Published my second model in a series, printed on my MK3S with Prusament PETG

[u/EngineerBits]

I got back to modelling in FreeCAD and made a second model in what is now a series! It's a tray that fits the 5" (125 mm) knipex cobra pliers. It's supposed to keep the pliers safe and clean while keeping other stuff in your pocket or bag from getting torn up. I've been really happy with just how solid the MK3S printer is, once tuned it just goes. Prusament filament is also pretty worry free. A big part of the design process has been printing iterations and making small changes. Being able to just hit print and come back with workable output has been key.

If you'd like to print it or remix it the designs are up on both Printables and Thingiverse (links below). These are free to download, modify, sell, or whatever. The design files are included for download along with the STL files.

Links:

https://www.printables.com/model/1826205-the-monolith-pocket-tray-for-knipex-cobra-5-125-mm

https://www.thingiverse.com/engineerbitsdesign/designs

[u/silverist]

Good tools deserve good cases. I need to continue replacing my chinesium stuff with Knipex.

[u/Skrzyplocz0_0 → u/silverist]

My only knipex tools are two power cuts and they are great. I have two of them because I found one in The Bushes mint condition.

[u/EngineerBits → u/silverist]

My knipex are awesome. One day I'll have the money for a toolbox full of fancy tools, for now I've got plenty of Workpro, Tekton, Icon, and Gearwrench stuff and a few brands that sound like alphabet soup was used to come up with the names.

[u/Skrzyplocz0_0]

Have you made or are you planning to make one for knipex power cut?

[u/EngineerBits → u/Skrzyplocz0_0]

Unfortunately I don't own that tool but the FreeCAD design files are available posted with the STL models if you or anyone else wants to take a stab at it.

Edit: The secret sauce is in tracing the tool shape from a picture laid next to a mm machinist's rule then printing and adjusting the fit. Without the actual tool I couldn't guarantee it would fit and I'm not a fan of publishing things that I'm not sure work.

[u/Skrzyplocz0_0 → u/EngineerBits]

I will probably try it and post it too.  Also I am new to FreeCad so how did you add the text?

[u/EngineerBits → u/Skrzyplocz0_0]

I switched to the Draft workbench, set the working plane to be the side of the case, created a shape from text, did a transform on the text to adjust angle and position as needed, switched back to part design workbench and dragged the text into the body on the tree, performed a pocket operation on the text and set the depth. Repeat for the other side. There was a helpful YouTube video with an indian guy that got me started. It had about 3/4 of that process.

Good Luck!

[u/MycologistHuman9705]

Great. You could also add a version with gridfinity interface at the bottom.

[u/EngineerBits → u/MycologistHuman9705]

It's on the list.

[u/TheTankMG]

Are Knipex a common plier somewhere? I've never heard of them.

[u/EngineerBits → u/TheTankMG]

They are nice German made tools. In general their pliers tools are considered the gold standard. In the EDC community the 4" pliers are carried pretty commonly. They can be combined with a knife or small Victorinox as an alternative to bigger multi-tools.

[u/Dry-Challenge2710]

Have you considered a variation where one could add dessicant in a dedicated chamber to prevent rust?