Make717 Hardware Caddy Part 1: The Power of Prototypes

My friends at our local Makerspace, Make717, asked me to help with an organization project. Among the assets of the group, we have a number of these Stanley hardware organizers in two different heights. They are super useful for storing hardware, small electronic components, and more. This stock photo is from this link on Amazon:

Our idea was to create a rolling hardware caddy that would hold several of these organizers and provide easy access to any of them. At first, we were talking about a shelving unit that would hold them, with a space on top to set the one you want to open. But we quickly realized that had some problems. The biggest problem is that in any shop environment, but especially in a shared space, it's very hard to keep horizontal surfaces clear! Using one of the organizers would usually be preceded by finding a place for the thing or things sitting on top of the caddy.

So, we decided to give each organizer its own drawer, with the goal that the organizer could be used in the drawer instead of having to move it. We found a 20-pack of 16" drawer slides on eBay at a good price, bought them, and I went to work on a design. The process we went through really shows the value of creating prototypes. Here's how it went:

PROTOTYPE #1:

As I analyzed the two sizes of organizers, I realized that there was already a problem. The shorter (that is, more shallow) organizer has latches that extend all the way to the bottom. There would be no way to unlatch and open the organizer with a drawer front in place. I came up with what I thought was a pretty good solution: short "buttons" made from aluminum on the lathe that catch the front of the organizer without blocking the latches:

This had some real benefits. The handle for the organizer could double as the drawer handle, since it was easily accessible. The lid could be unlatched and opened without removing the organizer, and with the 16" full-extension slides, the box could be fully opened while remaining in place. 

However, there were disadvantages too. The most obvious one: it's really ugly! Also, the drawer takes up about as much room as the short box, limiting the number of organizers that will fit. 

After discussing, we decided that if we only used the taller organizers in the caddy, then we could add a drawer front. It would have a cutout for access to the handle and latches, and would cover the ugly slides and plywood edges. That led to....

PROTOTYPE #2

When prototyping, speed is more important that finished looks. I simply modified the first prototype by adding a false front, with the cutout for the latches and handle. In a finished cabinet, I'd go to some trouble to hide fasteners, but for this I just nailed it on with a pneumatic nailer:

Well, that looks better, but I don't think a single person who saw it liked it. Using only tall organizers was a limitation, the fronts took up even more vertical space, and a photoshop mock-up of several of these stacked, well, just didn't look like shop furniture. It looked like a piece of household furniture that had been hacked up. Back to the drawing board, to...

PROTOTYPE #3

Looking at the organizers again, I began to wonder if the slides could be mounted directly on the box. It certainly didn't seem possible at first glance. The box sides are plastic, only 1/16" thick, so there would be no way to screw hardware to the box. I considered gluing or screwing an additional surface on each side, but that seemed cumbersome for 20 boxes. 

I got the idea of using a special nut called a connector nut, which is often used to make knock-down furniture. Basically, it's a deep nut with a wide head to spread the load across a larger area. The head is very flat, which is important in the organizers because there is little clearance on the inside for a screw head.

Of course, a deep nut and a wall thickness of 1/16" is not a match made in heaven, so I needed a standoff on the outside to mount the drawer slide. That could have been just a block of wood with holes drilled in it, but then we're back to ugly! Instead I made aluminum standoffs on the lathe. The finished product had the industrial look we wanted for the Makerspace:

There's actually a good bit of work needed to mount the slides, and I'll do a second post to detail how we will do it in "production mode" to make the standoffs and modify 20 boxes and 20 pairs of slides.

I suppose it would be nice if we could just go straight to the final solution of problems like this, but that's just not how the world works. It's actually kind of fun to go through the process, having ideas that don't pan out, solving one problem after another until the design finally gels. Just remember the words of Thomas Edison: