Mini Lathe Tool Organizer

This is a tool organizer for my mini lathe. I guess you already knew that from the title and pictures, but just in case someone didn't really pay attention I thought I'd repeat it. Now that we are all clear and you're still there, let's begin!

Anyone who owns such a sweet little machine knows that at some point you end up spending an equal amount of time between doing stuff and searching for the right tool to do it. Said tool is usually stored under a pile of other tools that you almost never use, and eventually it get buried soo deeply that you forget its very existence.

From my experience, I found out that tools that get the most use are generally the ones that are the most accessible. Not only because we're lazy and don't want to spend the time searching for the hidden ones, but also because we partly forget that we have them, because we don't see them that often.

So what I tried to do here was to make each and every tool visible, and make it in a way that would be both convenient to use, not too horrific to look at, easy to clean and very easy to build/modify.

I got this idea after having a look at my reamer bits. They were so deep in my drawer that I forgot I even had them. So I decided to build this thing in order to store them properly. Can you spot them on the final product? No?

Yeah, that's because I forgot them while designing the organizer. Well done, genius.

Aside from this, I've used it for a few months now and it is really nice, saves a ton of time!

Supplies list is pretty short:

• a 3D Printer
• The 3D files
• Some plastic (I used the "el classico" PLA), a little bit less than 1 kilogram
• 3 screws
• Some warm tea

Step one is to take the glass of tea and empty it in the kitchen sink.

Then replace it with a nice beer.

Now that this is done, it is time to download the 3D file. You will find it in STEP and STL format.

The STEP format is an editable format, so you can open it in any 3D design program of your choice and add some holes, remove some features, whatever you want. This way you can adapt my design and make it your own, to make sure it fits whatever tool you might have.

The STL file is a "ready to print" file, so you can just open it in your favorite slicer and send it to your printer.

It should be noted that I'm the proud owner of a gigantic printer which is able to print it in one single piece, but it is likely that you guys don't have such a magnificent machine, so you'll have to cut it in a few parts. Nothing difficult for anyone who owns a 3D printer though.

This thing features the following:

• 12 spots for the quick changing tools: 6 "normal" ones, 3 dedicated to boring tool holders and 3 dedicated to parting knives
• 16 spots for drill bits, labelled (2 per size, from 7.5mm up to 12 mm in 0.5mm increments)
• 32 spots for various cutters, in 8mm or 10mm.
• 3 spots for marker pens
• one triple spot for the second set of chuck jaws
• 5 slots for parting knives
• 4 spots for centering bits
• 9 spots for 10mm boring bars
• 1 spot for the drill chuck
• 1 spot for the centering spike
• spots for the tightening keys

All of these spots feature through holes that go from the top face up to the bottom. The reason for that is to make it easy to clean, a bit of compressed air will get rid of any metal shavings so that they won't clog the holes.

There's no cup holder right now but I'm working on it for next version.

Now it is time to print this thing.

I suggest using a large nozzle for two reasons: first one being that it makes the print a whole lot faster, and second one being that it makes the print stronger. In my case, I used a 0.8mm nozzle and a 0.4mm layer height, with 4 perimeters and a 20% infill. That was a bit overkill retrospectively, you can use a bit less plastic and save time by lowering the perimeter count as well as the infill.

To lower significantly the print time, you can print this with an empty bottom, meaning it won't print a solid surface on the bottom side, only the infill. It is not a problem at all since the bottom won't be visible and it won't affect the organizer's strenght.

In my case it took about 15 hours to print, so I had plenty of time to repeat step 1 a few times.

Once the organizer is printed let it cool down until it reaches room temperature. This is important if you want to avoid warping.

Ater that it is time to remove it from the print surface and start installing your tools properly.

After this step, take some time to admire what you've build and be proud.

Last but not least, attach it on your wall using the 3 screws.

Enjoy!

The goal of this instructable is hopefully to inspire you to do something similar for your own lathe. Obviously the tools I own might be very different from the ones you own, so it might not make much sense to copy entirely (but feel free to do so if you want). Instead, I suggest you to use the step file to make modifications, experiment, adapt it and and make it your own!

It can be made of any material, wood, plastic, metal, whatever you prefer! Just take a few hours of your time, build one and save hours and hours of boring hide and seek with your tools!

I hope this instructable was interesting to you. Please be forgiving of my English since I'm not a native speaker, I tried my best to make it understandable and hopefully entertaining, but it's probably not perfect.

If you found this instructable nice, please vote for me in the organizing contest, it would be very appreciated!

Thanks for your time!