Cardioid curve heart-shaped push latch

This is a Cardioid Curve Latch I made for Valentine's Day.

I made this Cardioid curve push push latch with my new milling machine and drill press. The straightaway is lower than the diagonal path so the pointer can't go up the diagonal, only down it on the return.

Scrap aluminum, wd-40 as cutting fluid. Little Machine Shop manual mill.

Angles milled by just turning the rotating base machine vise and locking it down again for each angle. 

I saw This Old Tony make a similar one (though he used a CNC machine) and figured if I changed the return curve to a properly angled diagonal I could make it with my manual mill.

Cardioid = heart-shaped

I was avoiding a cardio workout from shoveling snow.

Happy Valentine's Day 2022!

Push-Push Cardioid Curve Latch

 

Just made a Cardioid curve push push latch with my new milling machine and drill press. The straightaway is lower than the diagonal path so the pointer can't go up the diagonal, only down it on the return.

Scrap aluminum, wd-40 as cutting fluid. Little Machine Shop manual mill.

Angles milled by just turning the rotating base machine vise and locking it down again for each angle. 

I saw This Old Tony make a similar one (though he used a CNC machine) and figured if I changed the return curve to a properly angled diagonal I could make it with my manual mill. So I did!

There is less friction that way so I could use a weaker spring.

Cardioid = heart-shaped

I did this while avoiding a cardio-workout of snow shoveling.

Happy Valentine's Day 2022!