3D printing a clicker button around a real MX switch
A clicker button is two printed parts and one bought switch. This page is the whole of what you need to know to print one that feels right the first time.
Starting from an image? Upload a picture in Clicker Wonderland, shape the button around it, then download a 3MF or STL to print.
Image to clicker: from artwork to a printed button
Upload a picture, logo or drawing, adjust its shape and colours, then download the printable files.
Clicker Wonderland is a free clicker generator that runs in your browser during beta.
Each fidget clicker uses a real MX-compatible keyboard switch.
We deliver finished prints across Malaysia in 3–5 business days, with a RM50 minimum per order; Setapak pickup has no minimum.
Clicker Wonderland has a free account — a one-click sign-in link by email, or Google, and no password to remember. Free while we’re in beta — try it now, and help us make it better.
How the mechanism works
Strip away the artwork and every clicker on this site is the same object. A base holds the switch. A button sits over it and slides down onto the switch stem. The two parts are cut apart along a seam, and the geometry that makes it work all lives at that seam:
- A plate cutout in the base — a 14 mm square hole the switch clips into, exactly as a keyboard’s switch plate does.
- A switch cavity under it, deep enough that the switch body has somewhere to live.
- A sliding guide surface where the walls of the two halves overlap, which is what stops the press going sideways.
- A cross-shaped socket in the underside of the button, which grips the switch’s cross stem and is what actually presses it.
Nothing is glued and nothing is screwed. The switch clips into plastic and the button clips onto the switch, so a clicker comes apart in your hands if you want to change the switch later.
Choosing a switch
This is the one part you buy rather than print, and it is the part that decides how the finished thing feels. An MX-style switch is the standard mechanical keyboard switch, sold everywhere in packs, and the three families all fit the same cutout.
| Type | What it feels like | Good for a clicker? |
|---|---|---|
| Clicky Kailh BOX White, Blue | A sharp mechanical click you can hear across a room, with a tactile bump at the same moment. | Yes — this is the one. If somebody is going to press it for fun, this is what they want. |
| Tactile Brown-type | A bump you feel and almost no noise. | Yes, if it has to live in an office or a classroom. |
| Linear Red-type | Smooth all the way down. No bump, no click. | No. It will work mechanically and it will be dull. |
The three numbers that decide the fit
The app exposes these under Advanced — Switch fit, and the defaults suit most printers. They are here so that when something is wrong you change the right one rather than reprinting hopefully.
| Number | Default | What it controls |
|---|---|---|
| Plate cutout | 14.0 mm | The square hole the switch clips into. 14 mm is the universal MX fit and suits Cherry, Gateron and Kailh. Loose switches want a smaller hole; a switch you cannot seat wants a bigger one. |
| Switch cavity | 7.2 mm | Pocket depth under the plate. 7.0 mm and up fits any MX switch. Deeper also makes the base taller. |
| Wall thickness | 2.5 mm | The perimeter wall around the button. Thicker is sturdier and leaves slightly less room inside. |
Two more matter once the parts are in your hand: guide clearance, which is the gap between the sliding walls and the cure for almost every complaint about fit, and the MX-cross socket fine-tune, which is the grip on the switch stem and the cure for a cap that either falls off or will not come off.
Sizes
| Preset | Across | What it is for |
|---|---|---|
| Keychain | 42 mm | Pocket sized. Selecting it also switches the keychain loop on. |
| Desk | 60 mm | The default, and the right size for a first print. Big enough to read a picture on, quick enough to iterate. |
| Chonky | 82 mm | A proper slam-it-with-your-palm button. |
The size is a slider, not three fixed choices, and it runs up to a 118 mm ceiling. Each preset also sets a matching wall thickness and switch cavity, and none of them locks anything — every slider still moves afterwards. Something larger than the ceiling is refused rather than silently built.
Print settings
| Setting | Value, and why |
|---|---|
| Nozzle | 0.4 mm. Nothing on the model needs finer, and a wider nozzle starts to blunt the socket cross. |
| Layer height | 0.2 mm. Finer layers make the sliding surfaces smoother, and here that is a feel change rather than a cosmetic one. |
| Infill | 15% is plenty. This is a small solid object; more infill buys weight and print time and nothing else. |
| Supports | Off. The exceptions are a raised keychain loop and a ring channel or lanyard slot high on the rim — both of which the app warns about before you export. |
| Material | PLA or PETG. We print in PETG because these end up on keyrings. |
| Orientation | Leave it. Both parts arrive flat on the plate in the exported file. |
A worked example, from the first model we published and printed ourselves: a 60 mm dragon-head clicker on a Bambu Lab P1S, 0.4 mm nozzle, 0.2 mm layers, 15% infill, no supports, four PETG colours — 1 h 32 m and 28 g for both parts.
