Small Part Storage
Having picked up some small electronic repair projects over the course of the pandemic, the number of small parts floating about my workspace has reached a ridiculous level. What you see in the title image for this post is some of the parts that go into Nintendo Switch products - mostly their JoyCon controllers, although there are a couple parts that belong to their Pro Controller or the console itself in here.
Even if we group up all the Nintendo Switch parts and say they are all represented by the photo above, looking at the pile of "unfinished" projects behind me that still leaves out similar collections for:
- Nintendo 3DS/2DS Models
- Nintendo 64
- Nintendo SNES
- Nintendo Wii
- Nintendo WiiU
- Microsoft Xbox One
- Microsoft Xbox 360
- Sony Playstation 3
- Sony Playstation 4
- Apple iPods
Including consoles, controllers, cables, and whatever else gets thrown into returned/damaged goods lots on occasion.
So with the list above, one solution would be to buy 10 more "small parts containers" and dedicate one to each console/type of device. This is definitely a viable option, however it has a few drawbacks. One, these containers can be expensive. Two, they all have a limited number of containers. Sure I could buy different sizes for different containers, but based on my searches there is no company that offers a standardized style of different sized containers in this layout. I could have gone with standing bins for each component instead, but the size of the bins never feels right for these types of components.
So I have decided to make my own.
A couple notes on this project:
- Results will be 3D printed with an FDM printer
- I expect to spend a few days working on and revising the designs (~100 hours)
- I expect to log a couple hundred hours of printer time
A single "unit" will have a defined size (80mm x 80mm x 160mm for example), and should be scaleable in either direction by creating components that are multiple "unit" sizes. The drawers that fit into the frame components optionally can be broken into multiple segments and the whole thing should fit together nicely without falling apart.
So this marks the kick-off of the documented progress on these storage grid components. Once completed the source files will be made available, and updates on progress will be made available as they are ready.