Multi-switch Toggle Bar

Suppose you have one of those wall plates with three toggle switches on it - you have to go through the agony of switching each switch separately. Or maybe you try to switch all three at once with the palm of your hand, but you miss one! The horror!

This little gadget it guaranteed to reduce your work load by 66%! Also reduces your work load on 2-gang switches by 50%! Unfortunately this only works on toggle switches like the ones shown in the photos.

This can be used on 3-gang switches, 2-gang-switches, single switches to just make a larger toggle, or any combination of these.

To be serious, this is just one of those "I wonder if I can make this?" type of projects. It's a moderately useful gadget, but really more useful in that it gave me some new ideas on combining parts made from different filament types.

The print is pretty simple - there are toggle covers printed in Flex, and then a PLA "toggle bar" that goes over the toggle covers. I initially tried printing the entire assembly in PLA, but this approach did not work because the toggle are tapered and the PLA slips off (make the PLA a tight fit simply resulted in cracking).

Making the toggle covers in Flex turned out to have multiple advantages : The Flex conforms to the toggle shape better, it is "stickier" than PLA which helps it to hold on to the toggle, and by being a separate piece it can accommodate small variations in toggle spacing.

The OnShape 3D CAD files for this are here :
https://cad.onshape.com/documents/8e0a4bf9c4ad7b4570da2bd1/w/1fe443ad16372a81b7b6436f/e/7c2cbe0563275ff7196f7fbe

Print instructions

There are two types of parts for this gadget :

• toggle cover : Must be made from Flex filament; one required for each toggle; print on textured plate
• multi-toggle bar: Print in PLA in the size needed for one, two, or three toggles; print on smooth plate. Print end down as shown in the photos.

Us the 3mf files provided; otherwise print with 0% fill but also with a large enough number of perimeters to eliminate all voids.

To assemble, place each toggle cover on a switch toggle. Note that the toggle cover is rectangular (not square); orient it so that the longer side is horizontal. With each toggle cover in place, put the multi-toggle bar over the covers.