Efficient and Good-looking Food Waste Bin

What is shown above, is a solution to help you recycle, while keeping your work area sleek and good-looking. Whilst this is designed in Autodesk Fusion 360, it is made to ensure ease of 3D printing, or manufacturing out of other materials, such as chipboard or MDF. The product has simple measurements to follow when creating, and the STL file is attached, as well as the measurements for the receptacle. I have tried to explain each step to the best of my ability, and hopefully can encourage some of you to create this or another version of this yourself! Whilst this is fixing a niche issue that I have, I believe that this household item can make your cooking experience just a tiny bit more enjoyable.

Currently, without manufacturing:

• Free Autodesk Fusion 360 account

For 3D Printing (5% infill)

• ~200 grams of any coloured filament (your choice!)
• Around 20 hours of print time

To start creating the shape, I have drawn a 150mm by 150mm rectangle in a create sketch. In the same sketch, I have used the fillet tool to give my shape smooth, aesthetic curves, which is the main point of this product. The fillet (as shown in the image) uses 40-degree radius curves. Once again, this could be changed to make it smaller or bigger - your preference is the only thing that decides simple design choices!

After finishing the sketch, I used the extrude tool, which makes the flat 2D plane 3D. Whilst I could make this product complicated, I have decided to try to keep it as simplistic as possible, to maintain the sleek and minimalistic design that I was aiming for. I extruded the sketch by 100mm (10cm), however, you could customise this bin by changing the sketch dimensions, or by changing the hight or fillet strength shown later on.

This step is how the solid 3D object becomes hollow. By using the shell function, you can create a border around the outside of the bin. In the image, it is shown that I have selected the top face of the box, and have created a 12 mm shell around the body. This creates the primary bin shape.

In this step, I have chosen to use the fillet tool, to create a 25mm fillet around all of the edges. This creates a smooth inside for the bin, which allows it to be smooth. To do this, select the fillet tool and the inside face, which fillets both the inside top edge and the edge inside of the shell function.

For this step, I have precisely selected the two sharpest edges (the bottom and the top) and have created a 5 mm fillet all around the outside edge of both the top and the bottom. I have done this to improve ergonomics, in safety concerns, if you choose to construct this bin out of a sharper material such as metal.

This is the final step of the process, however not necessary if you are creating the product in real life. I have decided not to create this product because I do not have the resources to create such a thing. To render a body, you have to go to the top tab of Fusion 360 (labelled design) and a drop-down should appear. Once you select the 'Render' tool, you will be able to create a shadow. If you click the letter 'A' on your keyboard, then you can change the colour or 'appearance' of the product. I have chosen dark navy blue because I think it enhances the design.