Washable small parts basket for Sterilite 6 qt tub

[GrooveStranger]

I have some small parts that I frequently need to soak in a cleaning solution, followed by a good rinse. Trying to rinse them all without the small parts going down the drain is a drag… plus the cleaning solution starts as a powder, and you don’t want any aluminum parts to sit on the powder lest they get pitted.

Solution: a parts basked with drain holes, and little feet to keep it off the bottom of the vessel so the parts stay away from the powder as it dissolves. The basket is about 10"x5"x3", and sized to fit inside the Sterilite 6 qt tub that I had on hand.

Parts Basket for Sterilite 6 qt tub.zip (7.3 KB)

It’s made from Chemcast acrylic, .120" thick, but this material cuts well with Proofgrade Thin Acrylic settings. Kerf on this design is set to .006 with gives a loose fit–you will need to use glue if you make one. I used a box generator for the basic shape and then added some new shapes to make feet at the corners.

Bonus Illustrator Tip
I knew there had to be a smart way to make a big array of evenly-spaced circles. The Internet provided this tip, which introduced me to 2 cool new Illustrator tools.

[cynd11]

What an awesome idea! I think a basket like this would also be very useful for an ultrasonic cleaner. You could make one that fits the cleaner well exactly.

Thanks for the design!

[Jules]

Nice share!

[pltmarket]

Thanks for sharing the Illustrator Tip! New to the whole Illustrator world and…MIND BLOWN!

[PrintToLaser]

Nice solution!

@cynd11,
My ultrasonic cleaner warns against having anything rest on the bottom of the tank, that it’s hard on the transducer and reduces the effectiveness.
That design could be easily modified though with extensions off the top edges to rest on the top edges of the tank and suspend the basket.

[kjsmith1026]

Great Illustrator tip - I wish I had known that when I made a wall mounted earring holder - so many holes I had to line up. Thank you!

And great basket idea too.

[cynd11]

Good point!