Shaded tool storage—where an appliance outline shows at a glance what's missing from storage—is a really smart way to keep your shop neat and tidy. They are also vital in cases where the equipment left behind could be a tragedy. Think, where's that-10-mm-socket-while-works-at-a-jet-engine? Important (It's always a 10-mm socket.)
But just because shadow boards are smart, doesn't mean they're easy to make. that's why [Scott Prince] came along This Semi-Automatic Method to Build a Toolbox Shadow Board, Locating some sort of suitable material around each tool and cutting out the shapes seems straightforward, but given the available space and the specialized collection of tools, organizing the outline can do the trick.
[Scott]The method begins by capturing images of each individual tool. He used a PiCam and a lightbox in a storage bench, oddly enough; We'd love to hear the full story behind it, but any digital camera will do enough for the job. After compensating for distortion with OpenCV, cropping the images, and converting the image to the vector outline of the tool, [Scott] The task of putting the devices into logical groups and laying them out sensibly was left with. After editing the tool outline and adding finger cutouts for easier pickup, [Scott] Put your CNC router to work. He chose to use a high-density polyethylene product made by his employer, which looks great, but MDF will also work fine.
We have to admit a fair degree of toolbox envy that we've seen what shadow boards can do. We're a little torn though - [Zach Friedman]gridfinity storage system There is a lot going on for this too.
0 Comments