Missile Switch Cover Guard

Features: 
Is fully 3D printable. No extra hardware needed. Fits a big variety of toggle switches. The compliant spring gives the cover a satisfying snaping motion. If you have a lot of switches to cover and want to tell them apart, you can use the version which comes with little tags/signs. Can be secured with a thin wire seal against tampering. The .STEP is available too if you have to make it fit for some weird switches or to customize for your own project.

Printing:
Best be done in the given orientation. Enable organic support for the cap part. layerhights from 0.12-0.2mm are good to go. The mechanism works fine with all parts printed from PLA but i recommend higly to have at least the spring part made from PETG. Although i never had any issue with a spring made from PLA, a PETG spring should be more reliable on the long run.

Assembly:
1) Mount the spring to the cap. Use a piece of filament as axle. Pay attention to insert it the right way round. (See picture below)
2) Push the spring in the base parts recess. You might need some practice and some fine pliers to persuade the spring to go in its designated place. Please note that the spring is intended to “work/move” a little in the base in order to ensure its function. If you fix it with glue it is likely that the cap wont close fully anymore.
3) Fix the cap to the base. Use a piece of filament as axle 
4) If you want to use the tags, you have to glue them in place with a drop of super glue. They look great if you print them with a manual colorchange.
5) Done! enjoy the awesome springiness!

If you want to secure your toggle switch against accidantial activation or against tampering, you can use some fine wire as seal. Just feed them trough the holes in the Cap and the Bases pole. Twist them and cut to length. Now you have to use a little more force to activate and also can tell if one used it. Great for single use applications, like dooms day devices!

If you are looking for a different style for your cap, maybe this one is more to your liking

CHANGELOG 24.06.2024
Reworked the hinge area on the Base part in order to make it stronger

CHANGELOG 04.05.2024
Added a little latch on the base, in order to prevent the spring from slipping out in some rare occasions