# Modular 5C Collet Trays



## GreatOldOne (Jun 5, 2020)

My project this week was to organise the draw of loose collets under my lathe (in-between conference video calls with my colleagues at work, troubleshooting iffy server environments and trying to get UNIX box access for myself to monitor stuff)

I came up with this - modular, print as many as you like, with label slots to allow identification of the collet. I thought the tolerances on the bowties that keep the trays together might have been too sloppy, but they seem to be spot on - tight enough that they don't need glue, loose enough that you can easily assemble or disassemble the trays into larger or smaller units.


















						Modular Machinists Organiser Tray System by GreatOldOne
					

UPDATED 22/06/20 Trays to hold standard 5C & ER32 collets plus plain trays of various lengths - modular, print as many as you need and keep them together with the bowties. Each rack has a label slot so you can put a size label in for easy collet finding (so long as you put the collets back where...




					www.thingiverse.com


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## SLK001 (Jun 5, 2020)

Neat idea, but these take up twice as much space lying down as they do standing up.  Do the same, but make a modular vertical rack.  With a vertical rack, you can at least see the size of the collet.


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## GreatOldOne (Jun 5, 2020)

The draw my collets reside in isn’t deep enough for the collet to stand up. Hence the orientation.


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## Buffalo21 (Jun 5, 2020)

I know little or nothing about 3D printing, how durable are the trays?? Is it like they were molded when your done??


I store my 5C collets in a rack I bought from ENCO yrs ago


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## 4ssss (Jun 5, 2020)

SLK001 said:


> Neat idea, but these take up twice as much space lying down as they do standing up.  Do the same, but make a modular vertical rack.  With a vertical rack, you can at least see the size of the collet.



Nice job, but as stated above.


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## GreatOldOne (Jun 5, 2020)

4ssss said:


> Nice job, but as stated above.





GreatOldOne said:


> The draw my collets reside in isn’t deep enough for the collet to stand up. Hence the orientation.


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## GreatOldOne (Jun 5, 2020)

Buffalo21 said:


> I know little or nothing about 3D printing, how durable are the trays?? Is it like they were molded when your done??



Sort of. The part is made up of layers extruded one atop each other. Each layer is only 0.2mm thick. Durability is probably down to a combination of material and infil settings. This is 15%, meaning 85% is empty space inside the part - but the infill is like a spiralling lattice which makes it very strong.


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## Be_Zero_Be (Jun 6, 2020)

*I bought a 5C rack and put it on slides.
They are out of the way, and easily accessible.*


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## GreatOldOne (Jun 22, 2020)

I've updated my design to include ER32 collets and a variety of plain trays of various lengths. Pleased with how it's all come out. It's a bit of a rainbow in there as I've been using up rolls of PLA I had on hand. The 5Cs I've made it mean something - Red is whole numbers, Blue is .5 increments and then the Green is 5mm increments. 







Files are all on the thingiverse link in the first post.


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## Buffalo21 (Jun 22, 2020)

Damn!!  That’s very neat and orderly!!


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## ErichKeane (Jun 22, 2020)

I use one of these for my 5C collets.  Keeping them on the wall saves my drawer space for all the other disorganization I have: https://www.ebay.com/itm/TTC-5C-11-Rotating-5C-Collet-Rack-Holds-9-Collets/323921442718


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## hman (Jun 23, 2020)

VERY nicely organized!


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## ACHiPo (Jun 24, 2020)

GreatOldOne said:


> I've updated my design to include ER32 collets and a variety of plain trays of various lengths. Pleased with how it's all come out. It's a bit of a rainbow in there as I've been using up rolls of PLA I had on hand. The 5Cs I've made it mean something - Red is whole numbers, Blue is .5 increments and then the Green is 5mm increments.
> 
> View attachment 328448
> View attachment 328447
> ...


Show off!


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## GreatOldOne (Feb 27, 2021)

New additions to the tool trays - some custom ones to hold my bore mic collection:





The new trays are up at the thingiverse link on the first post, along with 'blank' versions with none of the features the mic ones have.


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## rjs44032 (Feb 27, 2021)

I used this stuff:




It's Vinyl Fencing I purchased from Lowes or Home Depot. it same size as 2" x 6" lumber but essentially PVC. Comes in 8' lengths. That and a 1-1/4" hole saw produced these:

Couple of sections of angle vinyl I had laying around made for nice labeling.



Push 'em over with one finger to see the third row sizes.



Last few big ones and extras in second drawer



This stuff costs less than $20 for 8' section. It will never rust, and all I needed to do is punch the holes and set up some risers underneath so the collets would hang in them properly.

Food for thought. Hope this helps someone.

Best Regards,
Bob


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## Superburban (Feb 27, 2021)

I like that, I even have about a 6 foot piece of that sitting next to my garage looking for a way to be useful, now it can earn its keep. Thanks.


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## hman (Feb 27, 2021)

@GreatOldOne and @rjs44032 - FANTASTIC looking organization methods.   Unfortunately, I don't have a 3D printer.  But the vinyl fencing looks very handy.  Thanks to both of you!


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## aliva (Mar 1, 2021)

Wish I had the room to do that. Nice


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