Don Foley's 3D printed antique lock

Nov 16, 2015 | By Don Foley

While getting a key made at a local locksmith, 3D Designer Don Foley saw a display of antique locks in a cabinet. The locksmith let Don open the cabinet and take some photographs of a cool antique lock. It would be a perfect subject for a 3D print.

Real lock

Don built the lock in Lightwave, set it up to print in Simplify3D and printed it on his Duplicator 4S. At a print height of 0.15mm and a print speed of 2500 mm/m.

For print material Don used Wanhao's PLA "Silver." While he loves his Wanhao 3D printers, this is the first time Don has used the Wanhao brand material. It worked great, he printed at 205° with no bed heat.

Don then painted the assembled lock with Modern Masters Metal Effects paints. First he applied the primer, then two coats of iron paint, the rust activator and then sealer. The lock is actually mostly black, but the sealer gives it a slight sheen, thus it photographs as a metalic grey. During the painting, Don kept adjusting the 3 moving parts so they wouldn't get painted into place. This worked perfectly and the locking mechanism as well as the key hole cover work fine.

You can download the model for free (for the next week) from Don's Store.