Intro

I decided my previous design was a little dated and was a little difficult to manipulate easily and was a little rough on the fingers, so I decided to redesign it. I shamelessly stole features from other designs, like the great click mechanism in Cees' Cryptex (https://www.printables.com/model/28937-cryptex-5-6-7-8-or-10-letter-wheels/comments/271676) which apparently was based on my original (Thingiverse MasonStonehenge), so here we are - full circle. :)

I made it plain on purpose so that it could be easily customized should that be your thing.

I included a blank letter ring and an example of an alternative font - Pigpen (Google it!).

I also included a .step of the design - I've never used them before, but I'd imagine that it's helpful for remixing?

Build instructions

Print:

• 10x Letter rings (your choice of lettering)
• 10x Letter encoder (These can be fairly coarsely printed if you like - .3mm layers anyone?)
• Inner Core
• Inner Core End Cap
• Outer Core
• Outer Core Retainer

Depending on your printer you should be able to print 5 letter rings or 5 encoder rings in one go. Each part should already be in the correct orientation so that no support is necessary when printing.

Think of a 10 character word, like CREATIVITY, MOTIVATION, FRIENDSHIP or BUZZPHRASE if that's more your speed..  (https://wordfinderx.com/10-letter-words/) and make the 10 encoding rings.

The encoding wheels are made by combining a Letter Encoder and a Letter ring. The encoder ring should be slightly recessed inside the Letter ring, making sure that the slot is lined up with the letter for that individual wheel.

The wheel can then be slid over the Outer Core with the beveled side towards the open end (The flat stepped side towards the closed side). When the cylinder is held horizontally with the open end to your right then the letter should be in the correct orientation. If this is incorrect then the wheel won't turn..

Once all 10 wheels are in place the Outer Core retainer should screw on and hold them in place and also the slot in the retainer lined up with the slot in the Outer Core. This should not stop the wheels from turning or be so loose that the wheels rattle about.

The Inner Core must be glued into the Inner Core End Cap using something like CA or 2 part epoxy glue, then the whole thing is completed!

Updates

Feedback received has caused me to alter a couple of small items, like the PigPen direction was reversed, which still worked, but was confusing if you mixed and matched with the standard letters.

Added an arrow indicator that fits into the slots on either side.

Changed the screw cap to have a slight supportive ring otherwise the right letter rings were much ‘softer’ than the leftmost.

Changed the end cap otherwise too flush a glue job would mean that the rings might get jammed with different tolerance printers.