Dial Box

Hey there, wonderful people!

The way mechanical things interact is always a source of fascination for me, and that's really what brought this little box into existence! The Dial Box is a small-ish round container with retro stylings that uses magnets as part of what keeps it securely closed.

You might remember the Catalyst Capsule from some time ago, which used magnets to hold a lid from rotating freely, so that other mechanical features could hold the lid securely. The Dial Box uses a similar concept, but is somewhat more sophisticated in design.

First and foremost, the goal of this design was to keep all of the closure infrastructure from impacting the outside profile of the container - it all had to be kept inside! So, that's why the interior looks a little complicated - it's a consequence of the functional elements on the other side of the wall. It would of course be easy enough to just add a thick wall and hide it, but I do tend to like making a feature of such things :)

So, the interior of the lid has tabs, two of which have magnet holes. Similarly, the container body has slots into which the tabs fit before rotating such that the tabs stop the lid being pulled away. And that, of course, is where the magnets hold the lid, unless someone applies enough force to twist the magnets away from one another and release the box.

Print Description

This is two-part, regular mode print in which the fit of the parts together is important, so take care that there aren't any print issues that might hinder things moving against each other.

Optional Magnets

If you choose to add magnets, which you absolutely should, you'll need either two or four 6x3mm cylindrical magnets, the same size we always use! You can of course use a single pair of magnets instead of two pairs, and in fact I originally designed this container with only one pair of magnets. Having two pairs really did work so much more nicely, though.

Oh, and there's a little extra void space behind the magnets to allow for a dab of glue, should you choose to do that. The fit should be reasonably tight, but that will of course vary depending on the actual magnets and the print itself.

Print Dimensions

The Dial Box body occupies 58mm x 58mm on the build plate and is 30mm tall.

Supports Needed?

Not at all!  Designed for straightforward printing!

Scalability

While this will scale to a reasonable degree, the magnet holes will of course no longer fit the specified cylindrical magnets!

Print Orientation

The Dial Box body prints right-way-up while the lid prints upside-down.

Further Thoughts

Some models end up being de facto fidget toys, and this has become one of them for me! Ah, magnets, so satisfying!

Happy printing!

xoxo

Sven.

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536 Dial Box