Circlip Pliers Box

I got tired of my circlip pliers and its assorted jaws floating about in a plastic bag. So I created a simple storage box to keep it all together, safely and tidily, in one place.

The main box is nothing special. It's just my take on the usual slidey-lid box. You could use it for a million other things. But when you add my insert to it, it transforms into a bespoke storage unit.

Due to a measuring error on my part, the insert ended up about 20mm longer than I needed. My solution to that silly mistake was to use the extra space to house a small sliding-lid inner box to hold the loose circlips one inevitably accumulates.

I dubbed it “the shoe” for a while, and even created a whimsical “heel and sole” for it (which can be seen in my pics). This was fun, but a waste of space. So I took it out of the final STL in the end.

Because I'm messing about and trying new things on my new printer, I chose to print the insert without a bottom skin. It saves a little bit of filament and, more importantly, about 20 minutes print time. The removal has no effect on the functioning of the insert - 90% of the time you won't even see it as the insert will just stay in the box.

I printed the body and the insert in PETG (my first time using it, and I prefer it as a material) and the lid in white ABS that I happened to have lying around. But there's no reason why you couldn't do them in PLA or something else.

So that's my nicely organised circlip pliers. Now I need to do the same thing for some of the other tools that are all jumbled up in my tool cabinet.

It's nice to know that if I get the order to “spread 'em” I can quickly find the means to do so!

Happy printing.