[NTLK] Modified outer case for Matthias's Newt Dongle

Mark Crutch mark.crutch at gmail.com
Sun Nov 2 09:05:17 PST 2025


Those of you who have received one of Matthias's Newt Dongles may well have
received it in his 3D printed outer case - a great idea to protect it
during shipping.

I've made a couple of modifications to the case design, to add magnets to
hold the two halves (loosely) together, and to change the outer shape to
make it easier to print for those of use with less impressive 3D printers
than Matthias's (it's squarer and chamfered, rather than the original
rounded, filleted design). The files have been merged to Matthias's master
branch on GitHub, and can be found here:
https://github.com/MatthiasWM/newt_dongle/tree/master/3d-parts

* DongleCaseCase2.013.FCStd - This is the FreeCAD source file which I
modified. If you're familiar with FreeCAD, the two options are available as
VarSet parameters so you can turn either of them on/off. With both off you
essentially have the same as Matthias's original shipping case.
* DongleCaseCase2.013-LowerCaseCaseBodyChamfered.stl (and the corresponding
Upper part) - STL files of the case with both options enabled if you just
want to load them directly into your slicer (or look at them in GitHub's
online STL viewer)

The magnet slots are on the inside faces at either end of the internal
cutout. They're designed for 6x2mm round magnets (four required), which are
commonly used with 3D prints. Depending on your printer, filament and
magnets they could be anything from an interference fit to a loose fit, so
you may need to hold them in place if they want to fall back out. They can
be a bit fiddly to get in, so here are my tips:

1) Tackle the magnets one at a time.
2) Start by putting one into the long slot at the Newton connector end of
the bottom half. You may need to use a toothpick or similar to push it into
place as the slot is a little deeper than the others.
3) If any of them are a loose fit, secure them in place with some glue, a
little bit of melted filament, some putty, or whatever other method suits
you.
4) If you have a hot air gun, heating the surface above the magnet and
pressing down might work - I haven't tried that.
5) To fit the remaining magnets I held them in place with tweezers, then
pushed them home with a finger while removing the tweezers.
6) Be careful to match the orientation of the magnets between top/bottom
halves. It's not so important to match between opposite ends.
7) If some holes/magnets form a friction fit, do those ones first. It's
easier to remove and flip the loose ones if you need to, so don't fix those
in place until you have to.

I held mine in place with a tiny amount of "Blue Tack" added to each hole
once the magnet was in place. It's hidden from view on the inside faces of
the case, obscured by the dongle when it's in there, so I'm not too worried
about the final appearance. But this approach made it easier to get the
orientation correct than if I'd glued them in from the start.


Mark

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