5 Gallon Dry Box

This is a guide on how to convert a 5 gallon bucket into an air-tight dry-box that you can also print directly from. 

I came up with this idea after finding that none of the other printable dry-box solutions held enough filament, they were either only printable or only air-tight, or were too expensive. An entire assembled 5 gallon dry-box holds 4 rolls, costs a little over $50, and can be (nearly) air tight while still being able to print from it. 

To Print

• 1 each of the 2 attached STLs: LidTubeHolder and TubeBase.
• 4 of these Bowden tube caps.
• 4 of these thrust bearings in the posted 40mm ID/110mm OD size.

The LidTubeHolder, TubeBase, and Bowden tube caps can be printed in pretty much any filament. The thrust bearings should be printed in a more rigid filament to prevent contact of the two halves through deflection. PLA is perfect for this.

0.2mm layers provide plenty of detail for all of the models, 0.28 should also work for everything but the bearings, but will make the fillets on the TubeBase look kinda crappy.

Dimensional accuracy is important for all components, as they are all modeled with fairly tight tolerances.

To Buy

To Assemble

1. Install the outer ring of the lid onto the bucket.
2. Mark and drill four 5mm holes in the bottom of the bucket to attach your TubeBase in the center.
3. Install the tube base using the screws and nuts, with the nuts on the bottom of the bucket.
4. Tap the PVC tube fully home into the tube base, being sure to support the base of the bucket. Ensure the tube is fully seated.
5. Use four 1-inch pieces of VHB to tape the LidTubeHolder into the lid, being sure to properly match the draft angles of the holder to the lid.
6. Mark and drill four 12mm holes, vertically spaced 75mm apart, starting from the bottom edge of the bucket. Align the new holes with the hole for the handle to avoid any interference.
7. Install the bulkhead fittings into the 12mm holes, with the lower profile side facing inward to allow the most room for filament rolls.
8. Install the pieces of Bowden tube into the outer hole in the fittings.
9. Use four ½-inch pieces of VHB to place the Bowden tube caps ~93mm horizontally from the Bowden fittings, angled towards the fitting.
10. Place a thrust bearing in the bottom. 
11. Drop in a desiccant pack.
12. Put your filaments in, placing thrust bearings between each filament roll and feeding the end of the filament through the tube.
13. Label your fittings on the outside to correspond with the type of filament you put in.
14. All done!