3D Levitation

I purchased a cool electromagnetic levitation gadget on the internet.  When powered up the electromagnets cause a magnet to float above it without any support.

In fact the electromagnets are fearsomely powerful and the floating magnet can easily crash into the base risking damage to the electrics.

It is a great application for a 3D printed plastic cover / protector.  It is simple to work out the internal and external diameters and the width of the four slots which leave gaps for protruding screw holes.

The first version was designed to fit neatly over the top of the magnet.  The second version was a taller to cover the gadget base completely.  It has a hole in the middle so that the floating cylinder can be placed correctly.

It takes careful thought to make the shape correctly in tinkercad.
1/ Create a cylinder the overall height of the cover.
2/ Create a hole 2mm shorter than the cover and lower it to the top of cylinder 1.

3/ Create the central hole and lower it to the workplane.
4/ Make a cuboid hole the width of cylinder 1/ and lower it to 2mm above the workplane.

5/ Copy cuboid 4/ and turn it through 90 degrees.

At each stage the centre of the objects is aligned and they are joined together in a union.

The final result was very pleasing and neatly covers the electromagnet.  I then decided to make a base which I could screw the gadget to.

  The cover fits nicely on top to make the whole rigid.

The result is very satisfying.  It is now much easier to set up levitation, the gadget looks better and I am much less likely to damage it during use.  I could do more, in particular making something to hold the floating disc would be fun.  One advert I saw had it incorporated into a floating Aladdins lamp!
However this does fulfull my requirement to make something useful, so I can stop here for the moment.