The Best Workshop Storage Is... CDs?

Another week, another "Great Idea"
A part 1 for sure.
Parts: makerworld.com/en/models/373984
Music:
Droopy Likes Your Face, Minecraft Soundtrack
Like subscribe all that stuff
Alt parts: www.printables.com/model/8070...
My name is Chris, I am a 3D printing hobbyist from australia. I dont really specialise in anything specific, but 3D printed tools and tabletop accessories are some things youll probably seen quiet often. I do all my 3d printing on a Ender 3, which I highly recommend as a budget printer. Currently I only run 1 printer but I hope to expand that in the future. Recently acquired a photon 0 to do resin printing with. I like to share all my 3D printing ideas for free although I do plan to sell stuff in the future. Most of my projects will be mostly 3D printed with a few non printed components included, these can often be found on ebay. I actually use the cheapest filament I can get for all my projects, again I hope to change this in the future.

[@Borgedesigns]

To clear up some confusion, there are fully printed bins without the cardboard inserts if you dont want the pauses and dont mind the filament costs. However you cant stack them unless your ok with a lot of supports. With support it becomes 45 grams of filament per flat bin compared to 8 using the cardboard. The deep bins are fully printed and weigh 40 grams, but take up 3 slots so 13ish grams per slot. Do what works for you, just laying the costs out clearly.

[@Terrible_Peril]

Ngl I find it weird that that was the pushback (hey participation is participation!) on this video. If you’re doing this at any kind of scale I’d argue one would want to go the other way, printing corners and connectors and then using card stock for walls, floors and dividers that aren’t specific printed shapes. But I guess it’s a 3D printer owner/operator/enthusiast mindset. Or, no I’m sorry, it’s about the “time”.

[@Leadvest]

Just what I needed, a CDs nuts organizer.

[@shepditch]

Underrated comment, right here.

[@ninjaduck3534]

Lmao thank you

[@bvkes9986]

im liking the comment, but im not happy about it!

[@Kuchenwurst]

Here you stand, brain of the size of a planet

[@Hackvlog]

Interesting idea of reusing mostly obsolete products that many of us still have access to. Fact that those units allow making different height bins/trays makes them very versatile carcasses. Thanks for sharing, very inspirational!

[@howarc13]

Already downloaded and imported into OnShape to begin learning and tweaking! Really excited to see this become something. Maybe old CD cases themselves could be chopped and repurposed to serve as the base of shallow trays? One less bit of plastic in the landfill! Awesome idea and super excited to see where this goes!

[@percytheb4053]

One thing you didn’t take into account was that despite the longer print time and material cost, the old design was fully autonomous. It might’ve taken 2 full days of printing but that’s work that just happens in the background. The new system requires user input per box, which can get repetitive and is prone to error. I like the idea, but just something to consider.

[@neiljborja]

That's the biggest strength of 3d printing IMO (for when it's a hobby/not the core of a business). It reminds me of when it finally clicked in my mom's head (asian parents stereotypically are averse to using dishwashers) that while a dishwasher is slower and more prone to mistakes than hand washing, it's something that can just run in the background while you do other things.

[@Borgedesigns]

if it wasn't for the supports I would agree. You have to stack them to automate it and you have to use supports, which will use 5x the filament and have the gross appearance of having supports removed. The pause happens a bit over once an hour and im in the shop anyways so I didnt find it to be much bother.

[@sameerayiesha]

What about a slot to insert the card board?

[@ehrichsj]

@@sameerayiesha That's a way better idea!

[@jacobkamphaus5565]

Kind lf beats the pants off of gridfinity

[@richards7909]

I actually thought it was great to see the use of existing parts and adapt them with the help of 3d printing rather than 3d print the entire thing. Nice :)

[@leebryton8613]

Maybe you print it upside down so the dividers and sides are printed first then you put the card board in and on top of that sealing that in. This would prevent stackable printing. Got me thinking, great idea. Rewatched your video you do this.

[@iron_bro]

I like this idea for small parts storage! One suggestion I would make is to use laser cutting instead of printing to make all of the various parts - of course this can only apply to those with a laser cutter. Laser cutting can make things like those trays and dividers much faster but also is far cheaper with material cost of things like MDF and Cardboard/Foam vs filament. You can even use it to engrave labels with any font you like (if you have bad workshop OCD like me 😅 )

[@Borgedesigns]

I didnt specify in this but the card inserts I did laser cut, and yeah to anyone with a decent laser itd be the way to go. Probably 8mm walls with a 2mm bottom and some alignment holes.

