As part of the massive barn haul I picked up last year, there was a Dell CRT that had a Trinitron tube in it, but had no power button and the base was missing. The monitor looks like it was designed to be used with or without the base, so I decided not to try to replace the base.
But having a functional power button is important and I didn't relish the idea of sticking a screwdriver into the hole in the front of the CRT. So, I decided to play around with TinkerCAD and see if I could make a new one.
I'll try to get the exact model of the monitor later in case anyone has the same monitor missing the power button, but I'm pretty happy with the results (only took me 6 revisions!
The front of my button is flat, and the monitor has a bit of a curve to it, so it's not a perfect match to the contour, but functionally, it does what is needed and doesn't look too out of place. I may consider making the button a two piece print with this having a thinner base plate, and then printing another piece with a flat bottom and a contoured top that can be glued onto the functional button. That way I can still have two prints with a flat base requiring no supports, but can get the curve to match the monitor front. That may be beyond my 3d modeling skills though.
But having a functional power button is important and I didn't relish the idea of sticking a screwdriver into the hole in the front of the CRT. So, I decided to play around with TinkerCAD and see if I could make a new one.
I'll try to get the exact model of the monitor later in case anyone has the same monitor missing the power button, but I'm pretty happy with the results (only took me 6 revisions!
The front of my button is flat, and the monitor has a bit of a curve to it, so it's not a perfect match to the contour, but functionally, it does what is needed and doesn't look too out of place. I may consider making the button a two piece print with this having a thinner base plate, and then printing another piece with a flat bottom and a contoured top that can be glued onto the functional button. That way I can still have two prints with a flat base requiring no supports, but can get the curve to match the monitor front. That may be beyond my 3d modeling skills though.