Parametric Letter Dials for Masterlock 1534 (with Star Wars Aurebesh Dials)

Parametric Letter Dials for Masterlock 1534
Copyright 2024 by Wesley J. Landaker

This design can be used to easily create custom dials/tumblers for the Masterlock 1534 combination lock. This can be done with any letters, numbers, or symbols, and can use any font.

In order to create an optimal set of tumblers, a python program is included to ensure that your combo, at least 10 other desired words, and as many as possible of an arbitrary number of extra words is integrated into the tumbler designs.

The example design provided is a set of Aurebesh tumblers created for a Star Wars LARP which can spell about 20 Star Wars related words as long as the tumblers are put on in the correct order.

= Information

Licensing:
* Granted to the public domain, and
* Licensed with CC0 1.0, see http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0

Author information:
* Email: [email protected]
* Profile: https://www.printables.com/@IcedTonberry_1510362

Additional links:
* This design: https://www.printables.com/model/827029/
* Masterlock 1534 info: https://www.masterlock.com/products/product/1534D
* The Aurebesh AF font: https://www.dafont.com/aurebesh-af.font

= Instructions

The Masterlock 1534 combination lock has a good design for making custom word locks, but the tumblers it comes with leave a lot to be desired. This parametric design allows you to make your own set, which can be great for escape rooms, mystery parties, LARPs, etc. Obviously don't rely on these tumblers (or the stock Masterlock 1534 itself!) for actual security, since if someone just cut the plastic tumblers off the lock can be opened simply, and it is also vulnerable to easy attacks like shims, etc.

The Star Wars Aurebesh tumblers included are ready to print and can spell more than 20 Star Wars related word when put on in the correct order (look in the SCAD file for more info).

To make custom tumblers with any font and any set of words, there is a two step process.

First, pick your font, comment out the tumblers and uncomment the calibration tumbler design, and go through each letter, number, or symbol you want to use in the font one by one. You need to adjust the scaling and x-offset for each symbol such that they end up basically square and centered. If you use a monospace font, there is a chance you can scale everything to 1.0 and have a 0.0 offset, otherwise this takes a bit of patience, but shouldn't take more than 15 minutes.

Second, put all the words and combos you would like to have available on your tumblers into the combinations.txt file. The one included is filled with Star Wars terms, but you can fill it with any 5-symbol words you want. The first 10 are always guaranteed to be possible, the rest will be attempted to add to the set in priority order. Run the include python program to do the generation, then put these into the SCAD file.

I printed with a 0.2 mm layer height, and made the tumblers slightly thinner than "ideal" (5.8 mm instead of 6.0 mm) to ensure a fit that was snug but didn't add too much friction. You may need to make small adjustments here depending on your printer, as the tolerances here are quite small.

The tumblers in theory "need" support for the interlocking ring slot, but I found it worked best for me to NOT print with any support, and instead just let a few layers droop a bit and then clean it up afterwards with a sharp blade. You may have to experiment.

The SCAD file is fully parametric and is fairly well documented, so if you find that you have trouble fitting them onto your lock after printing, you should be able to make small, reasonable adjustments.

Good luck and have fun!