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Dishwasher Door Switch Actuator

Our dishwasher has an interlock switch to prevent the dishwasher from running when the door is open. A plastic "finger" on the door pokes into a hole in the door frame to actuate this switch. Eventually the finger broke off, and the dishwasher wouldn't operate at all.

I machined this replacement finger from Delrin. I turned the round base and tapered finger on the lathe, and used the milling machine to square-off the base to match the original, shown at the top of this photo. The small square end fits into a hole in the door, and the part rotates 45° to lock it in place. It was this small square end that snapped off the original.

WorkbenchUpdated on January 16, 2008