Resupply Boxes: Battery and Utility Containers

Hey there, my favourite people!

There are some limitations to doing things upside-down!  This model prints right-side up but was inspired by comments on the original Battery Crate models from a little while back that print assembled, closed, and upside-down, but which made it difficult to extract batteries.

These Resupply Boxes, by contrast, print right-side up, which means the walls around the batteries don't need to fit in with the laws of upside-down printing physics.  As a result, it's much, much easier to take batteries out!  

As you've probably noticed in the photos, the lid prints open at 90 degrees, so the back of the lid is against the bed.  This carries its own limitations, of course, and is the reason that the front of the box slopes downwards.  The back slopes downwards, too, but that was just because I thought it looked cooler that way.

Now, these are pretty big!  Store all the batteries!  Actually, store all the things!  There's a general utility version, too, though it looks the same on the outside as the battery versions.  

Oh, I almost forgot to mention the lockability!  Those three holes at the front allow a threaded bolt to fasten the lid closed.  That's strictly optional, and you really only need one bolt, not three, but it does provide an option for differentiating boxes from one another (assuming you haven't printed them in different colours, anyway).  

A couple of bolt designs are included, including one with a pivoting handle, just because.

Printing Tips

Designed for straightforward printing, no supports required!  I oriented it so that the "hinge axis" of the lid was parallel to the direction of bed movement, but that might have been paranoia.  There's a reasonable amount of contact area between the lid and the bed, so it should stay down pretty well.  It does get pretty tall during printing, though, so I took that precaution.

As always with articulated models, watch out for any print issues like stringing and overextrusion that might bind moving parts together!

The models print like so:

File Location

You'll find this on Dropbox under 768 Resupply Battery and Utility Boxes

(Dropbox link post: https://www.patreon.com/posts/dropbox-and-are-31697592 )

Further Thoughts

Any excuse to make more industrial-looking stuff :)  It's funny how designs feed into one another.  That diamond texture on the front and sides of the base was originally on another design which may or may not see the light of day, but I liked that part of it so much that I had to use it here, just in case the other one ends up completely abandoned.  

Every design is like that, really - a vessel for particular ideas, techniques and shapes.  In this design, it's all about those interior dividers between the batteries, the wavy lines that don't quite connect.  That's what ultimately drove the rest, though other interesting things were picked up along the way, like that diamond texture, a lid that clunks down onto side shelves, and a curiosity for making an exterior hinge that feels like it's inside the box after all.

There really are endless twists and turns exploring this stuff - it's fantastic having you along for the journey :)

xoxo

Sven.