[@incautious1]

anyone else feel stupid for not thinking of this?

[@nanozach]

I actually did this with dvd racks! Not as a thurough but very similar concept. They might be just right to support gridfinity inserts.

[@patricksamuel6594]

📥 First thing I thought is why not use the cd case and print dividers that would fit inside one. 💿 For thicker trays just remove the top of the case and print thicker dividers. You would have built in transparent windows for your labels.

[@asajordan6195]

Thanks for sharing!! I love see how other people customize their workspace, especially their storage. I'm really interested to see a part 2 once you've lived with the system a bit longer and have thoughts on how it can be changed and improved. I definitely want to try my hand at customizing this system for some of my smaller tools and bits! At the moment my CD storage is completely occupied with CDs, but this has inspired me to keep an eye out at my local flea markets and thrifts!

[@CraigHollabaugh]

Oh, that's a great upcycle. Bravo!

[@EvanMonsma]

This is awesome I'm gonna keep my eye out for CD racks now

[@Borgedesigns]

It would fit the vibe of your storage wall for sure

[@timrb]

I thought of this a while ago when I threw out a lot of CDs at work. I really didn't want to print all of that material. I like the cardboard idea.

[@mikefisher7250]

nice idea with the cardboard drawer floor insert. I love seeing 3d printing combined with other materials when creating parts.

[@davetreadwell]

This is disgustingly brilliant and i'm grumpy I didn't think of it first!

[@DanielSimu]

This idea is amazing! It's great with cd racks, but maybe it is even worth designing racks specifically for this.. and then they can work with gridfinity sizes!

[@meeknuggets4860]

This is a great idea, especially now you can usually find these piled up at thrift stores or sitting out on curbs for free. I'm sure even facebook marketplace as some kicking around for cheap or free. Even if you used a 1 or 2 KG of filament for the fully printed bins, its still probably cheaper than buying a new hardware assortment organizer.

[@its_marc]

It’s a good idea but would be better still if you could make dividers to fit into actual cd cases to do it too. Also one of the key differences between your new drawers to your old ones is the labelling which I can’t help but feel would also have been achievable on the old ones!

[@jurilentis5899]

0:05 yeah buddy, sure. Keep talking, mister inventer, tell me what you invented. I tried every option, 3dprinted or not. give it to me. 0:12 OH THAT BRILLIANT I THINK I STILL HAVE A BIG RACK COLLECTING DUST SOMEWHERE, YOU'RE A DAMN GENIUS! It took you 7 seconds to sell it to me.

[@chuckmakesit]

Oh I like this idea a lot. I've planned on getting baking racks for a commercial kitchen as a project storage system as it's the same concept, but larger. Hadn't occurred to me to scale it down.

[@NicksStuff]

Genius! And I have the exact same CD rack!!!

[@DaveEtchells]

Brilliant ideas, first using the trapped cardboard for the bottoms, and second the idea of stacking them!

[@brad3378]

I have a similar setup for larger stuff in my garage. I purchased a commercial kitchen baking rack on wheels. It is about 6 feet tall and can hold up to 20 full-size sheet pans. If I'm tearing down an engine, I can keep the parts organized and adjust shelf height on the fly by skipping rows.

[@tmbcyt]

First! Love the print stacking method, will have to try it out myself

[@IzoFoxUA]

WOW! I think it's a new life for CDs storages.

[@essexmirage]

This is superb I'm gutted got rid of 3 of these units at a boot sale about 4 years back now 😮

[@josephs2581]

it's so funny to me - you've stumbled upon the system Jer Schmidt built, but scaled down! love it! wild how these ideas repeat 🎉😊

[@tinkertv]

That's very smart! Good job!

[@mapexlegend]

Nice job but the bigger question is what is that drill press and where do i get one?!

[@theboredcreative]

That is just plain excellent!

[@astropgn]

It is a cool project. It is just not better than the solutions you had before. Before you had lots of boxes with parts and some of then were never used. Now you will have CD drawers, and it is probable that in the future you'll have some drawers with things you never use. I liked it, I just don't think it changes a lot.

