I made this cardboard prototype first, and was surprised when it held up to the weight of the paint.
The only real changes I made based on the prototype were to round off the front corners and adjust the depth of the paintbrush holes.
Designed in OpenScad, it’s sorta parametric (width can change…limited to 4 rows right now). I’ll be releasing the openscad file on thingiverse (attribution non-commercial) eventually.
The cardboard prototype is standing in for my 2nd rack which I still need to cut/assemble, but so far the cardboard has held up relatively well to the weight. Tentatively planning on hinges with a removable pin on one side so that I can carry it as a single box to/from the Ikea KALLAX and then fold them out double wide when painting miniatures.
Cardboard is amazingly sturdy stuff I love the hinge idea. If you made the lower holes for the paintbrushes smaller (and they may be already) then you could put the brushes in point side down after cleaning so the water doesn’t mess with the glue holding the bristles in.
I’ve use a lot of different tools, including OpenScad. If you are already comfortable with languages like JavaScript, go for it. You’ll like OpenScad. However, for something more hands on and less coding, check out Cuttle. It’s web-based and they are adding new features all the time.
I only recommend OpenScad for people who are already familiar with a programming language of some sort. It is basically a textual description of solid objects that allows you to parameterize things with variables. [For example, I can re-create the design with different sized tabs and tab-holes based upon a “materialThickness” variable, or change the size of my holes with a “holeDia” variable and everything else in the design “flows” to change.
I keep wanting to do something like this for D&D cards, with a “draw” section, a “played” or maybe even “played on whom” section. You encourage me to get busy.
@techquest89 — just seconding that if you’re looking into OpenScad then you might also be interested in Cuttle. You can use it as a traditional vector drawing tool (like Illustrator or Inkscape) and then optionally add parameters (materialThickness, holeSpacing, etc) for controlling your shapes. Here’s a video intro to working with parameters.
You can see some of the things people have made and shared here: Cuttle - Explore
I’m happy to answer any questions over DM. (I am co-founder of Cuttle.)
@jay Love the paint rack, especially how you alternate the circles and scallop the edges of each row for a tighter fit. The smaller paintbrush holes are nice too!
Agreed! Almost all of my 3D prints are designed in OpenScad, especially since Fusion360 hamstrung the free tier. It’s great for 3D. I started using it for 2D as well for anything that needed parameters. That is until I found Cuttle, which you can also code in if you really want to. I haven’t gone back to OpenScad for 2D.
That looks great! I’ve just been stacking mine on an old dvd rack, and then putting the ones I want to take upstairs when I paint stuff while watching tv, into a basket. It’s a pain in the neck!
Laser cut the 2nd one (you might notice that I centered the tabs on the rear to make it symmetrical…). I also combined the two racks into a single storage box with geared hinges, such that you can pull one pin and fold the box out into the racks, or remove both pins and have two independent racks. The video shows the operation better…