Tag photography

3D Printed GoPro Wrist Mount

craftysurf 8 Comments

So this is my 3rd GoPro camera. Honestly, I’m not all that stoked on GoPro, but it takes passable pics in the water, and I like taking pictures for fun. Especially of my talented surfer friends. Me….not so much. Yikes.

I replaced my broken GoPro Hero 3 several months ago with the newer Hero Black Edition. It’s much smaller, lighter, and doesn’t require the pain in the ass housing.

However, the GoPro remote I had bought only a year ago had also given up the ghost. And I was NOT about to buy another remote, nor was I going to pay $50 bucks for a wrist strap mount that I knew wouldn’t be small enough for my wrist.

Luckily, we have a 3D printer, handy for printing out custom bits of plastic (PLA). But this plastic is made from corn, AND is compostable. Super gnar.

I put my “custom order” in with my husband, who drew up what I wanted for this project in

Funky green prototype

Creo Parametric, a digital drawing program. The file was exported for use in our MakerBot 3D Replicator. The original prototype- a custom-sized wrist mount with 1 1/2″ wide slots for a wrist band to pass through- was printed in low resolution (the surface was very grainy when completed, but it printed in less than a 1/2 hour). This prototype was made to check sizing and fit with the camera.
Once that checked out, a final version was printed in black using a much higher resolution. The underside of the mount was still very rough, due to how the item is printed. Since I had already intended to cover it with a scrap piece of wetsuit from a chest piece (where the rubbery grip is), it didn’t matter. The small piece of neoprene foam was going to be a cushion for my wrist. I used my quilt clips to make sure the glue made a good bond between the pieces.

The finished 3D printed mount

The unsanded underside of the mount to be covered with scrap neoprene foam

My scrap piece of rubber grip neoprene foam, the underside of the mount, and some glue

Clamping the scrap neoprene under the mount after placing the glue

Because I thought it would be EASY to find 1 1/2″ wide Velcro that would be suitable, I wanted the opening for the strap that wide. Also, the strap needed to be wide enough to prevent the camera from sliding around. But, alas, I had to make do by sewing two strips of 3/4″ Velcro side by side to make a wide strap since 1 1/2″ couldn’t be found readily. Good gravy.

This type is EXCELLENT for this purpose, and only costs a few bucks

Measured out the length I needed- make sure to flip the Velcro and re-sew it, or it won’t stick to itself!

Ready to try out for reals

The neoprene rubber inside keeps it from slipping


With the floaty on it

It turned out to be very comfortable to use, and I could easily paddle with it on. Here are some pictures from the other day using the wrist mount in the water.

Glad I got a few pics. The GoPro camera’s broken now, but the mount held up great. It was fun while it lasted.