Core77

An Unusual Design for a Massive Bit Holder with Moving Parts

Can you figure out how it works?

By Rain Noe - September 16, 2015

in Hand Tools | DIY | Organization

Variety is useful for a designer to encounter, and I love seeing how different people solve a shared design problem. It's also fun to try to figure out, absent a clear explanation, what a particular designer was thinking just by studying the form they've come up with.

The CNC + OCD drill bit organizer I made had a chest-of-drawers form factor because, as I explained in the design process video, that was what the object demanded; it basically designed itself. But a fellow CNC mill user named Jerry Burks, who needs to store a heckuva lot more bits than I do, came up with something very different:

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Staring at just that one photo above, I couldn't figure out some parts of the design. Assuming form follows function, the little "fingers" sticking out from the sides of each "leaf" seemed to indicate the leaves were meant to be lifted out. But then what? Those leaves could presumably could not be set down on edge or they'd topple over, and the fact that the bits load from the top mean setting it on its side would be inelegant to use. And what are those routed slots in the sides of the overall piece for?

Thankfully there was another shot, this one from the side:

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Aha. Here we can clearly see there are dowels resting in the routed slots and pegged into the sides of the leaves. We can also see the tops of the side members are wavy, with the fingers resting in the valleys. Now the fingers make more sense: The leaves can indeed be lifted, but their travel is limited by the dowel in the routed slot. So it appears the leaves can only be moved forward or backward by one valley, perhaps to make access easier, or highlight which leaf is currently being used by creating space around them.

Here we can see some of the bits sitting in plastic bushings, that I imagine are friction-fit into the drilled holes:

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The color-coding appears to be the sole method of "labeling," which wouldn't work for me; but I'm guessing Burks has a better memory than I do.

One thing I can't figure out, by looking at that last photo above, is why there are two long slots machined into the faces of each leaf. Anyone have any ideas?

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Mark Van

9 years ago

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Gosh, its the Internet... can't work something out?

The trick is to register at the site where you've spotted this beast, and then PM the poster.

I guess one can just be lazy though....

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Ryan Langan

9 years ago

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In regards to the collars, often they are only used for identification as Thom noted. However, in a CNC setting, they are used for repeatability in setting depth of the bit. Specifically for circuit board cutting.

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Thom Edley

9 years ago

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The color coding is just a little plastic collar with the bit measurement, so you don't have to squint at the edge of a 3mm metal rod. Usually pretty arbitrary, though it'd make sense if end mills were red, for example, ball nose bits are green, etc.

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Tom Luczycki

9 years ago

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In regards to the longitudinal slots in each leaf: It allows you to easily see that a bit is seated completely at the bottom of the holder. Also, if the holder holes were blind they could easily become filled with sawdust and other debris that would keep the bits from being fully inserted or worse yet binding in the holder. The slots allow this debris to fall through and not become compacted in the bottom.

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- Invention Store DotTv
  
  Tom Luczycki
  
  9 years ago
  
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  The lower slot does not appear to be machined all the way through. I think this allows for the leaf to be lifted as far as the pegs on the side will allow, to then be tilted forward so the the bits in the adjacent leaf can prop it up.
  
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- Rain Noe
  
  Tom Luczycki
  
  9 years ago
  
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  Tom, I think you nailed it.
  
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