Hexbin. Easy, fast, simple, modular storage without a billion DIFFERENT parts to print

Hexbin is a hexagonal bin for your knick knacks and screws and medications and what not.

You can literally print a wall in 6 minutes which is about the time it will take you to figure out what to put in it.

Updates: 2023-11-24 I totally redesigned the screw to print flat and be much much stronger.
There is no longer need for a C clip because the threads on the screw and the handle have been reversed.

To assemble the lift, print both halves of the screw.  First thread the lift all the way down the longer shaft.  Now place the lift through any floor piece.  Lastly, attach a screwhead to the bottom thread sticking out.  Just like chapstick, this is a one-way elevator.  But it can be reused of course after its been screwed all the way up, just rethread the lift to the bottom and reattach the screwhead.

Updates: 2023-11-18 I realized that I uploaded the wrong ”screw” for the lift system and I’m redesigning the lift now  note that as I iterate this design, I will NOT change the dimensions of the backbone hub. this is vital since you can keep printing those stacks and they will always work. I also had a new idea for how the lift should work when the Hexbin is on your desk so I’m exploring that 

Quickstart guide:

1. Hexbin can be printed fast without sacrificing strength. Print floor pieces or wall pieces and STACK those Hexbins high and fill em with junk.

2. If you want to hang your bins on the wall like I do, just print the appropriate “Boot”. The boots print flat to take advantage of the strength of FDM printing in this orientation.

3. If you want to use magnets instead, you need to get a bunch of 10mm (diameter) by 2mm magnets (which are the cheapest I found).  I wanted an approach that wouldn't force me to PAUSE the print and insert magnets at just the right time.  Instead I came up with (perhaps) a novel approach.

4. There are plenty of holes where you can take some leftover filament scraps and make your own colorful hooks.  I like to use the filaments that I never was able to print with (Polycarb and ASA and ABS all come to mind).

5. My goal was to keep the total part count WAY down.  But if you want to get fancy you can print an elevator (2 additional parts) or a Totem (1 additional part) so that you can ALWAYS keep the contents at the TOP of the bins.  My arthritic hands will NEVER dig again for M3 bolts.  I'll just use the elevator, thank you very much.  Same goes with my medications.  An iteration on this concept specifically for meds is next on my design list if this gets any love.
 

Background on me and why I do this:

My name is Andreas and I have lived the first half of my life in the US and the second half in Sweden.  I contracted Reumatoid Arthritis when I was 19 years old and I am primarily using 3D printing and design to make my life easier.  I am a single dad of 2 boys going through a horrendous divorce and a boatload of medical problems so if you like my designs or if I saved you a trip to Home Depot or Biltema, then please consider donating on my Paypal page here

All proceeds will go to my divorce lawyer.

Design goals:

I began this design by dusting off my Prusa Mini + and installing the alpha firmware to see how fast it can go.  Everything here was designed from scratch for FAST FDM printing and all of my prints use the “0.2 Structural input shaping”.  I was very inspired by the beautiful work done by the Honeycomb organizer project but I was totally overwhelmed by the sheer number of parts. It looks absolutely incredible and I am in awe over the amount of work put into that project.  But it's not for me.

FWIW this is an example of the kind of stuff I want to store and have ACCESSIBLE.


 

When I want to dig out an M3 nut, my huge swollen fingers jumble around in there and I'm lucky if I can grab onto any of them.  So I need a solution to organize this stuff.  I wanted a system that I can hang on the wall, put on a desk, us in a desk drawer, whatever.

I have done hundreds of iterations and will continue iterating if there is support for this project.  My goals are:

1. Fast, easy printing with no supports and no brim.  I wanted the parts to FLY off the printer so that I could spend my time ORGANIZING my stuff, not hunting down part numbers.

2. Make it compatible with Ikea Skådis, Elfa Utility, Honeycomb, etc

3. Use as few parts as possible to achieve organization nirvana

4. Design from the ground up so that my arthritic mangled hands have a chance at using them.

5. Incorporate some novel and fun engineering tricks

6. Make use of all the scraps of filament we all have lying around
 

Here's what I came up with: Hexbin

Hexbin is a storage solution focused on being fast and easy to print.  How fast?

Well, you can print the entire collection of parts to make 24 hooks, several different bins and/or magnets in less than 2 hours.



 

You will be PRINTING, STACKING, and FILLING Hexbins in NO time.  In fact, this project has been the quickest iterative design process I have ever done because most of the pieces took on the order of 5-7 minutes to print.  I couldn't keep up the design work with the printer output on this one which has NEVER happened before.

Design choices:

1. The total part count is very LOW.  Every combination you see can be achieved ONLY using these parts.  With Fibonacci you can derive any height multiple of 10mm easily with very few parts.  I've resisted the temptation to add a version of the floor without a hole in it!  FWIW none of my tiniest items fell through so if you want to store sand or if you really really need 4 different versions of SD-card holders - seek elsewhere.  The Hexbin way is to make a stack - chuck some SD cards in there, and then make another stack.

2. I stole the idea of a trapezoid from someone on Thingaverse (not that they invented the shape).  They made some seriously amazing engineering choices (the trapezoidal shape and printing it flat) but also some puzzling ones.

I extended this original concept by making a “trapezoid within a trapezoid within a hexagon”. 

This is useful because all parts stack directly on top of eachother in only ONE orientation.  You They also only sit flush on a flat surface in just one orientation.  So it's pretty much impossible to screw up the stacking.  You can also add additional “boots” or “magnets” for additional support ANYwhere that it's needed.

The tight tolerances were achieved by only using tight tolerances on surfaces that would print reasonably flush.  As an example, I found that PETG would give me some stringing issues in particular around the trapezoidal section and I built in a wide berth for this stringing mess to collect.

3. For the magnet lovers out there, I wanted to come up with an approach that does NOT require dropping in magnets or pausing a print.  I think I came up with something pretty novel.  The first magnet is placed from the BACK.  Its main purpose is to provide friction flush against the metal surface.  But to keep it in place and add additional strength, it gets some help from up to 3 magnets which are installed BEHIND the first magnet FROM THE BOTTOM.

These magnets will HOLD the first magnet in place along the horizontal axis and provide additional holding power the more you stack behind

4. In order to keep the small things in the bins ALWAYS accessible to my oversized mangled hands, I installed an elevator under each BIN.  The 50mm screw is definitely overkill I think so I'm using only the 20mm screw.  By installing the lift system you can use each bin almost like a “chapstick” or a “lepsyl” (although I prefer Försvarets Hudsalva personally).

In order to solve the issue of printing everything flat I use a piece of filament as a C-clip which you can easily install yourself.

5. Last but not least… If you want to add some BLING to your Hexbins - you can print a Totem.  A Totem is like an ornament that goes on the top of your Hexbin and let's you know at a glance what is in there.  I went for an “organic” look for the totem.





The stand itself can hold several kinds of nuts/bolts and it even has 2x pegs if you want to use your favorite action figure.  Everything above is designed in metric, but the pegs were derived from measuring Han Solos feet and it is confimed to be IMPERIAL.

Please let me know if you make this or have any feedback.  I love reading comments - especially when they're kind ;)