Mailbox Handle / Latch / Hook

Summary

There not much to explain. This is a replacement handle for a mailbox. These seem to be standard and should work for most other mailboxes.

The handle on my mailbox broke at about the time I got my first roll of PETG so I figured it would be a good first project to try a new material. I downloaded a model someone else created. It fit the door, but was a little too small to catch on the top latch. I've been learning Fusion 360 and thought this would be an easy thing to try modeling myself.

I printed this in black PETG with no post-finishing. It fits the holes on the mailbox door well. I was able to reuse the clip on the inside to secure the latch. If someone needs the clip let me know and I'll give that a shot as well. There are other models for that on here, though.

Print Settings

Printer Brand: 

Creality

Printer:                      

Ender 3

Rafts: 

No

Supports:                      

Yes

Resolution: 

0.2

Infill:                      

75%

Filament: Sunlu PETG
Black

How I Designed This

I've been learning Fusion 360 and thought this would be a great first model.

I imported an image of the broken latch with a ruler beside it. I used the ruler and the calibrate function to ensure the image was the correct size.

I used the image to create sketches of the different parts. Hook itself was extruded to 1" wide. I then created an offset plane at 0.5" to sketch the nubs that go through the mailbox door. I sketched 1/2 of the nub and used the rotate extrusion tool around the center axis to make the nubs. I used the same offset plane for the bump on top of the hook, but extruded it in 2 directions from the middle.

Once the extrusions where done I added some filets to some of the edges to make it look nicer. Then I combined all of the bodies and exported as an .stl.

I did have to go back in and adjust the spacing of the nubs once. But this version should fit well.

Design by matttheamateur on MakerWorld (license: BY).