Box for my 3D Mouse:)

thingiverse

A playful, relatively simple box that I designed and built for my Space Navigator 3D Mouse from 3Dconnexion! I use this box for storage and protection so I can carry my 3D mouse in my backpack around campus. I'm a huge fan of playful primary colors and simple design shapes, so I tried to keep this looking as simple as possible. The blue lid closes around the main control knob without touching it. When fully closed, the blue lid also firmly presses down on the heavy base of the mouse, holding it securely in place against the red box base. When closed, I can shake the box vigorously without any movement of the mouse, or any loosening of the yellow catch. The only sound I hear is the sound of the power cord. The red base has a raised circle that is the same diameter as the rubber grip on the bottom of the 3D mouse. This gives the mouse a place to sit without letting it slide around. The raised circle is tall so that there is room to store the cord in the box as well. The blue lid has a slight indent into the red base which could help protect the mouse from the environment, but there's no way this thing is waterproof. The yellow catch is under force of two pen springs. Because of this, you can simply close the lid and the yellow catch will engage on the little overhang on the red base. The yellow hinge was designed to be loose, but the tolerances were off. This was a good thing though because now the lid can hold itself open without falling closed, or falling open. This build will need 7 3D printed parts, all of which can be printed without supports. I would recommend printing the hinge standing up so the holes will better maintain their shape. This build will also need 3 aluminum pins at 1/8" in diameter. I should probably recommend that you don't try to build this box from these plans. It's not super intuitive or easy, but if you really want it I can message you with instructions or something. If I were to make another iteration of this, I would certainly make it more assembly friendly. This was definitely my most complicated design to date. It took more than 5 prototype iterations to get the final assembly, and it was totally worth it! I love how the box turned out. For the first time, my thing is actually better than I imagined it being:) Also, If it isn't obvious, I definitely only designed this for the Space Navigator 3D mouse from 3Dconnexion, so it probably won't work with any other design.