Light switch covers

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GEdward
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Light switch covers

Post by GEdward »

After I got my machine up and running in March of this year I came across this figure on ebay and bought the STL file for it. I thought it would make a good subject for trying out the machine and experimenting with various wood species, router bits and all kinds of other variables. In short order I ended up with 6 or 7 of them and while some of them came out pretty nice, I had no clue what I was going to do with them. One day it dawned on while I was thinking about replacing a grungy plastic light switch cover that these things might work for that purpose. It started off with some singles that looked kind of interesting and with a little resizing and tweaking I made a double and triple as well. Here are some examples in curly maple.
G Edward
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Mobius
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Re: Light switch covers

Post by Mobius »

Nice work, they are very pretty.

Just something to consider: here in Canada these would be considered a fire hazard (being made from a combustible material) as far as electrical code is concerned. They also wouldn't be legal to install as they are not cUL/CSA approved.
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mezalick
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Re: Light switch covers

Post by mezalick »

Mobius wrote:Nice work, they are very pretty.

Just something to consider: here in Canada these would be considered a fire hazard (being made from a combustible material) as far as electrical code is concerned. They also wouldn't be legal to install as they are not cUL/CSA approved.
Question,
What if there was a metal plate behind the wooden cover...??

Michael
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mezalick
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Re: Light switch covers

Post by mezalick »

mezalick wrote:
Mobius wrote:Nice work, they are very pretty.

Just something to consider: here in Canada these would be considered a fire hazard (being made from a combustible material) as far as electrical code is concerned. They also wouldn't be legal to install as they are not cUL/CSA approved.
Question,
What if there was a metal plate behind the wooden cover...??

Michael
PS, I like the covers,,,nice idea
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GEdward
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Re: Light switch covers

Post by GEdward »

I am not too worried about it. Here in the US we use circuit breakers to interrupt the circuit in the event of a short. :D If a light switch or outlet is hot enough to ignite a plastic or wooden cover then the stud on which it's gang box is mounted is on fire as well. And if you are unlucky enough to have a wood wall or wainscot then you could never have lights and outlets in that room?

Besides, they are for my own personal use. I am not marketing them.

G Edward

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rscrawford
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Re: Light switch covers

Post by rscrawford »

I've made several walnut switch covers for my house in Canada.

You can also buy wood covers in Canada at any big box store like Home Depot.
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FixitMike
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Re: Light switch covers

Post by FixitMike »

I always pocket the back of my light switch covers so they fit over an UL approved cover.
Dragon light switch cover (2016_08_04 18_21_49 UTC).JPG
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Re: Light switch covers

Post by Mobius »

rscrawford wrote:I've made several walnut switch covers for my house in Canada.

You can also buy wood covers in Canada at any big box store like Home Depot.
You can, but they have a backing on them (usually brass or aluminum) and the assembly is CSA or cUL rated.
GEdward wrote: I am not too worried about it. Here in the US we use circuit breakers to interrupt the circuit in the event of a short. :D If a light switch or outlet is hot enough to ignite a plastic or wooden cover then the stud on which it's gang box is mounted is on fire as well. And if you are unlucky enough to have a wood wall or wainscot then you could never have lights and outlets in that room?

Besides, they are for my own personal use. I am not marketing them.

G Edward
Its not about the device getting hot enough to auto-ignite the cover, it is about the possibility of an arc inside the box. In the event of a short inside the box, even though the breaker may work as intended, the resulting arc flash can still ignite flamable materials in an instant.

Electrical boxes are designed specifically to contain this arc. If you have wainscotting, the box must extend flush with that wall by code (here in Canada, US is similar I believe), so there is no exposed wood.

I'm a licensed electrician and I deal mainly with residential commercial, and some of the things I've seen........ Lets just say I'm surprised there aren't more house fires. In any case, I was just attempting to enlighten you on a possible safety concern.

One other concern would be the possibility of voiding your home insurance should something happen. Insurance companies are notorious for finding ways to not pay out. Again, just saying. It is your decision and assumption of risk so I wish you well.
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Re: Light switch covers

Post by rej »

seems odd it's so dangerous and illegal but you can literally buy them at a home depot. you should email home depot.
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Mobius
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Re: Light switch covers

Post by Mobius »

rej wrote:seems odd it's so dangerous and illegal but you can literally buy them at a home depot. you should email home depot.

See my previous post. I also didn't say they were so dangerous, just that there was a risk involved with using them.
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