Retronics

Restoring, remodeling and creating electronic devices

Customizable router bit box for various shank sizes

My handheld router comes with collets for shank sizes 6mm, 1/4″ and 8mm, and I’ve got router bits with all these three shank diameters, but no good place to store them. Router bit boxes are readily available, but they are usually designed for one specific shank size, and quite often they are either too loose (bits fall out) or too tight (you cut your fingers when trying to pull the bits out of the enclosure).

To organize the bits, I designed a 3D-printable storage box which can be customized in several ways:

  • The size of the box can be selected by entering the number of bits along x- and y-axis, and the distance between the bits. The height of the box is also adjustable.
  • The box can accommodate any combination of bits with shank sizes 6mm, 1/4 and 8mm, by means of replaceable “plugins” for each shank. The plugins are designed to hold the bits firmly (but not too tight) with a spring mechanism.

I started with this parametric box, which user Whity has shared on Printables, and adapted it for storing bits.

Modelling in Fusion 360:

An inner tray forms a matrix of x * y bits. Each hole in the tray will hold a plugin for either 6mm, 1/4″ or 8mm shank. Here is a box for 5 * 4 bits, with 30mm spacing (between center of each hole).

The plugins can easily be inserted into the tray, and stay firmly in place, but if necessary, they are also easy to remove/replace/relocate.

Left: a plugin for 8mm shanks.

Below: the tray with one plugin inserted.

On the inside of the box, there are supports which keep the tray steady at a user selectable height above the box’s bottom.

By opening the design file in Fusion 360 and selecting Modify -> Change Parameters, it’s easy to change the box configuration:

Here, I’ve reduced the matrix BitsX * BitsY to 4*2. The box dimensions automatically updated accordingly. Don’t change other user parameters than those marked as Favorites (with a blue star).

I’ve published .stl files for a 5*4 box with 6mm, 1/4″ and 8mm plugins on Github. To make other size boxes, open the file RouterBitsBox.f3d in Fusion 360 and change user parameters.

Printed parts. I used PETG for box and tray, and ASA for plugins and latches. Six M3x25 machine screws are needed for assembly. Different colored plugins for different shaft sizes make them easier to distinguish.
The finished storage box for 20 bits with 3 different shaft sizes.
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