Latching Box, Parametric Print in Place by Windrose

Windrose

Tools>Organizers

Print Profile(3)

All

P1S

P1P

X1 Carbon

X1E

150x60 Print in Place - 0.2mm layer, 2 walls, 15% infill

Designer

2.4 h

1 plate

4.8(6)

210x80 Print in Place - 0.2mm layer, 2 walls, 15% infill

Designer

4.6 h

1 plate

5.0(4)

80x40 Print in Place - 0.2mm layer, 2 walls, 15% infill

Designer

1.1 h

1 plate

4.5(4)

Boost

114

202

363

154

Released

Description

This is a customizable, parametric, securely latching case that prints in place with no assembly required.

I made this just as a personal project as I'm learning Fusion 360. I wanted to challenge myself to design a parametric box that would securely latch and print in place with zero assembly, this is the result.

Note: Before printing you may want to test your printer's tolerance for print in place hinges. To do that, you can use my Print in Place Tolerance Test model. By default, the latching boxes have 0.3mm of tolerance between separate parts. You can adjust the spacing by customizing the parameters in the Fusion file. See the description of the Tolerance parameter in the Available Parameters section for more information.

Colors in example photo:

Prusament PETG: Prusa Orange
Overture PLA: Green, Space Grey, Orange, Blue Grey, Purple, Jeans Red

Note: These should be printed as a single object consisting of multiple parts. The file should be printed fully open with the latch vertically on the build plate, like so:

Customizing:

I am definitely still a Fusion beginner, so expect some rough spots. I've tried to add some basic parameter limits to reduce errors, but there are a few places that can trip you up:

The LatchCutoutAngle can be tricky. Depending on your filament type, layer height, and latch size, you might run into some issues with the latch here. Try a few small test prints to dial this in before printing anything large.
The CaseExteriorHeight must be tall enough so that the flat surface is large enough for the latch and hinges. You can adjust latch diameter to compensate for smaller boxes. I would keep latch diameter above 5mm.
The CaseExteriorWidth must be large enough so that the flat surface is wide enough for the latch and hinges. You can adjust latch width and latch frame thickness to compensate for smaller boxes.

In general, you should always double check the geometry in fusion and then again after slicing to make sure everything looks sane.

Available Parameters

CaseCornerRadius

Controls the radius of the case's corners, set to 0 for the smallest supported radius

CaseEdgeChamfer

Controls the size of the chamfer on the bottom and top of the case. This is enforced to be smaller than the corner radius to preserve geometry.

CaseExteriorHeight

Exterior height of each half the case. Overall height when closed is 2x this number. You may need to adjust your other parameters for very small heights

CaseExteriorLength

The exterior length (Y-axis) of the main case.

CaseExteriorWidth

The exterior width (X-axis) of the main case

CaseOverlap

Controls the "lip" on the bottom half of the case. Make sure your other parameters allow enough clearance for the overlap.

CaseThickness

The wall thickness, 2mm is about the minimum for small cases. You'll want to go higher for larger/sturdier projects.

HingeDiameter

Controls the diameter of the hinge's ball/socket. 5mm is a pretty safe minimum depending on your printer's tuning.

HingeThickness

Controls the thickness of each hinge, enforced to be thick enough to account for HingeDiameter.

LatchCutoutAngle

Controls the tightness of the clasp mechanism. This one can be tricky based on your material and print settings. Lower numbers will be tighter and higher will be looser. Adjust as necessary.

LatchDiameter

Controls the diameter of the latch's ball/socket. About 6mm is usually okay, down to 5mm is possible but will be weaker. Large diameters will be stronger but more bulky.

LatchFrameOverhang

Controls the overhang of the latch mechanism. 45deg is a safe overhang for most printers. Can go shallower to allow shorter case heights if your printer is well-tuned or if you don't mind using supports.

LatchFrameThickness

Controls the thickness of each side of the latch frame.

LatchWidth

Controls the width of the latch itself, account for LatchFrameThickness and tolerance to determine total width of the overall latching mechanism.

Tolerance

Controls spacing between various separate objects. 0.3mm works well on my printer, but this should be adjusted based on your printer's tuning.

Instructions

Download and install Fusion 360 - it's free for personal use.
Open the latching_box.f3d file
Open the “Modify” menu and select “Change Parameters”
From the menu, review the parameters and the comments explaining each
Modify the parameters to suit your needs
Review the model in Fusion 360 to ensure there are no issues or warnings
Right click the root component in the browser and select “Save as Mesh”
Save as your preferred format
Slice, inspect, and print!

