Personally, I’m a huge fan of what the guys at New Matter have been doing. They are bringing to market a very affordable FFF-based 3D printer, enabling virtually anyone to bring the technology into their homes, their local schools, or places of work. I had the opportunity to meet New Matter CEO Steve Schell at CES earlier this month, and also got a first hand look at the prototype MOD-t 3D printer in action. It works, and for the price that I paid as an early backer on Indiegogo ($149), it is quite amazing. While the retail units won’t be priced quite that low, they will still remain under the $500 mark.
One of New Matter’s consultants, Jeff Kerr, was tasked with testing out the 3rd generation of the MOD-t prototype. In doing so, he decided to creating a very interesting design; a design for a Frankenstein Light Switch Plate, and it is quite incredible.
Any fan of Frankenstein would recognize the old laboratory-looking switches seen throughout the movie, and this design takes that look and incorporates it into a light switch cover that will work in place of your standard single-switch wall plates.
“Switch plates are a great example of something simple, functional, and potentially stylish,” Jeff Kerr explained to 3DPrint.com. “I was inspired by the switch plates shown at the beginning of the New Matter IGG video, but of course, I like making things that move.”
Kerr, who is known for some of his other unique 3D designs, such as his 3D printed guitar, modeled the switch plate using SolidWorks, although things became a little more complicated than he had originally expected.
“I was expecting to whip out a design in [a] couple of hours, but getting it to flip the switch smoothly was trickier than I thought,” explained Kerr. “[It] took me a while to realize it needed the intermediate nubbin piece that fits over the light switch paddle, and then to get the kinematics right.”
Luckily, if you want to 3D print this same Frankenstein light switch plate, you don’t have to spend hours designing it yourself. Kerr has made the design available for free download on Thingiverse.com. He recommends printing it in PLA, using 0.2mm layers, 3 perimeter shells, and a 20% infill. The entire design prints without support, in 3 separate pieces.
What do you think about this creative design by Kerr, and the quality in which the MOD-t prototype was capable of printing with? Discuss in the 3D printed Frankenstein Light Switch Plate forum thread on 3DPB.com.
