Parametric magnetic switch

thingiverse

I watched Andrew Klein's video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9tZIFfM14o and was inspired. However, being from Europe, I needed metric measurements, so I adapted his design using OpenScad. He offers tested STL files on his website, so be sure to support him accordingly. Here are untested design files to explore the magnetic switch design space with various magnet counts. The hex nut design was successfully printed and tested. If the scad doesn't render properly (it's problematic on thingiverse thumbnail), increase Preferences->Advanced->Turn off rendering at ... elements. There is unnecessary height in the half with round attachments, so the rods are of equal length for the top and bottom. However, if you're willing to cut them to different lengths, you may gain a bit more strength by setting hatt=0 for this half. Read the OpenScad comments for more information on the various parameters. For assembly, see Andrew Klein's video, but exercise extra caution when using an even number of magnets/2 (i.e. 4 or 8) as the rotate 180° trick won't work. Hex Nut Design: There is also a second design fully from me this time for cheap and fast assembly using hex nuts and square magnets instead of rods and cylinder magnets, and without center core. Without attachment i.e. 30° position it can lift around 500g, when manually constrained to stay at 60° position, it can lift more than 1kg. Assembly: Slide magnets so that the same pole points towards the nut (i.e alternating orientation). Then slide the first row of nuts by opposite side pairs; it should be tight. Then slide the second row of nuts. Usage: Plastic is outside, nuts from both parts are touching, magnets shouldn't touch when nuts are aligned 0° little no magnetic strength. When nuts are half-aligned: 30° mid magnetic strength, but the assembly is still magnetically stable. When nuts are aligned 60°: max magnetic strength, but the assembly must be constrained to remain together. You can use attachment from the other magswitch for this purpose.