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3D printed tool organizers

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97tj-neil

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Jan 4, 2013
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PA
I have been taking some time off from wrenching on the vehicles to organize my toolbox. The 3D printer my son and I built is coming in really handy in this process. I got tired of adapters rolling around in the drawers and searching through old butter tubs for sockets. The ignitions wrenches are also now free of the plastic ziploc baggies Craftsman shipped them in.

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9

97tj-neil

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Jan 4, 2013
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PA
Anet A8, with lots of upgades, and converted to the AM8 all aluminum extrusion frame. It is cheap, but works very well.

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laser3kw

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Nov 17, 2012
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northen IL
I arranged my screwdrivers in the "opposed" fashion. I then noticed that the brand name was showing on one side and not on the other. :mad:
Now I have to devised another way :(
 
G

Grimpala

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Jul 16, 2012
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97tj-neil said:
I have less than $400 in this one. The original printer was a kit that I bought for $159.
Click to expand...

Could you PM me some info on this? I've been wanting to get into 3D printing, but don't want to spend a fortune.
 
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kd3pc

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Aug 10, 2013
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Northern Neck
the tevo tarantula is a good option as well, $230 or so, filament about the same, I do quite a bit of small electronic cases and even some larger ones. Finish size of the three segments is 7" x 8.5" or so.
 

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danb35

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Oct 24, 2014
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SE Georgia
Nice work. I'm curious about the marking on the socket/bit holders--was that a matter of painting a raised portion of the print or what?
 
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BearsFan315

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Jun 12, 2014
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689
Location
Portsmouth, VA
3d Printers a re great !!

bought one years ago, done upgrades and mods to it as i learn more about it

a designer by skill, done many parts for my restoration project, plus many other odds and ends. plenty of cool things for the kids, etc... best thing is designing the part then printing, it. pretty cheap sine i use mainly PLA. test fit adjust till it is right !!

I run CURA for my printing, easy to use and simple, for the most part, but has advanced options if you need.
 
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9

97tj-neil

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Jan 4, 2013
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danb35 said:
Nice work. I'm curious about the marking on the socket/bit holders--was that a matter of painting a raised portion of the print or what?
Click to expand...

Yes, I painted the raised text by "tracing" over it with a Sharpie paint pen.
 
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97tj-neil

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Cobra5150 said:
Me too. Definitely interested in the aluminum frame. I've got some left over 8020 at work so I might be making one.
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If you search "AM8" on Thingiverse, you will find all of the parts needed to convert your A8 to an extruded frame. The guy who originally created the parts used 2040 and 2020 extrusions from Misumi. If you use extrusions from 8020, you may have to design some of the braces to fit. Many of the parts simply attach with T-nuts, so those should be fine with any brand of extrusions.

The frame is much more rigid now, and the top cross bar is more than strong enough to mount the filament reel to it.
 
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97tj-neil

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Jan 4, 2013
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PA
NoPressure said:
thats a lot cheaper than i expected. what software do you use with it and are consumables expensive?
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I use Google Sketchup to model my parts. It's completely free and there is a huge user community to help you learn it. It is a direct modeler, which is quite different from parametric modelers, like PTC Creo.

My son is using Fusion 360 to model parts. It is also free for personal use, and is much more powerful than Sketchup. This also means it is more complicated and has a bigger learning curve.

I am using Cura for my slicer software. It is basic, but very simple to use and quite effective.
 
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NoPressure

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97tj-neil said:
I use Google Sketchup to model my parts. It's completely free and there is a huge user community to help you learn it. It is a direct modeler, which is quite different from parametric modelers, like PTC Creo.

My son is using Fusion 360 to model parts. It is also free for personal use, and is much more powerful than Sketchup. This also means it is more complicated and has a bigger learning curve.

I am using Cura for my slicer software. It is basic, but very simple to use and quite effective.
Click to expand...

Thanks I’ve used sketchup some and downloaded fusion but haven’t messed with it yet.
 
7

75gmck25

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Jul 21, 2014
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Alexandria, VA
To answer your question - you can design your 3D project with any number of software CAD tools, but I assume at least one product will come with the printer. Most CAD software produces a definition of the 3D item using an industry standard file format. The printer you buy then processes the file and turns it into the controls for the specific printer.

If you want to see what they are doing on the high end, look at this site https://markforged.com/. They have printers that can do plastic, carbon fiber or kevlar reinforced plastic, stainless steel, etc. However, the price difference between the plastic/reinforced printers and the steel printers is enormous.

Most companies that buy the high end steel printers are using it for prototyping parts. They can design and build multiple versions of a part in just a few days, without paying an outside service. It isn't fast enough for final production of multiple parts, but can really speed up the development of a new product. The carbon fiber and kevlar products are also popular, since they can be designed to have about the strength of an aluminum part.

Bruce
 
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Corndoggeh

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Apr 2, 2016
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Speaking of which... I gotta see what my universities limits on their 3D printer are. How easy/difficult is it to make a design?
 
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penright

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Dec 27, 2016
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SW of Mustang, OK
97tj-neil said:
My son is using Fusion 360 to model parts
Click to expand...
I am trying to learn Fusion 360.
What was the thought process of laying out to maximize the space?

For example sockets and screwdrivers, the direction is pretty much dictated by their size and shapes. But end wrenches can lay flat or stand up.

Also, did you take a picture and model around it?
 
S

SCARFEVER

New member
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Feb 6, 2019
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Location
NY
Hey you mind sharing your models? This is a great idea, I haven't even thought about printing the organizers and they are kinda expensive to buy
 
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KSB

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Sep 19, 2012
Messages
246
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Eastern Ontario, Canada
Very nice.

I’m glad I don’t have access to a 3D printer cause I’d be constantly reorganizing. :).

They look great, really like the way you labeled them.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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Cobra5150

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Feb 2, 2008
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1,951
Location
GA
One thing I thought about doing with the socket organizers is to make them connectable. Design the holders in units that would fill the bottom of the drawer then make them snap together so you could re-arrange if you wanted.
 
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anythingyoucanimagine

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Feb 6, 2019
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423
Location
New England
Lucky13driver said:
I know nothing about 3D printers. But I sure could use one.
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We bought our first printer several years ago for $25 on Craigslist (with two spools of PLA, was a tronxy printer). There is almost zero barrier to entry if you want to start at the very bottom and struggle your way up. Advice: spend the money to buy something with heated bed and enclosure. Today we have four machines and she prints stuff almost as her second full time job (she's a 3-day-a-week nurse). The learning process was good (and needed) with the crappy machines. That said, we spent a stupid amount of money buying **** to upgrade our crappy printers. Would have been much better to just buy decent machines --but then no learning process....


Buy one. If you can suffer through the early stages it'll be worth it.
 
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