Thick clear acrylic "Shower Shelf"

I’ve been making mildly decorative but extremely useful (if not mundane) things as of late – some the things I ordered my :glowforge: for in the first place. :wink:

One of those things was something that is just too big for any of my 3D printers: a shelf for in the shower to keep shampoo bottles and what-not off the Corian shelf, in an effort to help it dry and not retain soap residue.

The first one I made was the largest thing I have made – an 18"-long x 5.5" deep shelf using the medium acrylic. I love that I can cut big things. I put vertical supports at both end and one in the middle. While it’s working great, it has a bit too much bounce to feel that it will last with heavy Lush bottles.

So I ordered some :proofgrade: Thick Clear Acrylic and made a 12"-long x 5.5" deep version, with the plan on making two for even more space than the original.

Here are some pics of the thick acrylic shelf, along with the evidence of me getting waaaay too much acrylic welding glue all over the joins. It is definitely more sturdy than the medium acrylic shelf, and should hold up fine.

Note that I do “sign” the pieces I make and use around the house – just a “W” and the two-digit year. It engraved nicely. :slight_smile:

I did the design in Fusion 360, exporting as DXF, importing into Inkscape for coloring inner cuts and adding text to engrave. The curve of the bottom of the side supports on this version didn’t import so I had to redraw them with less flowing smoothness of curve than the original. There is also a 1-degree slope from back to front to aid in subtle water flow. I did NOT adjust for kerf as I knew I’d be gluing it all together and didn’t care. :wink:

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Looks great! I love the functionality of the slope and the drain holes.:blush:

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A person after my own heart. Designing practical stuff in F360. Keep up the good work.

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I love functional stuff! Thanks for sharing!

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Very good idea. :sunglasses:

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I was wondering when you mentioned wanting to do something to prevent water buildup if you would slope it. That is so slight that it was hard to tell from just looking at the photos. Great idea though! And you have a ton of room in your shower…I could not put that in mine! ha ha. I also like the curve in the legs…that’s a nice touch. I know you said it didn’t turn out like you originally wanted, but I like it.

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Nicely done!

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Indeed. The existing Corian shelf these sit on is also sloped ever so slightly (not enough to run off, though) so these add just a little bit extra. It’s barely noticeable looking at it, but so far they’ve worked quite well.

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I should mention that since the slope is so minimal and not really apparent, I needed a way to distinguish front from back – which way do the legs go so the slope is correct. So the easiest way is to make the supports asymmetrical, thus the wave-like motif.

The smoothness in the curve where it joins up at the straight edged bottom is where I notice a difference. But that’s only because I know what it started as. I’m too nit-picky. :wink:

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Stylish, sturdy, and functional - nice work. Thanks for show(er)ing us!

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