[@workinprogress9483]

i love this, might make this but modify it slightly to attach the drawer bottom after the print, as my ender 3 doesn't reliably pause

[@theaussienurseflipper.8113]

Gr8 idea cheers Graham

[@Likeaudio]

Very impressive stuff. ❤

[@DIYTinkerer]

I like the idea, but why not just design a gridfinity grid for CD racks? Best of both worlds?

[@bruce-le-smith]

that's a great idea, thank you

[@brianmi40]

Fine for repurposing, but most have already either tossed these when the CDs went, or are still using them. Just a double wide CD storage rack on Amazon is $18 on Prime. You can do much better and have better transportability. I bought the Storehouse Harbor Freight portable parts cases (yellow and black w built in handle). Then just custom 3D print bins of desired sizes based upon the part sizes, dividing the given storage space sizes down (or up) as needed. When you buy several, you can simply start by rearranging them to put for example all the tiny bins into the case that will get all the tiny screws or bits and bobs, and the larger bins in the case for that size of parts. Do them a bit like Gridfinity so that you have a label space for each tiny bin at the top back, and a curved bottom front to easily slide small parts up and out, and you've got latching cases w parts that you can grab-N-go to where the work needs to be done with no risk of spilling on the way. I put short wood screws in one, medium in another, longer ones in another, same thing with bolt sizes. Label the handles facing forward with silver indelible pen, and when stacked you know which one to grab to immediately to have a range of sizes for about any task. Also, try putting all your power and types of hand tools in separate HF tool bags. One bag per tool gets my dremel and bit case in one bag, another my oscillating multi-tool and cutters in that bag, another bag with battery drill(s) and batteries, another with plumbing fittings and pipe dope, another with tin snips and shears for metal work, etc. etc. One JOB or TOOL per bag and you can label them and just GO.

[@Richard_uk]

I really like this. Personally I think the cardboard just adds a level of complexity that isn't needed. I think DVD storage could be the way to go if you want gridfinity compatibility

[@bakingsalads]

where'd you get that drill press? it's adorable

[@ladislavseps4801]

Hmm gridfinity is 42x42mm, CDs are 142x125mm ~ 3.3x2.9 grids. Film/game boxes are 135x170mm which is 3.2x4 grids, which would be perfect 3x4 grids with 2x4mm spacing for rails. Problem is that film racks works by showing spine on the outside and that is wrong orientation. There were racks with metal sides with plastic top&bottom that should be modifiable?

[@niceatpingpong]

Echoing what others have said, supporting a mechanism to place in the bottom layer after the printing is finished would be helpful. I'm thinking that since the bottom is cardboard, leaving a gap under the corners that allows the users to slightly bend the cardboard enough to just slip it under the corners might be helpful. I'm also wondering if it might be possible to print the sides individually and have the sides clip into the corners. I might try to prototype this, it seems easy enough to whip up in tinkercad lol.

[@ccr12345productions]

i've been working on something very similar to this, using gridfinity bins and printed racks, i think you'd really like it so once i get it a little more refined i'll upload it and link it in a reply under this comment

[@petro1986]

I'm sure something near identical could be done with a DVD organiser as well (though both my CD/DVD collections are occupying all my CD/DVD holders)

[@Joshplv]

I appreciate the though of trying to optimize the design so it uses less filament as possible, I can see how some people can afford an justify just printing the whole thing but the one thing that usually puts me off these types of the printed storage systems are the amount of filament and not to mention time to print! Will also definitely be keeping this in mind for when I'm also designing stuff for printing. Also whats that cute little drill press it looks very nice.

[@IvanNedostal]

They can also be made from wood. 3D printer is too big of a bottleneck. It is possible to make all parts shown in the video with basic handheld wood working tools in just 2 hours (prep and cleaning too). Stacking multiple pieces of wood and doing one cut for 8 pieces at once, is totally different thinking then buying eight 3D printers / stacking it in model. For me, 3D printers are excellent for prototyping, but too slow for end product.

[@Joshplv]

@OskarHersch That might be the case for you but for me, if I were to make this, I would still take the 3D printed route since I wouldn't need that many and it would still be easier faster and cleaner.

