Filament for latch

[jdurand]

A client is interested in a run of printed latches for his product. He can't find what he wants commercially and his volume is too low to make a mold...so he asked me.

This is the snap-latch type, push into receptacle and and it snaps locked. Press lever and it unlocks.

I'm thinking of graphine filament, instead of bending maybe make it pivot with a spring? Or...is the stuff flexible? How hard is it to print? Any other suggestions?

[0110-m-p]

I would use nylon for this. It is quite flexible without being too weak. It is also very tough and abrasion resistant so perfect for a slide/clip style latching mechanism. Nylon is also easily dyed whatever color you need.

Only caveats are that nylon requires an all metal hotend due to 260-280C extrusion temp and the filament must be dried before printing.

[jdurand]

I just received the mating bit this latch has to ... well ... latch onto. I see some possibilities for how to do this. I'm going to try some PC-ABS and some graphene-PLA for the prototypes. I Realized the PC-ABS needs 260-280C at the print head so while waiting for my E3D head I can try this in my Afinia that prints their high-temp ABS at 260C. Hopefully it doesn't jam up, the Afinia is picky.

Any ideas for holding a metal pin like a dowel pin into a print? The head has to be exposed. I was thinking of a PEM-MPP pin pushed in from the back with some way to capture it.