Tag mount

Emma’s paint collection is getting pretty big. It was impractical to find colors in her basket, so I decided to create some parametric wall-mount removable paint racks to hold her Apple Barrel paint collection.

The Tools

• Fusion 360
• Lightburn
• CO2 laser cutter
• clamps
• rubber bands

The Materials

• 5mm birch wood
• wood glue
• drywall screws

The Design

I wanted the racks to be easily removable so I made slots for the screws to easily go in at the ends of the rack. I initially made it to hold 12, but it ended up being too wide.

I would post the Lightburn/SVG/DXF files, however, the design is dependent on the thickness of the material. 1/4 inch MDF ranges from 5.5-6.3 mm. The birch I used was 5mm. Also, the laser kerf (thickness of the laser cut) even though small, may be different than your machine. To do it right, you really need to open the file in Fusion and save the sketches yourself after updating the parameters.

The design is completely parametric so the bottle diameter, height, count, and material thickness are all customizable so I can use this to hold anything else like paint cans, sauce bottles and spices, etc.

Birch wood seems to have a lot of ash when cut on the laser so I had to take a damp towel to clean off the edges otherwise the glue job is a complete mess.

Mistakes

The stock I used was slightly curved which caused distance issues with the laser’s focal point. Not a big deal, but I should add some weights next time to flatten out the stock

Rubber bands are not ideal for gluing things. After the initial prototype, I utilized some strategically placed clamps and the result was much better. Also, if the wood is slightly curved, I realized that you can use the curve to your advantage to put pressure on the connecting edges.

I previously built a minifig display case but it was big, heavy, and awkward. It also did not have a glass cover in the front and seemed to collect lots of dust, so I decided to redo it.

The Tools

• Fusion 360 / Lightburn
• 60 watt CO2 laser
• staple gun
• drill (only for pilot holes)

The Materials

• 1/4 inch MDF
• 5x3mm circular neodymium magnets
• plexiglass
• support board
• sawtooth picture frame mounts
• epoxy
• hot glue gun

The Build

I decided to make it 5 columns 4 rows of minifigs so 20 per display case. The Fusion360 design is totally parametric (I think) so I can easily adjust these to customize it.

There are 3 types of material used. 1/4 MDF for the frame and shelves, the white support board (like you get from cheap bookshelves), and plexiglass for the front cover.

I used bolts for the 4 corners of the frame. I did not want to use glue. Here you can see the notch that holds the M3 bolts.

I used neodymium magnets, 5x3mm circles, to hold the front glass together. The 1st and 3rd shelves have notches where I used epoxy to glue 4 magnets to the shelf. There are also 3mm holes cut in the plexiglass. It’s kind of weird, but works and I didn’t have to use any hinges.

I used a hot glue gun to mount the minifigs using the engraged indicators for perfect spacing!

After the first one was a success, I made 2 more. Still need another one!

I used 2 sawtooth picture frame mounts per display case to mount everything to the wall. All done!

Mistakes

• probably could have designed the frame mounts in the other direction so the frame can sit flush on a flat surface

Updates

I created another size for my 4 larger minifigs. It really tested my parametric design, which didn’t do so well so I had to make updates.

I noticed that my MDF was pretty fresh, so it was dry and also not as thick as I spec’d it out for. Also, I put the magnets in the middle, but since there is only 1 shelf, it’s a little wobbly. Going to add stoppers the top and bottom to make sure the glass sits straight.

Instead of a display case, I wanted to make a wall mount with lego pegs that my large LEGO minifig lights and clocks could sit in. They come in 2 different sizes.

I absolutely LOVE my Class 4 CO2 Laser cutter/engraver. But it definitely needs some improvements. I’ve added custom lighting, camera, and analog milliamp reader to it and needed a control panel to manage everything. I designed this as an inset panel that controls the AC lines (which are connected to a new UPS).

My 3d printer always prints a little larger. My designs need about 0.5-1mm tolerance for fittings so I printed out this flat plate to test the panel mounted switches and hole placements.

In order to save counter space, I designed a rack in Fusion 360 to cut out 1/4 inch MDF rack. The rack is designed to be mounted to the side of a cabinet, and use double sided mounting tape (along with some physics) to securely hold the bottles in place.

Yi Home cameras are inexpensive, but you can’t use them outdoors. I built this 2 piece window mount (with SVG sticker for those who have a Cricut). This project was an exercise using Fusion 360 and threads, as well as practicing assembling components which is much like assembling parts in SolidWorks.

The Tools

• 3D printer
• Cricut Maker
• Fusion 360
• Cricut Maker

The Materials

• PLA filament
• double sided mounting tape
• vinyl adhesive
• Yi Home Camera

The Design

In order for the Yi Home IR (night) lights to work, the camera must be completely touching the glass of the window you’re mounting it do. Since mounting tape comes in different thicknesses, I decided to make this 2 pieces with threads so that the depth could be adjusted.

Mount the base to a clean window with your choice of double sided mounting tape, insert the camera into the other piece, screw in the camera until you feel it press up against the glass. If you leave a gap, you will see the reflection of the infrared lights.

Here is the final 2 piece product mounted to the window. It works great! The threads are really tight, and had to do some light sanding and screw and unscrew many many times to wear down the edge a bit.