I made a set of 3D printed modular drawers!

Each module can be a draw by itself, combine with another draw on either side, or combine with a draw on both sides. This means that you can make an infinitely wide draw!

I made it because I haven’t seen a set of modular drawers online where the actual drawers themselves are modular - normally it’s just that the whole unit (i.e. the drawer holder/cabinet) is modular. I also knew it was going to be a bit of a tricky project, and I wanted to challenge myself!

Challenges:

The locking system (i.e. to lock the draw as either a single unit or as combined with multiple units)
Getting the pieces as thin as possible without them being too weak

What I’m proud of

The system I designed which allows the drawer sides to be locked in one of four configurations by just taking out and putting the base back in
I also think the cad looks pretty rad 🔥

The future

I’d like to make a drawer holder/cabinet (they’re kinda trays instead of drawers now lol), and, if possible, I’d like to make the parts even thinner, or improve the design so the drawers can expand in all directions instead of just to the left & right.

1 devlog
11h build

Video of Project → See source code →

Open comments for this post

@diynotaguy on Slide-lock modular drawers · about 4 hours ago

10h 33m 4s logged

Modular drawers that are actually modular

All of the 3D printed modular drawers online are only modular by attaching their drawer holders/containers. I’d never seen ones where the actual drawers attach together so that one draw can hold more stuff. I decided to change that

Demo vid

The idea

I did some sketches initially before starting on the CAD so that I had a bit of an idea of how I actually wanted to make them I decided that:

the left hand side of each modular draw would be hinged with the base and would fit under the right hand side of the base when joining with a draw to the left
the right hand side of each modular draw would be split in half - the back half would hinge on the back and slide into the back of the draw to the right, and the front half would hinge on the front and slide into the front of the draw to the right

Some challenges

Making the hinges - I originally wanted them to be print in place, then had to resort to using filament as the hinge pin instead. While not my original intention, it was actually quite good because it allowed the hinges to be less bulky, and having the draw parts print separately allowed me to improve their print orientation
Keeping the draws locked together - this was the main sticking point, and it led to me coming up with a system in which most of the base of the draw is removable, and taking it out unlocks the positions of the draw parts, while putting it in locks them in place. It also has a buckle on the bottom which clicks together with the left hand side of another draw being attached. Making the base removable was the perfect unclasping system to release the buckle and separate two modules from each other.

Does it work?

Yes, it works, and imo it is very satisfying and cool to use. I’m proud of what I’ve made!

Future improvements

Right now, they’re kind of more like modular trays than actual drawers, since I haven’t made a drawer cabinet/holder. Here are some of my ideas/considerations for when I make it:

I want to mix materials. e.g. bulk up pla with cardboard or plywood to not be so wasteful
I’m in two minds about the holder being modular. It would be much simpler if it wasn’t, and it would still be useful as long as I don’t have the drawers mounted on a track or anything. If they were modular, it would also be more difficult to integrate another material.