KL-1 Russian Calculator Case

thingiverse

This is still very much in progress. I don't really recommend taking it as-is to be a perfect product. Just something I tinkered with while learning openSCAD and the Customizer. I decided to make it public anyway. If you have a KL-1 and make this case for it, please post your MAKE! And enjoy! Update (4-18-19): I generated and added stl models that you can download directly without running customizer if you want. I recommend slicing and printing the top and bottom separately to avoid "strings" between the two as they print. Customizer app seems broken today. I get different output from customizer than running openSCAD directly. First, instructions: To open it, twist lid counter-clockwise till it stops, then lift lid. To close it, place lid on and twist clockwise until it is a little tight, less than 1/6 turn. What is it? This is a simple reproduction case for the KL-1 (KL-1) Soviet era round mechanical pocket slide rule calculator. These handy mechanical pocketwatch-style round slide rules are widely available on eBay, but the original case is usually missing or broken. The case employs a unique closure style that I have reproduced here. I don't know what it is called, but it works by tightening pairs of ramped edges together as one twists it clockwise. If you twist it too far, it will "click", which means you went a little too far. But it won't hurt anything. Just twist it a little further and not quite as hard this time. (There are 6 "ramped" surfaces on the top and bottom that tighten against one another. No threads or latches.) The horizontal layered line texture of a 3D print makes this close even more securely than the original. Honestly, this mechanism is all that separates this from a very plain cylindrical box, but it was a fun bit of openSCAD code to write as I am learning. The code is written very parametrically so that it should be relatively easy to modify a handful of sizes and make this work for a lot of unique enclosures for objects that you'd like to secure in a box that can fit in a purse, pocket, or tackle box.