Thanks for the link. those were the ones I was looking at (although stronger - don’t need them!)
Hello everyone,
I have just found this thread and I am very interested in the concept. I have Philips Hue system fitted to the house and until now I had bypassed the old switches to give permanent live and used blanking plates to remove the old light switches. I have stuck the dimmer switches with backing plates next to my existing switches to remove the confusion (for the grandparents babysitting). I had been thinking what do I do when it comes time to decorate and peel off the dimmer switch back plate, I don’t think there would be any chance of it sticking on again.
I was searching google to see if the backing plates are sold separately which I can’t find. This is when I found this thread.
Where are you interms of the finished design and any costings for these as I would be interested in buying some.
Thanks
+1 for really wanting an adapter plate like this!
Ive found a few of these threads but cant believe no-one isn’t selling their 3D model design or the face plate covers?
Hi Everyone,
Sorry for the delay in updating everyone, i know a lot of you are keen to know how i’m getting on with this little project.
So the good news is i received back the 2nd set of prototypes last week… bad news is i messed up on the 3d model… DOH… however its not all bad as it have actually given me another option that some may prefer.
So first things first… the corners are now full radius… and they look much better i think. Be interesting to see what your views are. I also adjusted the internal dimensions of the holder where the remote sits. The overall size was only increased by 1.5mm on the length and width and the remote fits perfectly. In fact I’m really chuffed with how well it has fit, so much so that the magnets are not even needed, the remote sits in perfectly and even shaking it upside down doesn’t fall out but with a slight tug ( very little effort ) it pulls straight own.
Finally i changed the back slightly which you can see by the photos, its slightly thicker and not transparent anymore which has also added to the rigidity of the model. Personally i think i went a little over the top as its now 3mm thick and i think 2mm would be better… doesn’t sound a lot but believe me it makes a difference.
So… the bit that went wrong… basically i forgot to reduce the overall depth of the model when I finished designing it and its ended up being the same depth as the remote internally… overall the whole back plate is 3mm deeper due to the thickness of the back. The photos will make more sense…
However… some may well prefer this as the remote now fits snugly into the back plate… which does actually look OK… the downside is its very difficult to get out to the precise fit.
So… i know a lot of people want to know the cost of the back plate… I’ve not spoken about this very much because in all honesty there not cheap… The way I’m them having them printed ( commercial printers ) at the moment including polishing… which basically means they are put into a vibrating polishing machine full of ceramic stone… This does actually make a huge difference as the plates come out pretty much finished ( the photos are how i receive them which no additional work done at all ) and / or ready to be painted if required… however it all adds t cost ( and time ) and the most recent plates i had printed are costing £20.00 each after you include VAT and delivery. This price also means i have to wait around 2 weeks for printing… to speed it up costs more money !
There are a few issues with this… its costing quite a bit to get the model right… especially after silly mistakes such as altering the depth… it takes AGES to get the prototypes back to check if they are any good… personally i think £20.00 is quiet expensive…
I’m interested to see what your thoughts are on the price… at the moment it’s kind of is what it is and the only way i can think of making it any better ( small scale printing ) is to get my own printer… BUT … the polishing element is ( to me ) quite important. Without the polishing you WILL be left with printer marks which would need to be sanded off before fitting.
Also, i need 12 of these for my house so the full cost of printing 12 is not that far off buying a small scale DIY printer !
I know some of you will say “i know a guy with a printer, I’ll get them done” although i would appreciate the offer… at the moment i have put so much time and effort into getting this model right that I’m not willing to let the file out of sight… even the current printers have signed an NDR !
So here’s the images of the last model… I’ll do some thinking over the weekend of where to go next… and update you all again soon. Over to you guys for the comments please.
Looks good im sold. the only thing i would change is not having the hue dimmer as flush to the plate. just to make it easier to remove from the plate. may be 2-3mm
@jay_daniel - I agree, i think I’m going to go back to the original size and depth as that gives you enough material to “pull” the remote out.
+1 for this - the design looks really good (esp if you can get a depth in-between the first and second prototype).
Re: price, I think £20 isn’t totally unreasonable for a custom backplate if it looks the part (and this certainly does)!
I’ve only just started kitting out our place for Hue, but I’m definitely interested in buying at least 4.
