Using magnets to keep dust out of the cupboard

We recently bought an old kitchen cabinet that has a fly screen on one of the doors. I have found that it lets dust in over time, and when I go to use the glasses, they often have to be cleaned because they are dusty.

kitchen cabinet with flyscreen in top panel of door
Kitchen Cabinet with flyscreen in top panel of door

I decided to make some sort of clear perspex screen to go behind the door. I noticed that iron nails were used to hold the fly screen in place and I had the idea to use magnets to hold it on.
fly screen mesh with frame holding it into door, nail heads visible
A bit of measuring, openscad and ebay later, I had everything I needed.
rectangular perspex sheet with 14 6mm holes around the edge
OpenSCAD design of the perspex sheet

I cut the sheet out of perspex at the hacker space in Sydney. Then I glued the magnets in with super glue. That turned out a bit messy but as the magnets are not visible from the outside it doesn’t really matter.
placing perspex sheet with magnets onto door
perspex plate on kitchen cabinet door being held in place with magnets
I am very happy with the result. It is invisible from the outside, and the magnets hold the perspex sheet on firmly enough that it won’t fall with the normal use of the cabinet door.


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