[@ronin97]

I just discovered you now.. wow I found another tasty channel :P you remind me of Evan Mosma.. PS the beautiful drill at 3:33 did you do it? I don't see any wires it's interesting :)

[@barrettdent405]

Nice concept. At least the idea of changing the drawer size for parts sorters. I might be inclined to go in the opposite direction for a solution. Print the rail sides and make routed out wooden “drawers” (trays.) Opening the ability to make rounded bottoms with ball end mills to easily go after tiny parts.

[@Roobotics]

For the problem with inconsistent adhesion to the cardboard due to dips that make it be out of contact, make sure the first layers there are nothing but a grid of straight lines one way then the other, avoid any turns and just let the plastic droop onto the surface to take up the mechanical slack. Or intentionally crank the extrusion multiplier for that layer, if anything it might help there be a better seal at the bottom so parts don't slide under the dividers. Good ideas all around though!

[@Ernzt8]

Smart idea!

[@vader6972]

refused to label the drawers... then labeled the trays griped about divider inserts...then proceeded to 3d print a bunch of divider inserts

[@dollygrice677]

Brilliant. What if you printed a rack of your own design to accommodate the size trays you prefer?

[@timmiedinkelberg656]

This is an awesome idea

[@CottonTailJoe]

This is accession if the mind and soul.

[@TartarSource5335]

Nice. What is the drill press thing? I haven't seen anything quite like it before.

[@PunaJussi]

This is brilliant! Unfortunately all the cd-trays got rid of ten years ago.

[@nickmcalinden5661]

So good.

[@handmademania1]

love it!

[@joshfa5526]

Hey Chris. What camera setup are you using to shoot your videos? They look amazing!

[@revvrav]

this is pretty cool, but whats that little drill press thing?

[@OrgLikeaPro]

Nice idea! ❤️ One of the downsides of Gridfinity's wired 42mm system.

[@unionse7en]

use cd cases and print adapters for them....

[@gregzambo6693]

Great idea, but I'm still using mine. The joke is they were really cheap to buy back when I got mine but now . . . . can't find any more.

[@thenamelessone123]

Any storage that can't be immediately seen is bad storage - that's why transparent fridge doors are the best

[@Actio83]

Love the idea, but is the bases strong enough?

[@monsterpartywars2018]

Who makes that miniature drill press? It’s gorgeous!

[@aterxter3437]

Did you try a gridfinity drawer ? It could really unveil some potential

[@tonycosta3302]

Just scale Gridfinity parts to 90% in your slicer. And make your frame design that much larger so you can scale both simultaneously.

[@kotqrka]

This is genious! About gridfinity compatibility: can you just make "drawers" longer, didn't you? They will be longer than supports, but the strength might be sufficient to support the whole "drawer".

[@arcadealchemist]

prinnt a prototyupe make a negative with silicone Pour resin cast for the rest. to insure Strength?

[@nilsirrah7672]

Another good trick to save time is to just simply print it normally but set the bottom layers to 0. The concept of inserting cards is cool but manual interventions are not everyone's cup of tea. Also, you can really do some damage on your printers if the card somehow lifts up without you knowing.

[@terrylambert8149]

I miss my old yahoo and AOL coaster sets they would give away .

[@jakelilevjen9766]

Are those Citadel paint pots I see?

[@tsuyoshihorigome]

good idea

[@mildmannered1086]

Essentially a mini IKEA wardrobe… where you can put shelves wherever

[@daverobertson8399]

You can probably remove the guide rails and reposition them to be wider, in order to create gridfinity sized inserts. They are probably just glued to the wooden frame.

[@hollyingraham3980]

What wooden frame? Whole thing is one chunk of plastic.

[@daverobertson8399]

@@hollyingraham3980 oh, the ones I have are a wooden box and the rails are plastic positioned between the wood. We've removed the plastic on a few of these over the year.

[@xrayjoe]

Cool idea. Wish I didn't toss all my CD racks years ago...lol

[@IvanNedostal]

Well, you can make racks with different widths now. You are no longer locked in by proprietary technology. 😉

[@convolution223]

the cost of the filament is probably more than just getting more storage.

[@mastermaker666]

Kinda wish this WAS a viable option but these days you basically have to luck out and trip over a rack at a goodwill/flea-market or some such to even find them as they are impossible to find anywhere else, which leaves printing a router-base with an of-set lip to rout out grooves in something, or printing the sides of the rack to glue on a plat(/cheap laminate flooring plank likely the best/cheapest option for either route)......................

