Mailbox Latch

thingiverse

The latch on my mailbox door snapped off suddenly. This is a replacement piece that fits perfectly back into place. Fortunately, I could reuse the attachment point inside the door without any trouble. I printed this new part using a special Glow-in-the-dark filament, which was just leftover from another project and added some extra visibility to it. In the future, I plan on re-printing it in plain black to avoid drawing unnecessary attention at night. Printer Settings * Printer: Dremel Idea Builder * Rafts: No rafts were used for this print * Supports: Yes, for stability * Resolution: 0.2 millimeters per step * Infill density: 60% * Notes: Make sure to align the model with one of its flat edges before printing to minimize the number of supports needed. How I Designed This Replacement Recreating a broken part is always an option when you still have the original pieces. I measured everything carefully with a digital caliper and put it together in OpenSCAD using my knowledge of the software's capabilities. Although I'm relatively new to using OpenSCAD, this was one of my most challenging projects yet. The part that required the most precision was connecting the hook to the mount – a tricky but satisfying outcome.