Simple tool tray for dial calipers

1250 Views 14 Replies 7 Participants Last post by Gaffboat, Feb 10, 2021

Gaffboat

Discussion Starter · Feb 7, 2021 (Edited by Moderator)

I use two dial calipers in my shop (one is fractional), and getting them in and out of their original storage boxes was alway inconvenient. So, I finally got around to making a shallow MDF tray to keep them in place in one of my shop drawers. Sometimes the CNC makes little shop projects simple, and straightforward. I don’t know how I would have completed this without using the CNC.

(Sorry for the duplicate images. I can't seem to figure out this new forum system.)

See less See more

3

Reactions: 5

1 - 15 of 15 Posts

difalkner

· #2 · Feb 7, 2021

Photos aren't working, Oliver. How can I assist?

David

Gaffboat

Discussion Starter · #3 · Feb 7, 2021

difalkner said:
Photos aren't working, Oliver. How can I assist?

David

Are they there now? I can see them in my browser, but there are duplicates.

Reactions: 1

difalkner

· #4 · Feb 7, 2021

Yes sir, they're showing and that's a great solution! I'll remove the duplicates.

Probably the easiest way to place photos is to drag and drop them into this field, one at a time.

David

Reactions: 1

DesertRatTom

· #5 · Feb 7, 2021

Nice. However, it Barb were still here, I bet she'd do it manually. This looks like a very good idea for all those very odd shaped tools that float in drawers.

Gaffboat

Discussion Starter · #6 · Feb 7, 2021

difalkner said:
Yes sir, they're showing and that's a great solution! I'll remove the duplicates.

Probably the easiest way to place photos is to drag and drop them into this field, one at a time.

David

Thanks, David.

Reactions: 1

TenGees

· #7 · Feb 8, 2021

Nice. Did you have to design the shape yourself or is there 'clipart' for this sort of thing, Oliver?

Gaffboat

Discussion Starter · #8 · Feb 8, 2021

TenGees said:
Nice. Did you have to design the shape yourself or is there 'clipart' for this sort of thing, Oliver?

The design took a little more work than I expected, Paul. First, I tried scanning the tools so I could use the photo as a template. Scanning left too many shadows to make it worthwhile. So I laid the calipers on paper and just drew around them with a pencil. I scanned the drawing and used it as my guide, creating the vectors in V Carve by drawing basic shapes and merging them. Conveniently, although the two calipers are from different manufacturers, their size and shape are almost identical, so I only needed to create one outline.

Once I had the outline created, I exported the vectors to Adobe Illustrator so I could print them out at actual size. When I laid the calipers on the printout, I could see where I needed to make some adjustments. Once those were done, the job was run on the CNC with no issues, and the calipers fit in the tray perfectly. I took much longer for the design than it did for the cutting.

See less See more

Reactions: 3

papasombre

· #9 · Feb 9, 2021

I Like the dogs bench in the second picture, Prof. Henry.
Are they homemade?

Gaffboat

Discussion Starter · #10 · Feb 9, 2021

papasombre said:
I Like the dogs bench in the second picture, Prof. Henry.
Are they homemade?

Yes, they are made from 3/4" baltic birch plywood.

Reactions: 1

DesertRatTom

· #11 · Feb 9, 2021

Oliver, Barb sent me a surprise email yesterday and told me specifically to say hello to you. She's not been doing much lately because it's so cold in Michigan.

Reactions: 1

RainMan 2.0

· #12 · Feb 10, 2021

Great idea . I love organizing tools like this ,and feel the same way about the cases they come in.
someone already beat me to how you made the vector .

tomp913

· #13 · Feb 10, 2021

Great idea, also have the top caliper and agree that it is a PITA to remove from the case (short of turning the upside down and shaking it). Don't have a CNC but thinking that I can cut a corner of the sheet of 1/4" MDF I have lying around and cut the outline in it and then glue to a bottom layer.

Gaffboat

Discussion Starter · #14 · Feb 10, 2021 (Edited)

tomp913 said:
Great idea, also have the top caliper and agree that it is a PITA to remove from the case (short of turning the upside down and shaking it). Don't have a CNC but thinking that I can cut a corner of the sheet of 1/4" MDF I have lying around and cut the outline in it and then glue to a bottom layer.

Yep. Good idea. An alternate method would be to make two layers as you suggest. You could cut the outline with a scroll saw into some 1/4" thick material and glue to a bottom piece, to complete the tray.

Gaffboat

Discussion Starter · #15 · Feb 10, 2021

DesertRatTom said:
Oliver, Barb sent me a surprise email yesterday and told me specifically to say hello to you. She's not been doing much lately because it's so cold in Michigan.

I'm happy to hear you heard from Barb, Tom. She's missed by all of us. Too cold in Michigan? Uh oh, does the dreaded "I-word" apply to her shop? Is she like a member, who shall go unnamed (but whose first initials rhyme with RainMan), and is known for lack of environmental temperature control materials in his shop walls?

Reactions: 1

1 - 15 of 15 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.