Designing a replacement piece for a microwave oven plate (and its failure)
The glass plate of my microwave oven broke, and the only compatible plate that could be found at the local pawn/charity shop didn’t have the little tabs on the bottom to assure a connection with the motor : it couldn’t spin.
To solve this problem, I decided to design and 3D-print a plastic piece that could be glued on the bottom of the new plate.
After having taken some measurements, it was time for me to sketch an idea of how the piece would look like :
It was then time to design the piece in CAD : I chose Solidworks to test it out. It was a bit difficult :
Then I discovered Solidworks could generate technical drawings : Ow yes !
I then exported the 3D file to be 3D printed. This file, if needed, can be found on Thingiverse, the website hosting thousands of 3D models for printing
Then I glued it at the bottom of the new plate : (use microwave-safe epoxy, not CA/super glue
In the end, this fix worked really well. We now have a working rotating microwave-oven ! YAY !
Edit :
Now I was all happy about this piece working great, until one day, I decided to make some microwave popcorn (you know, the paper bags)… Well this heated the plate and melted off the plastic piece…
Well, I guess I’ll have to print another one now…
You might have to consider this if you want to make one yourself…