Medicine Box
I started this project because my previous way of storing medicine and bandages was just a bag. Everything would get jumbled immediately after organizing, making it very hard to find something specific when its needed. So I decided I wanted to have dedicated spaces for everything. I had also recently learned how to laser cut from solidworks models. So to test my knowledge I chose to make all my parts this way. Because I decided on laser cutting, I chose a material that was cheap and easy to laser cut, so if I made mistakes it wouldn’t be a big problem.
Design
I started out by measuring every box and bottle I had in my medicine bag and adding a little to each dimension so everything can be taken out easily. Then using a sheet of the plywood I had decided to use as a guide, I determined the total foot print of the box. I then designed the sides of the box to fit into each other and the base. I designed the partition similarly but with one middle panel as a backbone that all the others fit into. With the walls for the large boxes lining up with the walls of smaller ones. Meaning they can be made in one cut and be a stronger continuous piece.
Laser Cutting
After creating all the parts and checking that they work together in an assembly. I made a solidworks drawing the size of the board I was using. Placing them as close as possible to conserve space. This file is then converted to adobe and the color of the lines changed to match color coded for cutting on the machine. After all the parts are cut out I slotted them together and fixed them in place with glue.
I am quite pleased with how it turned out and how it has held up over the past year. If I were to make it again, out of the same material then I would slot the partitions into the sides as well as the middle. I would also make it modular and add a lid. I would also incorporate 3D-Printing and use multiple materials.