Workshop 88 is a makerspace in Glen Ellyn Illinois. We are more than a workshop, we are a growing community of creative talented people who aspire to learn and share knowledge, experiences, and projects.
Join us! To become a member join at Workshop88 or you can help us continue to share our projects and activities by supporting us via Patreon.
Reminder! We have virtual open house meetings every Thursday night from 7-9pm (Central) Please RSVP and get the link on our meetup page:
Workshop 88 – Makerspace, Hackerspace in Glen Ellyn
Glen Ellyn, IL 518Makers
Workshop 88 is a growing COMMUNITY of creative, talented people who aspire to learn and share their insights, experiences and projects. Some of our member areas of expertise …
Last month, we (my wife and I) disassembled an IKEA Expedit shelf unit, and while I didn’t take a photo of ours before disassembly, it was a 5×5 unit identical to the one featured here. The room the Expedit was in was getting rearranged and there wasn’t going to be a place for it any longer in the room. We don’t really have any other spot in the house where it would fit, so my wife suggested putting it on the curb.
I realized that while it wouldn’t fit in the closet in our home office, I could salvage much of the material and repurpose it for a custom shelf system. What I figured I could salvage and reuse were the 20 short pieces (the vertical walls in the photo on the above linked page) and the four long and thin pieces (the horizontal pieces in the photo on the linked page.)
On Thingiverse there is an thing called the Shelfie, described as a DIY parametric shelf and storage designer. I had made a few of the brackets a few years ago when I had a surplus of small plywood panels, but I never finished that project. Originally, you could use the customizer on Thingiverse to configure the brackets exactly how you wanted them, but the Customizer hasn’t been working on Thingiverse for awhile now. However, you can load the design in OpenSCAD and customize the design to be whatever you need.
The screenshot above shows how the Customizer in OpenSCAD is used to configure the part to be a T shaped bracket with a back and a pass-through channel so the long board can go all the way through.
I did a quick measurement of the closet and figured out that the long boards would fit in the width of the closet and that I could easily get three rows of shelves to fit without having to work around anything already mounted in the closet. So, I drew up a quick sketch:
This is messy, but I think that messiness shows a part of the making process.
I wanted a few tall cubbies, so I scribbled out the parts where there wouldn’t be a shelf. Then, I came up with a shorthand for planning out what brackets needed to be 3D printed: Ts = standard T bracket, Tp = T bracket with passthrough channel, Xp = X bracket with passthrough channel, and each of the corners was going to get a standard L bracket, so I didn’t label those.
I needed two complete sets of the brackets, one for the front and one for the back. The ones on the back I decided (after suggestions from other Workshop 88 members) to add the option to screw a backer board onto.
After customizing all the designs in OpenSCAD, I started printing. And printing. And did some more printing. I lost track of the total print time, but it could have easily been a week of continuous printing. With the breaks I took between some of the prints, it took me about three weeks to finish all of them.
Finally, I was ready for assembly!
Attaching brackets to the wall.Shelf unit taking shape!Building up the shelves!
Somewhere towards the end of the assembly, I realized that I had miscounted the number of short panels I needed. I thought I would only need 18 of the 20 panels from the Expedit, but I had forgot to count the three horizontal short panels needed for the top three cubbies! So, it turned out that I needed 21 panels, but only had 20 available. Whoops!
Fortunately, my design only was using three of the four long boards, and since they were all the same thickness, I cut the end off the extra board to make the last needed small panel.
I also made a last minute decision to attach the brackets directly to the wall panel in the closet. I figure that it is a closet that I don’t mind if the wall panel (it is a panel, not drywall) gets some holes in – especially since they will be small holes. Hopefully the shelves last quite awhile, though!
Finished with the assembly!
In the assembly process, I only had one bracket break – a T bracket with a passthrough and wall attachments. The reason it broke was that I had attached it to the wall before putting in the last horizontal long board. It wasn’t lined up with the other brackets, so when the long board was inserted, it bent the bracket and snapped off one side of the passthrough channel. Fortunately, I had a leftover test print that worked as a replacement part.
Broken bracket.
