modular cabinet storage system for small and medium sized parts

thingiverse

Update 08/2016: After printing the racks for the bookshelfs is completed I printed some more for putting them inside a closet. For them there is no need to have fancy 3D printed labels, that's why I decided to create another bin that can be labeled with printed labels wich could be just plugged in there. There are 2 new bins with that holders and the label holder uploaded. The label holder can be sized in width and length and mated to the original bins if other label size are wanted. There are several rack designs available at Thingiverse, most of the ones I looked at have been adjusted to printing abilities (saving time, material and build volume) with too weak walls and too small bins and cabinets. I decided to design another one that fits to my needs while making it extendable and still allowing it to be printed on medium sized printers. The largest are the cabinets with a size of 140mmx150mm and height of 167mm (if printing them with the back on top). A major concern also was that, besides printing such a huge amount of filament with long running jobs looks insane, I wanted to have it a look that fits to my furniture, a look that I like and not the look of regular cabinets that can be bought anywhere. Imagine the ugly look of all those card boxes and bags on that bookshelves before I printed the cabinets. Bins: There are two sizes, normal and double height. The cabinets are sized accordingly. Cabinets: There are 3 different types, one holding 4 normal bins, another holding one double and two normal bins and a third holding 2 double sized bins. The cabinets can be connected together horizontally with a connector and stacked with some fixing clamps. Print them with the back side up. Dividers: There are dividers for normal and double sized bins that allow to create smaller storage areas inside the bins. The diagonal dividers can be flipped to get them inserted on the opposite angle. Connector: The connectors can be used to plug cabinets together horizontally. It's just to hold them in position, otherwise they could move easily when moving the bins. If needed the connectors can be stretched giving them more width and making them stronger (giving the tubes a small angle could give even more fixing strength). Spacer: The bin spacers provide the end stops for the bins. I designed them to my taste, their feet could be made larger or smaller to adjust the bins inside the cabinets. Clamps: Clamps fix the cabinets if they are stacked. It's not in a way that they don't move anymore, it's just to hold them in position when pulling the bins. If needed the clamps could be stretched on an axis giving them more width and make them stronger. If stacking several cabinets the clamps could have a mount support added (design your own) that allows them to be screwed to a wall if needed. The clamps also work as bin spacer (no additional spacer needed at this level). Labels: I printed them with copper imitating PLA and glued them to the bins. The labels are very thin and could be removed and replaced with another one if needed without damaging the bin. I decided to not make them pluggable for easier printing of the bins and because some might use no labels at all or design their own plug in labels. There is an empty text-plate included as an example. Print Settings Printer: Raise3D N2+ Resolution: 300µ Infill: 10% Notes: Printed with locally manufactured ivory premium PLA at 205°C, labels are printed with copper imitating PLA (same brand) also at 205°C. Print the cabinets turned on their front with the back on top, everything else could be just printed as oriented in the STLs.