[@Leadvest]

I felt the same way about Clive's disposable v*pe lithium battery salvage video, but I did eventually come across some in the wild, and I've used them to repair various things. Saving a tenner here and there is nice. Impatience will cost you money, but scavenging will cost you progress. I feel like organizer design adequately strikes a middle ground for that where there's no real urgency, but the quality matters a lot.

[@youtubeviewer7077]

Aliexpress and Amazon have some similar-ish types for sale. Some for games/cartridges as well, which would work but are different sizes obviously.

[@youtubeviewer7077]

@@Leadvest still haven't seen a single one in Canada. I think they're something like $40 each so nobody uses them and instead of uses the re-fillable/re-chargeable ones or just regular smokes. It could also be that people here just don't chuck them on the street and instead dispose of them properly, not sure.

[@Leadvest]

Yeah, it's pretty rare even in my neck of Canada, and the culture is especially rough that way(bitter money) here in particular.

[@bluedragontoybash2463]

nice .. unfortunately I dont have a CD shelves

[@Jvpit3rr]

I can’t find a organizer like that

[@janhavranek7102]

Geniální 👍👍👏👏

[@AlanoDantas]

I hope Adam Savage sees this, looks like his kinda of thing too 😄

[@imdeaded]

I did this also. But these shelves are hard to come by. So i 3d pri ted them.

[@Everfalling]

are DVD racks any bigger in width such as to fit a gridfinity layout?

[@EnlightenedSavage]

DVD and cd are the exact same size

[@ytsgb]

@@EnlightenedSavage CD cases and DVD cases are different sizes.

[@btodoroff]

Interesting system with the card, but wouldn't it be easier to just glue the bottom on after printing?

[@Borgedesigns]

Could be setup for that for sure but I find encasing it will get me cleaner results than trying to align and glue parts.

[@Miniscapes515]

I immediately thought of gridfinity when i seen this

[@darthjump]

4:15 told me everzthing i need to know.

[@davetreadwell]

ceee deee? Are they not those shiny things gardeners use to scare away birds? ;)

[@elCeVeZ]

what about 90% gridfinity?

[@OpIsForNoobs]

I am a bot, and I approve of this video.

[@Palozon]

Making custom racks with the right dimensions for gridfinity would be easy with more conventional fabrication. I know the 3d print crowd usually stays in their lane but cutting the grooves the trays sit in into a panel to make the racks would be dead easy with a router table. Not even CNC, this is all very conventional shelf/cabinet making. Make the rack conventionally and save the 3d printing for the trays.

[@MASTERofDESASTER62]

Your first claim is wrong though. You don't need a drawer for every part. The drawers clearly have separator slide tabs so you can add 2 walls into each drawer, making it possible to store 3 types of parts in one drawer.

[@rkan2]

VHS cases for larger items? 😅

[@anachartetoletier8115]

Cardboard dimensions pleaaaaase :)

[@kaeptnkrunch9212]

What kind of watch do you wear at 1:19?

[@Borgedesigns]

Thats my "terminal" watch which is a printed mod for a casio. Look at the Macuum former video from the other week if you want to see how to make one.

[@kaeptnkrunch9212]

@@Borgedesigns thank you very much. I will definitely build this, looks amazing 😍

[@Codex_of_Wisdom]

Hah, my brain immediately went to "how can I merge this with gridfinity" as well. Pity that the dimensions are so far apart. Hmm.

[@Borgedesigns]

Its so close, 8mm wider drawers or 8mm narrower gridfinity would be a perfect fit. It would work in a 2x3, but it wastes almost 1/3 of the space which was a letdown for me.

[@kwonekstrom2138]

Sounds like a good use for my cnc…

[@adamnowak8876]

Not the best idea but surely clever

[@mak4374]

Sorry but kinda reminds me of the ol' Steve Martin joke: "How to be a millionaire and pay no taxes. First...get a million dollars..." In this case, "First...get a 3d printer..."

[@armorclasshero2103]

This can be done with cheap metal flashing and an aluminum break

[@woutervossebeld4664]

looks cool, you could combine this with gridfinity as well! Its a modular storage system that already has tons of premade boxes and holders. Also your inserts at 0:40 are for injection moulding, they arent super strong in 3d prints.