Note: If you have any issues please feel free to reach out, I'm happy to help debug. This is my first Fusion project of any decent size so I expect some rough edges.

Comment & Rating (36)

@user_3122779113

Thank you for the design. Can I remove the latch and hinges, so I can enlarge the top and bottom and print them individually? I've tried it in Fusion but I get an error when I try to delete them.

The designer has replied

@windrose

Hey, it might be easier to import an STL into TinkerCAD to modify, or even just cut the latch and hinges off in your slicer's cut tool. Cut Tool Docs: Bambu Studios -- https://wiki.bambulab.com/en/software/bambu-studio/cut-tool PrusaSlicer -- https://help.prusa3d.com/article/cut-tool_1779

@user_3122779113

Replying to @windrose :

Thank you for the reply. I thought about that, but that's a guessing game trying to make the cut flush with the surface to be retained after the cut.

@windrose

Replying to @user_3122779113 :

Hey, I just uploaded a new f3d file under the Raw Files section, it's a version of the box without the latch or hinges. Let me know if that is what you were looking for.

@danibautistafer

Print Profile

150x60 Print in Place - 0.2mm layer, 2 walls, 15% infill

Lid snaps a bit tight and is difficult to open it manually, but after sanding a bit it's much better. Thank you for sharing the design!

@user_2467728565

had a go at some different bottom patterns, this is by far the coolest. other than the seam showing way more than I’d expect, its near perfect. a+ model!

@chevychick395

Print Profile

80x40 Print in Place - 0.2mm layer, 2 walls, 15% infill

latch as predicted broke on it. I always attempt an stl exactly as posted as the designed usually has it set up perfect.

The designer has replied

@windrose

Hey, there's definitely no denying that the latch is a weak point on these boxes. It's the trade-off I made to make them 100% print in place. I will say, though, that I have personally printed several and haven't yet had one break. Do you have any photos or further description of the way in which it broke? It would be very useful to me when I work on improvements to the design.

@mb323

Replying to @windrose :

Mine broke off after a few uses, I printed in ASA and it was extremely difficult to open and close at first, got easier then broke. I adjusted the parameters to widen the latch and changed the angle of the cutout to be shallower. There is a weak spot at the neck where it curves back, there is also an overhang in the latch. Haven't reprinted yet, going to try and add reinforcement to the back of the latch. I added a picture of the break. I also included a before and after adding reinforcement. My Fusion 360 skills are not that good so I just pushed/pulled the curved back surface of the clasp. Layer separation will probably still be an issue. For the clasp it may be worth the support cost to print it horizontally. Also if the back surface paralleled the front surface that may help.

(Edited)

@windrose

Replying to @mb323 :

Thanks! This is really great feedback, I'll definitely keep it in mind as I make improvements to this model.

@N0p3Mark

Hello fellow F360 beginner. 😁 I really like your design but I’m curious if you could give any tips on sizing it up for a notebook (like the kind you write in)? I’m traveling soon and I want to encase my A5 journal and fountain pen for the road but I don’t know yet how to properly change these things in fusion. I thought about just drawing out a sketch from scratch but news flash... I suck at sketching too. Anyhow, I really love when a creator makes something like this and posts the fusion file so I can learn from it. Cheers

The designer has replied

@windrose

Hey! I'm glad you like the design. First off, I will say that because this prints the entire case at once laying fully open flat on the plate that you'll need quite a large printer to handle a box that can fit an A5 journal. You would essentially need a printer that can print two A5 pages side by side, plus room for hinges, wall thickness, and the cover. In my test that was something around 350mm, even the x1c only has a 256mm build plate. But, if you do have a large format printer, you can definitely attempt it! So to customize this, it should be as simple as opening the Fusion file, then finding the "Modify > Change Parameters" menu (see screenshot attached). From there, you'll want to change at least the following parameters to suit your needs: CaseExteriorHeight - The height of each side (top and bottom) of the case. Measure the thickness of your journal in millimeters and set this param to about the same size. That would give you enough spare room to account for the wall thickness. CaseExteriorLength - The overall exterior length of the case, again measure your journal and set this to about 12 mm higher than your journal's length. The exact number will depend on how thick your case's walls are. CaseExteriorWidth - The overall exterior width of the case. This should be about 12mm higher than your journal's width, again depending on the thickness of the case's walls. HingeDiameter - For a case this size, I'd recommend that this is set to at least 8mm HingeThickness - You'll probably want to set this to at least 20mm LatchDiameter - Again, about 8mm for a case this size. LatchWidth - Around 15mm feels right for this. You can adjust this depending on how you want it to look.