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A year or two ago, I found myself doing a lot of Kamikaze commissions for the Nintendo Switch OLED. Along the way, I ended up picking up some OLEDs for myself, and in using them I noticed that the volume rocker is pretty flat, and much more annoying to find and adjust the volume properly on than on an LCD or even on Lite models. As someone who often adjusts the volume on their game consoles, I found this incredibly annoying, and I decided to make my own volume rocker for the Switch OLED that's similar to the other models.
To really showcase the problem here, I'll provide some images of what I'm talking about:
This is an original Switch with it's volume rocker:
And here's the Switch OLED volume rocker:
See how the Switch OLED volume rocker is much more flat when you look closely at it? This makes it much more annoying to adjust the volume in the correct direction, or even at all since the rocker is also more flush with the console.
Certainly I'm not the only person who finds this annoying. So I went ahead and modeled my own volume rocker:
I was surprised at how closely my red filament matched the beautiful red on my unit. I've also got a transparent OLED that this looks nearly stock on! This design works a LOT better than the old one - I'd even argue it does a better job than the original Switch LCD and Switch Lite volume rockers seeing how the bumps are slightly more pronounced. It certainly makes it easier to differentiate between volume + and - when feeling around.
The only downside to this is that it doesn't preserve the + - markings carved into the plastic of the knob which makes it a bit less obvious to tell which volume button is which when looking at it head on. But this is hardly a problem, and it isn't something that could be fixed in an FDM print without a smaller nozzle or a high end printer (even then this is really fine and small). If for whatever reason the + - markings are a deal breaker, or you want to try and make a version featuring them, be my guest!
I have attached the .stl file for this to this post. Just be aware that some post-processing may be required as is typical with FDM prints. I was able to get some really smooth results by filing down the top ends of that stick up a teeny bit, and when printed + processed correctly this volume rocker makes adjusting the volume 10 times better!
Enjoy!
To really showcase the problem here, I'll provide some images of what I'm talking about:
This is an original Switch with it's volume rocker:
And here's the Switch OLED volume rocker:
See how the Switch OLED volume rocker is much more flat when you look closely at it? This makes it much more annoying to adjust the volume in the correct direction, or even at all since the rocker is also more flush with the console.
Certainly I'm not the only person who finds this annoying. So I went ahead and modeled my own volume rocker:
I was surprised at how closely my red filament matched the beautiful red on my unit. I've also got a transparent OLED that this looks nearly stock on! This design works a LOT better than the old one - I'd even argue it does a better job than the original Switch LCD and Switch Lite volume rockers seeing how the bumps are slightly more pronounced. It certainly makes it easier to differentiate between volume + and - when feeling around.
The only downside to this is that it doesn't preserve the + - markings carved into the plastic of the knob which makes it a bit less obvious to tell which volume button is which when looking at it head on. But this is hardly a problem, and it isn't something that could be fixed in an FDM print without a smaller nozzle or a high end printer (even then this is really fine and small). If for whatever reason the + - markings are a deal breaker, or you want to try and make a version featuring them, be my guest!
I have attached the .stl file for this to this post. Just be aware that some post-processing may be required as is typical with FDM prints. I was able to get some really smooth results by filing down the top ends of that stick up a teeny bit, and when printed + processed correctly this volume rocker makes adjusting the volume 10 times better!
Enjoy!
