matter what position my hands and the steering wheel is, forcing a shift is within grasp

 

[thesharkman]

I picked up a set of the illuminated paddles and they have been fine for me. The original + shifter had some defect in the mold (air bubbles), but the seller sent me a new one ASAP upon my sending him some photos. I like that they look and light up just like oem.

shark

 

[It's Sam]

What? No...I totally didn't forget about this thread...you did!

Anyways here's a teaser:

Please know that this is not the final design, and is completely subject to change.



Side teaser, I may have figured out a way to make the paddles significantly more tactile, more details to come!

 

[It's Sam]

Version 1.2

Fitment confirmed, now I need to refine the inner bits to make them less mushy. Right now there isn't enough contact with the "buttons" on the steering wheel so they tend to get stuck in between fully "pressed" and fully "released/extended"

Design still heavily a WIP.

 

[ATK]

Looking good @It's Sam! I'm sure it wouldn't help for scalability and repeatability, but would it be worth making the holes for the pin small enough to just be a pilot hole, then drill them out to the size you need? Seems like that could be an area where not having a perfectly smooth and round hole could make a difference. I know nothing about 3D printing, but maybe that's something that could be addressed in the printing process too?

 

[It's Sam]

Looking good @It's Sam! I'm sure it wouldn't help for scalability and repeatability, but would it be worth making the holes for the pin small enough to just be a pilot hole, then drill them out to the size you need? Seems like that could be an area where not having a perfectly smooth and round hole could make a difference. I know nothing about 3D printing, but maybe that's something that could be addressed in the printing process too?

I could totally do that, once the base is final I'll make a second file with maybe 2 or 3mm holes for the sake of drilling them out. Depending on how you do it that could end up making them significantly more durable too. The only tricky part would be getting the holes precise when you drill them since they are offset in size, but enough patience should be able to solve that

 

[burgerkong]

Funnily enough I did this a while back but abandoned it. The hinge area is particularly tough with FDM printers as there is a lot of transverse load when you're pressing the paddle. Furthermore printing it all in one piece means the Z axis is weak (hinge wise). I separated the hinge and ended up gluing the knuckle back in with acetone.

Tldr; find a SLA resin printer or a multijet.

Pics of said paddle:

 

[It's Sam]

Funnily enough I did this a while back but abandoned it. The hinge area is particularly tough with FDM printers as there is a lot of transverse load when you're pressing the paddle. Furthermore printing it all in one piece means the Z axis is weak (hinge wise). I separated the hinge and ended up gluing the knuckle back in with acetone.

Thank you for the insight! I was also thinking about the hinge points, mainly the lower one where the hole is larger. The revision I prototyped today has a slightly altered design for both hinge points so there's more material surrounding the hole, hopefully making it slightly stronger.

At the same time, the basic mechanism I want to try to incorporate to add a more tactile feel may help the rigidity of it all and relieve some stress, or potentially make it worse, I'm not sure yet.

Also, material is going to make a difference in the end as well, along with the points you've brought up. Right now I'm only using PLA for the sake of making test models, but I'm shooting to make the final product work with PETG or potentially a carbon fiber-infused PLA (though I think that might be too brittle for this application)


Speaking of today's design by the way:

(sound on so you can hear the "clicks")

http://imgur.com/41R9cUf

We have a working base!

 

[sandmangti]

Not for a GTI but an example of the shape I like. Might need to be wider to offer a nice target. Carbon fiber ok but if we are dreaming then mine would be titanium.
Have used my red ones for almost 6 years. Large flat back nice to touch.