Keep us posted on the progress!
Dave
Looking very good
One suggestion if I may ? - consider recessing the screws and adding insert “plug” covers to hide the screw heads, would finish it off very nicely 
@daverigby… do you mean reasonable or totally unreasonable… either is fine… just judging opinion…
Depth is being altered… i prefer the “thinner” model too.
@PaulReynolds. The screws are recessed already, well they pretty much fit flush to the surface when done up. I have looked into plugs and they are possible but for now I’m concentrating on the actual plate. To change it will be easy as i just increase the dia of the scree hole an design the plug to fit
I mean it’s reasonable 
I know some people who have done 3D printing of this kind of sized item - if you can get the quantity up should should be able to reduce the unit price.
Someone mentioned kickstarter - also consider indiegogo. If you can get enough people interested to say make 100 units, that’s probably only A few dozen people assuming most have multiple dimmer switches.
Excellent Rod - nice job!
Thanks Rod - briliant work. I do like the totally flush model but overall I think the thinner version would be better - both practically and aesthetically
I don’t think £20 is totally unreasonable either - although it would be good to get the price down through some volume if possible. It would add up when you think I have 3 already and could do with another 4 later!
Thanks again - I’m still in!
Hi -
Just registered to reply to this. I am very interested and would consider these necessary to get the Hue project pass by the project approval committee (my wife).
I’d need 6 of these, so that would be £120 which I would be happy to pay for a good quality product.
Prefer the flatter design with the protruding from it. If I was up to me, I’d make the corners square - but beggars can’r be choosers here.
Regards -
Fahim
Hi Everyone, thanks for all the feedback, its all really encouraging to know that so many people like the back plate.
So things have moved on in a slightly faster fashion now. In order to reduce all the waiting around and improve the time it takes to prototype something i decided to bite the bullet and invested in my own 3D printer.
I have been playing around with it, as you do printing all sorts of rubbish… sorry i mean tests… 
just to get used to print quality, settings etc.
At the moment i am printing V3 out to check the quality against the commercial printed model, I’m not expecting it to be 100% the same as I have no way of polishing it when finished but i am hoping it will be pretty similar. I’m also just printing in the filament the printer came with which is blue… but watching it print is very cool. Only downside is i have to wait 5.5 hours for it to finish… !
Once done I will re model the plate again, reduce the thickness as that seems to be the general consensus of everyone and print V4. Watch this space…
Animated Gif of the print process… you may need to click on it to view.
1 Like
I’ve used this and it works perfectly.
For those that would prefer to keep the original light switch in place this is a good solution. However the plate i have designed will replace the original light switch in its entirety which i expect will also reduce the footprint slightly as the only difference in size is the length to accommodate the remote.
Hi Everyone, Apologies for the long delay in updates, I have been away working for a while.
So, i have made some changes to the current model, main one being i have gone back to the original 10mm depth. I have also started to print the prototypes at home ( i only have blue filament at the moment ) which does mean they are not polished but for this stage they are working out really well.
Below is the current version, I’m now on Version 4… I am actually very happy with this one… but… there’s always room for improvement so i am going to make a final change and fingers crossed that will be it.
The last changes are going to be to increase the width of the chamfer around the edge to make it look softer and add back in the original horizontal side to match an original light fitting better. If you look at the version 1 model i designed ( square corner version ) you will see what i mean. Increasing the chamfer will also bring back the defined edge of the remote area at the top and bottom which i also prefer.
Hopefully that will be it and i’ll start to offer the model ready for use as there does seem to be quite a lot of interest. I’m also going to try a different finishing method which will be cheaper, the plan is to reduce the cost of the back plate and try to get it around the £10 - £12.50 mark which personally i think is more reasonable.
What this space, hope to have the final finished design on here very soon.
This is great, Rod. I’m interested in at least 2 of these (going for a phased roll out to ease the approval process with the fixed assets committee )
I’ll keep a keen eye on your progress.
Given that I am so impatient, there is an alternative solution I found to this problem. It is available on Etsy and at £7.50 a pop, a very decent price.
My first 2 arrived today and took me all of about 5 minutes to fit.
Highly recommended. Obviously this is not to diminish the great work being done by Rod.
2 Likes