Have you ever fancied 3D printing a combination lock? Although they’re not so strong when 3D printed from plastic, a combination lock does look undeniably cool. That and teach you a thing or two about how these contraptions work.
If you want to create your own combination lock, check out Hans Milling’s work. The Danish maker claims to have novice 3D design skills, but his combination lock is undoubtedly a boast-worthy achievement.
Using Fusion 360, a Creality CR-10S printer and HobbyKing PLA yellow filament, Milling developed the programmable lock from scratch. Better yet, you don’t have to start from scratch as you can download Milling’s model from Thingiverse.
Milling writes on the Thingiverse page: “Insert the pins on the program wheels to make the combination lock open by different combination digits. The dial goes from 0 to 39. This combination lock uses the same dial to enter the code and open the latch, unlike other combination locks found on Thingiverse. You can build this into your own safe door, or use the supplied case, meant for demonstrating how a combination lock works.”
When creating the combination lock, Milling explains that all parts can be completed in one print without supports. He then provides extensive assembly instructions which will help you learn a lot about how a combination lock works.
Unlike with traditional combination locks, the building process for this 3D printed version involves plastic parts, glue, and a rubber band or spring.
At the time of writing, Milling’s creation has been downloaded 566 times, despite only being uploaded this month. If you’d rather watch a video to learn how a combination lock works, rather than 3D print your own, check out this video which Milling links to on his Thingiverse page:
Source: Hackaday
License: The text of "3D Print and Assemble Your Own Programmable Combination Lock" by All3DP is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.