Slim Packout Bins for Milwaukee Bit Holders

Slim Packout Bins Hero Shot

Description

Note: These are not a new design. I’ve just moved them to my site because Thingiverse has decided that it’s not going to let people download these for some reason.

These two low profile Packout bins are designed to accept the Milwaukee bit holders that come in their accessory cases. I’ve created two STL files that you can download and print: one small bin and one long bin.

The holders store flat in the bins and can be rotated 90° to access the bits. The bins have two rows of mounting holes, but you can’t have one holder directly below another, they need to be offset by 2 or 3 holes.

In the long bin photo I show above, the 2″ driver bits touch the longer drill bits, but they still lay flat enough that the lid will close.

Wear on Milwaukee Bit Holders

The only issue that I’ve found with the bins is that they tend to scratch some material off the ends of the holders, I’m not sure if that’s because I printed them in PET-G or that maybe I should have used a smaller layer size than 0.2mm, but then they’d take longer to print.

UPDATE: Here are customizable bit holders for these bins

Files

Link to STEP files on GitHub (Right Click on files and “Save As”)

Models

Printer: Prusa i3 MK3
Slicer: Cura Slicer
Material: Inland PET-G
Resolution: 0.2mm with a 0.4mm nozzle
Wall Lines/Perimeters: 3
Infill: Minimum 20% Gyroid. The higher infill percentage the stronger the part.
Notes: I printed these in PET-G and used a 20% Gyroid fill because I find PET-G doesn’t do well with fill patterns that overlap like grid.

36 comments

    1. hey i was wondering if you could make one for the drill bits that com in the thundershock case because i cannt figure it out

    2. can you please make a holder for the round drill bits i would be life changing if i had those in my case with my bits and sds ones

  1. do you have a design that doesnt incorporate the bit holders? I would just like to be able to stack bins for in a deep organizer for finish nails as an example. I assume the bit holder bins would do the job, and I am not sure if adding the extra depth on the bins adds any additional value if I were not using the bit holders? Really impressive designs! Thanks alot for your time.

  2. Ive downloaded the files and can open in 360 but I can not seem to print it. I believe that I need to unzip and extract the files first but I am unable to do so. Any advice?

    1. Download the STL files and use a program like Cura, PrusaSlicer, Repitier, etc to print them.

      The models are just there for reference, if you want to try to make your own remix. You cannot do anything with them because Autodesk has locked down the free version of Fusion 360 so hard it is useless. You can only look at them.

          1. Thank you very much! I’ve been trying to touch-up the stl mesh in Fusion, but I’m on the personal license so the intricate mesh around the mounting holes is a LOT of faces.

            I’m going to make some full length versions (length of three square bins) with notches to allow the lid to index properly, as well as a massive single bin template I can use to create inserts for specific tools. I can post a link to them here eventually if you’d like!

  3. Thank you for all of this. Really has given me some ideas. What inexpensive 3D printer would you suggest for making these kind of things?

  4. Is anyone having issues with the prints stopping sporadically between 1/4 and 1/2 of the way during printing. Im sure it must be on my end, just curious…. Im a pretty novice printer so very well could be me!

    1. That could be a printer issue, but you want to check out the output of your Slicer to make sure there are no missing layers. Just use the layer slider (PrusaSlicer and Cura both have one) to make sure there actually is something there for each layer.

      I’ve found that sometimes PrusaSlicer will slice something incorrectly leaving big gaps, or give errors for an STL file that I know is fine. What I do then is restart PrusaSlicer, which usually fixes the issue. Or I’ll switch to Cura to slice that particular print.

  5. I’ve never 3d printed but this makes me want to start. What is a good entry level printer that I could use to print these? I worry if I buy one I will screw up and have something that doesn’t do what I want.

  6. Awesome work man, question, my son and I were admiring a bin and bit holder I printed today.

    Have you thought of using the existing bins and making an insert to fit into it? Into the integrated grooves in the bin. Son was thinking that would preventing to have to print so many bins.

    1. I actually did that as a proof of concept when I was designing the bins, I found that the walls of the stock bins were too flexible. Because of the divider grooves, I have to make six separate mounts and they didn’t stiffen the sides enough. It was a bigger problem in the middle. It was also really hard to line up the pieces so they were even on both sides. Yet another issue is that the stock bins have a 1 to 1.5 degree draft (the bottom is narrower than the top). You could account for that, but I just decided it was easier to make the bins.

      I actually have an rough openSCAD file that generates the pieces that you could tape into a stock bin and try. Send me a message via my contact form and I can send it to you.

  7. I’m having a lot of trouble with these. I have printed a few different bit holder STLs from your site and thingiverse but cannot get any of them to fit in these bins. The bins appear to be just slightly too narrow. Is there anything special I should be doing to print these?

    Any chance you can share the F3D files so I can make the sides slightly wider?

    1. I would be glad to share the F3D file, except AutoCad took that ability away in their home license, so I can’t — which is why I refuse to design in their software anymore. I have an openSCAD model, that I eventually will release, but probably not anytime soon

      My first thought is that your printer is printing the bins slightly smaller than it should. Have you printed a calibration cube lately? something like this: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1278865

      Next: what material are you printing them in? PLA is stiffer than PET-G and not a good idea if it will be stored in anything but a climate controlled room. At the ends, especially the bottom row, it is much harder to get the bit holders to snap in, I usually have to use a flathead screwdriver to lever them in and out. This is where PET-G being more flexible really helps.

      Also to insert the holders, I walk them down from the top row to the bottom row — that is I’ll put the first end in the top row, then snap the second end into the top row, if I’m going to the bottom row, then I’ll push one of the ends down into the bottom row, and then push the other end into the bottom row. Same procedure for the last few holes at the ends of the row.

      1. Thanks for the detailed reply Benjamin, I did use PLA so I will give them another go with PET-G and see how that turns out. Before that though, I will run a test cube just to see how I am looking. I am not sure I ever did that on the machine I used for this, so well worth doing. Not sure if you are using a Mac or PC but I just saw the Mac version has an export option that allows you to save out F3D files. Not sure if you have seen that. Thanks again.

        1. Yes, you can export F3D files, for yourself, but if anybody else tries to open them they are read only. I have tried this several times with different people who have asked.

          I’ve also tested that any of the useful (read you can modify the model) export formats are read only. AutoCad promoted their free version for years through influencers and then once everybody started using it, took away features like collaboration for anybody not paying them $500+ a year.

          1. wow, that is frustrating. Sadly I have not found a good alternative yet and am just getting going on F360 as it is. If you are willing to share, I’l take a look at a read-only version. I find it helpful to learn from what other people have built. If not, no worries. Thanks again for the replies, it is always good to learn more, this is a vast arena of knowledge to ferret out.

  8. Would you mind posting all of you print setting for this? IE speed and whatnot. I cannot get my cura settings to print anything near that quality in PETG.

    1. Unless you use a Prusa MK3 and Inland filament, my print settings aren’t going to be much help. Every printer has different speed and acceleration profiles and PET-G can be highly variable brand to brand. Some filament can be printed as low as 220C and some requires 250C.. it also depends on your extruder.

      In both Cura and PrusaSlicer I use the setup files for the Prusa MK3, and I use the Prusament PET-G profile.

      If you send me some photos, or descriptions of what is going wrong with your print via the contact form I can try to help you out.

    1. These are done in Fusion 360.

      Autodesk keeps changing how I can share these and if they are editable by other people (evidently, I have to keep them as one of my 10 editable projects and I’m not going to do that), so I’m not going to waste my time posting them.

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