From the Loftsmith Workshop

Fairy light battery box holder, 2xAA, clips on a branch

A holster for the 2xAA battery box of LED fairy lights that hangs under a tree branch, garland or rod on a snap-on ring clip. The defaults fit a 34.2 x 76.8 x 19.2 mm box and a 12 mm branch. Sliders cover boxes 25-50 mm wide, 50-110 mm long and 14-30 mm thick, branches or rods 8-30 mm, and where the window in the lower wall sits. The box slides in from the open end, drops 2 mm behind a sill and stays put; front lips cover each edge by at least 2 mm, and a 27 mm front window leaves the switch reachable. Prints in PETG standing on end with no supports, about 21 g and 40 minutes at the defaults;

1 part · 21 g · 83 × 24 × 58 mm

by Loftsmith Workshop

Fairy light battery box holder, 2xAA, clips on a branch
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No adjustable sizes

Ask for the sizes you want to tweak, e.g. “make the width adjustable”.

Change it in the Studio

Parts

  • holder · PETG · Standing on its closed end (the end with the floor tab), ring up the side; no supports

    PETG because the ring clip flexes every time it goes on a branch and PETG takes repeated bending far better than PLA; it also copes with a porch tree or a warm window. Defaults: 57 x 24 x 83 mm on the bed, about 21 g and 40 min at 2 walls / 15% infill.

Print settings

Layer height
0.2 mm
Walls
2
Infill
15%
Supports
None
Notes
Default figures from the build: about 21 g, about 40 min at 2 walls / 15%. With 3 walls / 15% it is about 29 g and 55 min if you want stiffer walls. Every overhang is 45 degrees or steeper (the window ends and the sill), so no supports are needed.

Assembly

  1. Measure your battery box (width, length and thickness, including any bumps on its sides) and set the three Battery box sliders. Measure the branch or rod where it will hang and set Branch or rod diameter.
  2. Print the holder standing on its closed end.
  3. Hold the box against the top wall (the one with the ring) and slide it in through the open end until it reaches the floor tab, then let it drop onto the lower wall. It is now behind the sill and under the front lips.
  4. Push the holder sideways onto the branch so the branch snaps into the ring through its back-facing opening. The box hangs underneath with its front and switch facing out.
  5. To change batteries, unclip it from the branch (or reach underneath), push the box up through the lower window by about 2.5 mm and slide it out of the open end.

Good to know

  • Checked in the Loftsmith engine only; it has not been printed. Fit of the box and the ring still needs a test print.
  • The ring strain (2.7% at the defaults, limit 3% in PETG) comes from a simple beam estimate. On an 8 mm branch the ring captures only 0.7 mm per side, so small branches rely mostly on the box hanging from the ring top.
  • Ring checks assume PETG. In PLA the ring is more likely to crack after repeated clipping.
  • The hang check assumes a box with two AA cells weighs about 66 g. It is not meant for heavier battery packs.
  • Width must include any switch or bump on the box sides. A switch on the front face is reachable through the front window (27 mm wide at the defaults); a switch on an end face is reachable at the open end.
  • Branches only, plus garland cores and rods 8-30 mm. There is no shelf-edge or pot-rim mount.
  • PETG is fine outdoors for a season but is not UV-stable long term.
I printed this Remix

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