Assembly, in order
- Clean the parts. Clear any stringing out of the switch pocket and off the sliding walls. This is the single most common cause of a clicker that feels wrong.
- Clip the switch into the base. Press it into the plate cutout until it snaps home. It should need a firm press, not a hammer.
- Press the button onto the stem. Line the cross socket up with the switch’s cross stem and push straight down.
- Work it in. Press it thirty times. It is meant to be stiff at first and to loosen as the sliding surfaces bed in.
- Glue in the extras, if you designed a magnet pocket, a badge pin or a split ring.
When the printed part is wrong
| Symptom | What to change |
|---|---|
| The switch is a struggle to seat | Make the plate cutout slightly larger, or raise the fit tolerance under Switch fit. |
| The switch rattles in its hole | Make the plate cutout slightly smaller. |
| The two halves bind, or the press is gritty | Raise the guide clearance. Clean the walls first — it is usually stringing. |
| The halves rattle against each other | Lower the guide clearance. The snap bump scales with the gap, so the click stays crisp. |
| The cap grips the stem too hard, or falls off | MX-cross socket fine-tune: raise it if it grips too hard, lower it if it is loose. |
| The press bottoms out before the switch actuates | Raise the press travel room. 4.0 mm suits a Kailh BOX White, which travels 3.6 mm. |
Questions
Which switch do I need for a 3D printed clicker button?
Any MX-style mechanical keyboard switch. Cherry MX, Gateron and Kailh BOX all fit the same 14 mm square plate cutout. A clicky switch such as a Kailh BOX White gives the loudest, sharpest result; a tactile switch is quieter with a bump; a linear switch has no click at all and is the wrong choice for a clicker.
Do I need a multi-colour printer?
No. The 3MF carries the colour regions so a multi-material printer paints them with no work in the slicer, but a single-nozzle printer prints the same file in one colour. Printing the two halves in two different filaments gives you two colours with no extra hardware, because the split between button and base is already a colour boundary.
Does a clicker button need supports?
Normally no. Both parts are exported lying flat and the two-part split exists so that neither half has an overhang worth supporting. The exceptions are a keychain loop that has been lifted off the bed, and a ring channel or lanyard slot placed high on the rim.
What layer height should I use?
0.2 mm is a sensible default. Finer layers make the sliding guide surfaces smoother, and on this design that matters more than it does on an ordinary print, because those surfaces are what the press slides along.
How long does one take to print, and how much filament?
A 60 mm desk-sized clicker printed on a Bambu Lab P1S with a 0.4 mm nozzle, 0.2 mm layers and 15% infill took 1 h 32 m and 28 g of filament, in four PETG colours, with no supports. A 42 mm keychain size is quicker and lighter; an 82 mm one is slower and heavier.
The two halves bind, or the press feels gritty. What do I change?
Raise the guide clearance and reprint. Before you do, clean any stringing out of the switch pocket and off the sliding walls: a binding clicker is more often a whisker of plastic than a wrong number. If the halves rattle instead, lower the guide clearance.
Can I print a clicker button in PLA?
Yes. PLA and PETG both work. PLA is easier to print and holds a crisper edge; PETG is tougher and survives a keyring better, which is why we print ours in PETG. Whichever you choose, print both halves in the same material so the sliding fit behaves the same on both sides.
How big can a clicker button be?
Up to 118 mm across. The three starting sizes are 42 mm for a keychain, 60 mm for a desk clicker and 82 mm for a large one, and the size is a slider between and beyond them up to the 118 mm ceiling. Anything larger is rejected rather than silently built.
Read next
- Clicker Wonderland — what the tool makes, and how a picture becomes a button.
- Free fidget clicker files — our published models on Printables and MakerWorld.
- The complete manual — every control in the app, in order, with a printable PDF.
- 3D printing in the Klang Valley — if you would rather we printed it.