Magnetic Slider Gauge Pin / Social Battery Indicator

This a liitle sliding gauge that can be used for many different purposes. I mainly designed it to serve as a gauge to pin on your shirt to indicate the level of your social battery, but it can also serve any other purpose you can imagine: Track your beer supply, the fill level of your garbage bin, whatever you like.

The pin has a detachable and exchangable cover, so when you customized the cover for one purpose but then want to use the gauge for something else, you don't need to re-print the entire thing.

Needed to complete

For using the gauge as a fridge magnet or similar:

• Three magnets, size 10 mm x 5 mm x 2 mm

For using the gauge as a shirt pin (social battery gauge or similar):

• Three more magnets (same size)

Printing

The Body, Cover and Magnet Clip can be printed from any material you like; PLA works just fine. The magnet clip only needs to be printed if you want to pin the gauge on your clothes.
Make sure to use a layer height of 0.2 mm.
The body prints standing on its side; the cover and magnet clip print upside-down. Refer to the example 3MF project.
There's also an example project with printed text, using layer color change, so you don't need a multi-material printer for this.

The Slider should be printed using PETG (or PCTG), as it needs to be able to bend tightly. Attention: The flat part prints as just a single layer!

• The slider needs to be printed at a layer height of 0.2 mm.

• You need to make sure that your first-layer calibration is spot-on.

• To ensure a good bond between the print lines, set the print temperature a little higher and go very slow on the first layer printing speed, no more than 20 mm/s, maybe even slower.

The Color Inlay providing the background for the slider can be printed from any material, but it's also single-layer, so here the same rules apply as for the slider.
Of yourse, you can also just use some colored tape instead of printing the color inlay.

Assembly

1. Putting some text on the cover
   There are many ways to put some writing on the cover. You can either simply use a suitable pen and write on it, or put some text directly on the cover during printing (see the example 3MF project). An elegant solution is to put some printed foil on it (here's a video showing a nice trick to get foil prints using a standard laser printer; video is in German).

2. Put the color inlay in place
   If you're using colored tape for the inlay, cut to the right format to fit the recess on the body and put it in place.
   If you've printed the color inlay, carefully glue it into the recess in the center of the gauge, e.g. with some thin CA glue. Be very careful not to get any glue into the gap where the slider will go in!
   Make sure the inlay sits straight in the center and doesn't overlap with the sides.

3. Insert the magnets
   Slide the magnets into the body from the side. Use a small screwdriver to push them all the way in. Ensure that all magnets have the same polarity when you insert them!
   The magnets should fit snugly with just a little force applied when pushing them in. If the fit is too loose, maybe put in some glue once they're in place.

4. Insert the slider
   First, try bending the slider a little bit to make sure all print lines have bonded well and don't separate when the slider bends.
   Carefully slide it into the gap until there's just ~5 mm of it sticking out in front of the slider knob

5. Snap the cover into place
   Carefully bend the sides apart a little and snap the cover onto the body. Make sure that the slider knob aligns with the window in the cover.

6. Insert the clip magnets (optional)
   If you want to pin the gauge on your shirt and have printed the magnet clip, insert the magnets in the clip. The magnets should press-fit into place. If they sit too loosely, apply some glue.
   Make sure the polarity is the same for all magnets when inserting, and also ensure that they align with the magnets in the body.

And that's it!

Looking forward to seeing what purposes you use this gadget for.
Feedback is always welcome!