Creating The Best Tool Hanger and Battery Holder
- Requirements
1. Must be very durable and strong.
2. Hold both the tool and battery at the same time.
3. Be able to attach to one another in a row.
4. Be able to mix and match brands with ultimate flexibility.
5. Look good and have accent colors to match tool brands.
Durable and Strong
- What plastic to use?
- I started with PLA as most 3d printing enthusiasts do for it's ease of printing and it's nontoxic properties. I had a bunch of prints in my family vehicle made out of PLA and PLA+ on a vacation to Florida. They all wilted and deformed in the interior of the van in the hot Florida sunshine and I knew that PLA / PLA+ wasn't going to cut it in a demanding environment. After doing a ton of research and reading I settled on PETG. PETG has very good wear resistance, doesn't give off toxic fumes when printing and has a higher heat tolerance before deforming than PLA or PLA+. It is also UV, chemical and water resistant.
- Testing
- It turns out that PETG is not as simple to print as PLA or PLA+. Treatment of the filament is super important. I had no idea what I was doing and after many frustrating prints and lots of reading on reddit I figured out a process that worked. Now for the testing phase. I wanted to push the concept for strength and see what it was capable of. I asked some friends to put my holders in their construction trailers / service trucks and "bounce them around a bit". The test results weren't always pretty but they showed me where strength needed to be added. I kept tweaking and editing until they finally started to hold up to the punishment of real-life conditions.
Hold the battery and the tool at the same time
- I wanted the tool and battery to be able to be individually removed with just one hand. By inverting the tool I was able to solve the issue of the tool "bouncing off" of the hanger without any additional retention needed. However, since the battery was mounted horizontally it needed to have a retention system to keep it in place. This was one of the hardest parts in the design up to this point. So much measuring and test printing but after it was finalized the batteries "snapped" into place with a satisfying click.
Be Able to attach holders to each other in a row
- I wanted to have the holders evenly spaced and in a nice neat row when assembled. I was able to accomplish this with dovetail joints that slipped together easily. I updated the wall brackets so they also fit together so their combined holding strength was shared across the entire system. I made the wall bracket dovetails have a bit more of an interference fit than the holder bases for strength.
Be Able to Mix and Match brands with ultimate flexibility
- What if I have 1 Milwaukee tool + battery, 4 Ridgid tools + batteries and 2 Dewalt tools + batteries? I wanted 1 system that would adapt and store an excess of tool types and brands without starting another row on the shop wall. I wanted the row length to be dependent on length of wall / space not dependent upon brand. By only changing the battery holder and the tool hanger portions of each unit this was accomplished easily enough. Like the wall brackets now all the hangers worked and held together in unison via dovetail joints.
Look good!
- While this is not important for the fit or function of the device, I wanted them to look good and have accent colors to match the brand colors. I am a big Ridgid fan and I wanted that Ridgid orange to come through on my tool organization. Adding the logo to the lock plates was a natural location for a accent color. The screws attaching the unit together was another fun option. It also helped me know where a certain tool belonged in a row of mixed brands.