The New Hobbyist

I (as I imagine is the case with most most makers/DIY’ers/gadget hackers) have several tackle box style divided boxes for storing random odds and ends. These boxes are usually secured with snapping clips on the front of the box, usually. Unfortunately for me in my haste one shopping trip I bought a box that was missing one of these all important clips. For months I lived on the edge, narrowly avoiding an electronic component avalanche every time I moved the box around my workshop.

Thanks to Makerbot I have the ability to repair rather than replace. Using one photograph of the existing clip and a digital caliper I was able to knock out a replacement in around an hour, most of that time was spent waiting for Makerbot to print.

As always I’ve also uploaded the 3D model files to Thingiverse for others to use. This looks to me like a print that might benefit from being recreated in OpenSCAD. OpenSCAD is a modeling tool that uses a scripting language to generate your model. One of the benefits to using this program over something like Google Sketch up is the ability for users to tweak the measurements and parameters of the model, something that isn’t very easy to do in Google Sketchup. However (as you will see in the video) I was able to model the clip itself in about 5 minutes so it’s probably just as easy to re-create different size clips as it is to re-size the original model.

In the video below you’ll see the complete build process, from part, to photo, to model, to printed replacement part. Not only is my box more secure now that I have two clips, the new clip actually snaps on tighter than the original from the manufacturer. I actually ended up replacing both clips with my printed versions.

Tackle Box Replacement Clip by TheNewHobbyist

This is a replacement clip for a tackle box I purchased. The model can likely be scaled to fit your needs, though I'm not sure if there are any "standard" clip sizes. I modeled the part from the original manufactures piece using a photograph, a digital caliper and Google Sketchup. This may be a good candidate for OpenSCAD but I've yet to learn how to use it. The replacement I printed actually snaps and holds tighter than the clip from the manufacturer! Here's a link to my blog post showing the modeling/printing of the part: thenewhobbyist.com/2011/06/everyday-fixes-with-makerbot-3-tacklebox-clip/

This thing brought to you by