3D printing is a fantastic hobby that opens so many doors, including giving you the ability to stop buying storage for your workshop. Instead, here are five workshop organizers that you can easily 3D print this weekend.
Customizable parametric drawer organizers
There’s never the right size drawer organizers at the store anyway
Credit: Patrick Campanale / How-To Geek
I don’t know about you, but I have a ton of different drawer organizer size requirements that I can just never find when I’m shopping for bins at the store. The pre-made ones only come in a few sizes, and it’s never the ones I need.
That’s why I like 3D printing the drawer organizers I use in my workshop. I’ve personally started using the Gridfinity system, which allows the bins to be various sizes and lock into a grid at the bottom of the drawer, but still be removable when I need them to be.
3D printing drawer organizers is probably one of the lengthiest and most tedious parts of workshop organization, but it’s also one of the most satisfying to see complete. I love opening the one drawer that I’ve mostly completed organizing and seeing it neat and tidy, and it makes me want to finally finish the rest of the drawers in the shop.
Related
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Another 3D printing term you should understand.
Wall hooks for extension cords and hoses
Why go to the store for hooks when you can print your own in an hour?
Credit: Patrick Campanale / How-To Geek
I can never find an extension cord when I need it, so I finally decided to 3D print some wall hooks to hang them from. These hooks take about an hour each to print on my Bambu Lab P1S, and they come out great. I upped them to 3 walls for slightly more structural rigidity, and printed them from PLA or PLA Silk.
Hooks like these are extremely versatile. While I plan to use them for extension cords and hoses, they really work for almost anything. I could see using them to not just store hoses or cords, but also run hoses or cords along a wall from one place to another to keep them off the ground.
If you’ve ever used those thin metal hooks from the store, then these 3D printed ones would work just as well, if not better, for most applications. Plus, there are a number of designs out there in all shapes and sizes to fit whatever application you need.
I can never find good garden tool hooks at the store anyway
Credit: Patrick Campanale / How-To Geek
The above hooks are really designed for things in the shop that can hang from a single point. If you have shovels, rakes, or other garden tools that need two points of contact, then a specialized hook is perfect for that.
Right now, I have my shovels hanging on random hooks from Harbor Freight, and they’re a bear to try and get off or put back on. So, I’m excited to have 3D-printed hooks designed for that purpose specifically. It’s going to help organize the shop so much more.
There are also hook options for things like leaf blowers, weed eaters, and other lawn tools besides shovels and rakes, making 3D printing extremely versatile when it comes to workshop organization.
Allen wrench/hex key organizers
There’s no need to buy Allen wrenches when you have a drawer full of them already
Credit: Feng | MakerWorld
Most furniture these days comes with an Allen (hex) wrench or two in the package. If you’re anything like me, then those hex wrenches just get tossed into a drawer with no semblance of organization.
Instead of going to the store and buying a new set of hex keys next time, I plan to just 3D print an organizer which has slots for each size hex key and has each one labeled. It resembles the Allen wrench sets you can buy at the store but just uses your own hardware and 3D printer to make it essentially for free.
Socket organizers
It costs a few cents in plastic to make sure your 10mm socket never goes missing again
Credit: WallyMike | MakerWorld
I don’t know about you, but I’m constantly losing my sockets, especially my 10mm. Where they all go, I have no idea. I’ve thought about buying socket organizers many times before, but they’re just so expensive.
Harbor Freight, my go-to for things like this, charges around $20 for a single socket organizer, and I just can’t bring myself to spend that. Not when I have so many sockets to organize.
So, I found a model on MakerWorld that gives me exactly what I want—organized and labeled sockets for the Gridfinity system. The best part is it costs less than $2 to print, and that’s when using Bambu’s own filament. I typically buy cheaper filament from SUNLU, which means my cost will be even less.
3D printing my own socket organizers also means I can use whatever color scheme I want. I can have SAE be one color, metric be another color, 6 point be yet a third color, and 12 point be a fourth color. The fact that I can customize the organizers this much, and it costs me a fraction of what I’d spend at the store, makes 3D printing perfect for this type of application.
Build Volume
256x256x256mm
Printing Speed
600mm/s
Brand
Bambu Lab
Max Hot End Temp
300C
Max Bed Temp
110C
Nozzle
Hardened 0.4mm
The Bambu Labs P2S 3D printer is ready to go out of the box and can have you printing within 15 minutes. It features up to 20-color printing with the AMS unit, has an upgraded built-in camera for remote monitoring and time lapses, and has an enclosed body for printing even high-temperature filament.
Brand
FlashForge
Build Volume
220x220x220mm
Connectivity
Wi-Fi, USB, Ethernet
Dimensions
16″D x 14″W x 18″H
Weight
24.25 Pounds
Top Print Speed
300mm/s
The FlashForge AD5X 3D printer is one of the most affordable multi-color 3D printers on the market. It features a built-in 4-spool auto filament changer built right into the side of the unit—no external accessory required. With an open frame, you can easily print materials like PLA, PETG, and many others. It offers 1-click auto leveling, prints at up to 600mm/s, and comes with a pre-installed 0.4mm nozzle with the option to swap it out for a 0.25mm, 0.6mm, or 0.8mm nozzle depending on what your needs are.
The workshop organization opportunities are endless with a 3D printer
I’ve highlighted five ways to organize your workshop this weekend above, but it’s just scratching the surface. In addition to all five things above, I also plan to 3D print things like sandpaper organization, router bit organization, drill bit storage, and so much more.
If you can think of it, someone has probably already designed an organizer for it. So, hit MakerWorld, Printables, Thingiverse, or whatever 3D model website you like to browse and get that workshop organized this weekend!
