Fidget Slider (OpenSCAD)

I've made a few fidgets designed by others, but never tried designing one before.

This is my first attempt and is perhaps a bit overengineered. But it meets my design goals: easy to operate, fast and easy to print, no support needed, and several customizing features.

Design

I used OpenSCAD as it is very easy to make customizing changes. Here's an explanation of the features:

• Diameter of the disk.

• Thickness or height of the disk.

• Length and width of the slider slot – this is actually a ratio of the disk's diameter.

• Slider knob height – how much it sticks up above the disk.

• Slider knob length – different lengths slide easier than others (too short and it will "rock"; too long gives less sliding room and more chance of sticking).

• Disk edge smoothing – your taste.

• Clearance between the slider and disk – this is dependent on your printer's dialing-in, print settings, and to some extent your design settings. I tried .2, .3, and .4; all of the included STL's are using .4 as it seemed to slide the easiest.

• Keychain option – add a ring of size and thickness to suit.

• There are also some options to help you plan your settings:

  • View the parts in color to help you distinguish the parts (this has nothing to do with your final printing colors).

  • View a cutaway to see how it all fits.

  • A clearance test – this is a small, simple, quick printing version that allows you to test your clearance setting.

Printing

I printed many test versions with various settings and material. These are the results:

• I use a .6 nozzle and tried a .40 and .20 layer height. I got best results with .20.

• I tried PETG and PLA. I found no need for sturdiness or flexibility, so PLA worked just fine.

• There is no need for high fill density; although I set the "Solid infill threshold area" to 100 so the "neck" between the slider and the knob would be solid to make it harder to break off.

• I set the perimeters to 3 to make the keychain ring solid.

Assembly

No assembly needed – it is print-in-place.

Note

I've included 4 STL files:

• A 50mm diameter with keychain hole (my standard go-to model)

• A 40mm diameter with no keychain, but thicker disk

• A 40mm diameter with keychain and a taller knob for a different feel

• A test set to .4 clearance.

Using OpenSCAD and the Customizer

 If you are new to using OpenSCAD and changing parameters, I’ve included my tutorial that may help.

Please note that you do not need to know anything about programming. All you need to do is move some sliders on the screen.

Note: Use OpenSCAD version 2021.01 for full Customizer compatibility.

Note about JSON file

I've included my settings so you can see examples. If you want to use it, here’s the steps:

• The settings file is a ".json" file (as required by OpenSCAD).

• Prusa does not allow this type of file to be uploaded.

• I have added ".txt" to the end to make it a text file for upload.

• You need to rename it by deleting ".txt" from the end.

  • You need to show file name extensions.

  • You safely may ignore any warning about making the file unusable.

• Place it in the same folder that you put the main .scad file.

  • The base part of the names must also be the same.

  • For example: "Fidget Slider.scad" and "Fidget Slider.json"