In the Workshop 88 slack there is a channel called “entropy” which I find to be delightful because members use that channel to discuss the various ways that they try to reign in the disorder in our workspaces. I don’t have a “before” photo of the closet, but I can attest that although the closet is accurately described as a “walk-in” closet, it would have been impossible to do that before I added the modified shelf. Here is the photo after adding all the stuff back into the shelf:
It’s hard to see in this photo, but there is actually space now to walk in the walk-in closet.
I’m really happy with how this Ikea-hack project turned out. I’m cautiously optimistic that the shelves will have an extended life helping to control the disorder in this closet.
About Workshop 88
Workshop 88 is a makerspace in Glen Ellyn Illinois. We are more than a workshop, we are a growing community of creative talented people who aspire to learn and share knowledge, experiences, and projects.
Join us! To become a member join at Workshop88 or you can help us continue to share our projects and activities by supporting us via Patreon.
Andrew shared hisnew used Tesla coilleading to a conversation with our resident Tesla coil expert and Phil Strons and a discussion of how to determine the vacuum tubes used.
We have great things planned for the first meeting in 2021 including the design, machining, and construction of Tom’s spring loaded engraver and a considerable discussion on the topic of organization!
Workshop 88 is a makerspace in Glen Ellyn Illinois. We are more than a workshop, we are a growing community of creative talented people who aspire to learn and share knowledge, experiences, and projects.
Join us! To become a member join at Workshop88 or you can help us continue to share our projects and activities by supporting us via Patreon.
Workshop 88 is a makerspace in Glen Ellyn Illinois. We are more than a workshop, we are a growing community of creative talented people who aspire to learn and share knowledge, experiences, and projects.
Join us! To become a member join at Workshop88 or you can help us continue to share our projects and activities by supporting us via Patreon.
Workshop 88 is a makerspace in Glen Ellyn Illinois. We are more than a workshop, we are a growing community of creative talented people who aspire to learn and share knowledge, experiences, and projects.
Join us! To become a member join at Workshop88 or you can help us continue to share our projects and activities by supporting us via Patreon.
Did you know that Workshop 88 members have several of their original designs shared on Thingiverse?
This is a nozzle-cleaning tool that Workshop 88 member, GailJo has shared on Thingiverse and we make use of at Workshop 88. This was one of the tools featured in last week’s Maker Meeting discussion.
See the tool described here, starting at 13 minutes in:
Workshop 88 Maker Meeting, December 8, 2020: YouTube link
This Week’s Topics & Discussions
Useful tools – Show and tell featuring useful and unusual tools and tips from the bench and shop; some home made, some 3D printed, some bought, and one a mix of all of the above!
Ender 3 Pro 3D printer discussion – Experienced and novice 3D printing people discuss experiences and share tips about their old and new Ender 3 Pro 3D printers.
Scott’s 3D printed Razor Blade Handle for lifting prints and cleaning glass 3D printer beds. Scott suggests grinding, sanding, or filing the corners off the razors to protect the bed.
heyu open source program for controlling the CM11A interface
ha-bridge Home automation bridge that emulates a Philips Hue light system and can control other systems
mochad Linux TCP gateway Daemon for X10 controllers
About Workshop 88
Workshop 88 is a makerspace in Glen Ellyn Illinois. We are more than a workshop, we are a growing community of creative talented people who aspire to learn and share knowledge, experiences, and projects.
Join us! To become a member join at Workshop88 or you can help us continue to share our projects and activities by supporting us via Patreon.
(Deal open to all new members or returning members who have not been a member for more than 3 months.)
Are you a maker living in DuPage county, IL or anywhere close to Glen Ellyn and interested in a Workshop 88 membership? We are running a special deal for the months of December and January – 4 months of membership for $150! This is like getting an entire month for free!
What do you get with your membership? Plenty!
24/7 access to the workshop and all tools (following our COVID safety protocols)
Access to our slack workspace
Invitations to members-only zoom meetings
Free registration for classes (when offered)
This makes a great gift for the holidays! Or maybe you’re looking to kickstart your New Year’s resolution to do more making – learning about 3D printing, electronics, laser cutting, metal working, wood working, or anything else that you can dream of doing with us!
Contact us by email to take advantage of this deal: info@workshop88.com