instructables

A Storage Carousel. Complete From Design to Assembly.

by StephenD36

This started as a learning exercise, for Fusion 360, laser-cutting, and writing an Instructable.
I have used Fusion 360 before, but only for small 3D printing jobs, where I wanted to extrude a sketch, etc. I haven't used
parameters, or produced anything with moving parts before now.
Laser-cutting is very new to me. I've had my laser (the xTool M1) for a few weeks, and have experimented with engraving,
and some test-cuts, but wasn't very happy with the results to begin with (more on that later).
I've read a few Instructables before, but never created one until now.
The project itself started out as an idea based around stackable storage. However, when I saw Rotunda Organiser for
Hardware : 12 Steps (with Pictures) - Instructables by buck2217, I knew exactly the direction I wanted to go with it. So, I
can't deny taking inspiration from that one, but I hope there's su cient di erence that no o ence will be taken. It is
executed in a completely di erent manner, and there are no similarities within the Instructable.
Please note, I have no a liation with any of the links provided in this, they're only here for convenience.
Supplies:

4mm Oak Veneered MDF, which you can buy pre-cut to 400x300mm from: 4mm Oak Veneered MDF - Laserply . (You can
actually use any size/thickness of material that suits you for this, as the whole process is parameterized) [For the size I
went with, 14nr sheets were needed. I cut down some big sheets to 310x300mm, but regretted making it so tight]
300mm long dowels (6 of 4mm dia. and 3 of 8mm dia. There are loads of options out there, I used: HERCHR 10Pcs Natural
Round Wood Dowel Sticks, Un nished Wooden Craft Stick 30cm Long Wood Dowel Rods for Craft Projects and Art Works,
4mm : Amazon.co.uk: DIY & Tools and HERCHR 10Pcs 8mm Dowel, Wood Dowel Rods Natural Round Wooden Craft Sticks
Extra Long Un nished Wood Rods for Craft Projects and Art Work, 30cm : Amazon.co.uk: DIY & Tools)
Wood glue (Whatever works for you. I used: Gorilla Wood Glue - Incredibly Strong Wood Glue | Gorilla Glue ). Top tip - if
you've got an old bottle of glue that has some left in, but it's coagulated - don't throw it out, give it a really good shake for
a minute or two.
Hardware:
Laser machine (mine is the xTool M1- World's First Desktop Hybrid Laser & Blade Cutting Machine )
Software:
Fusion 360 (the personal edition works just ne for this. Fusion 360 for Personal Use Download | Autodesk )
Fusion 360 add-in: DXF for Laser | Fusion 360 | Autodesk App Store
Optional: Fusion 360 add-in: Parameter I/O | Fusion 360 | Autodesk App Store (allows import/export of parameters via a
csv le)
Optional: AutoCAD LT (or any other DXF editor. Not essential, but nice to have for putting elements adjacent to each
other and reducing the number of cut-lines required.)

A Storage Carousel. Complete From Design to Assembly.: Page 1

A Storage Carousel. Complete From Design to Assembly.: Page 2
Step 1: Decisions, Decisions, Calculations

Make some decisions about the size you want to build this. The most limiting factor is obviously the maximum size your
machine can cut at, but the sheet sizes and dowel lengths are also important.
Everything I refer to in Fusion 360 was done in the 'Design' workspace.
Here are the gures or the initial parameters (entered under Modify>Change Parameters). There are a lot more
parameters, but they are all handled by calculations, based on these.
NrTrays: 6
AxleSpace: 0.5 This gets added to the dia. of the dowels at each of the axle points.
Spacer: 1 The space to put between anything that move against something else.
SheetMargin: 3 How close you want to risk putting the laser to the edge of your sheets
SheetWidth: 300
MaxDowelLen: 300
SheetLength: 310
Thickness: 4 (Of the sheets)
DiaTrayDowels: 4
DiaMainDowels: 8
YOuterDimTray: 60 This is how high you want the sides of each tray.

A Storage Carousel. Complete From Design to Assembly.: Page 3

 For the calculated parameters, start by making the circular side as large as possible given your sheet size and margin,
then the size of the tray sides can be calculated by tting the number of trays you want around the circular side, to as
large as possible, but staying within the side-circle, with 'Spacer' between them. Then the width of the trays can be
calculated using the size of the tray sides and the height of the tray. After that, the length of the tray comes from
subtracting the stand and side thicknesses (along with the spacing between them) from the maximum dowel length.
MaxDia: min(SheetLength; SheetWidth) - ( 2 * SheetMargin )
DiaSides: MaxDia
RadiusSides: DiaSides / 2
ExtTraySideOverMainSide: 2 * Thickness
CtrSideToTrayDowel: ( 2 * ( RadiusSides + ExtTraySideOverMainSide ) + Spacer ) / ( 2 * ( sin(( 360 / ( 2 * NrTrays ) ) * 1 deg) + 1 ) )
DiaTrayEnds: 2 * ( RadiusSides + ExtTraySideOverMainSide - CtrSideToTrayDowel )
ZOuterDimTray: DiaTrayEnds * cos(90 deg - acos(YOuterDimTray / DiaTrayEnds))
MainDowelLen: MaxDowelLen
TrayDowelLen: MainDowelLen - ( 2 * ( ( 3 * Thickness ) + Spacer ) )
XOuterDimTray: MainDowelLen - ( 8 * Thickness ) - ( 4 * Spacer )

Once you have the height, length, and width of the tray, the next parameters can calculate the width of the tabs
required for each. These are the calc's for the tabs along the tray's length. [I decided to go with 3*Thickness as a starting
point then calculated the number which would t, and nally used that to get an actual width per tab.]
Feel free to play around with this for your own preferences.
TabMargin: Thickness
TabSizeApprox: 3 * Thickness
XBetweenTabMarginsTray: XOuterDimTray - ( 2 * TabMargin )
XNrTabDividersTray: ( round(XBetweenTabMarginsTray / TabSizeApprox) )
XTabWidthTray: ( XBetweenTabMarginsTray / ( XNrTabDividersTray + 1 - ( ( round(XNrTabDividersTray / 2) - ( XNrTabDividersTray / 2 ) ) * 2 ) ) )
XMoveMainDowel: ( 4 * Thickness ) + Spacer

These and a few more are in the csv le attached.

The last decision to make is which dowel-holes are going to be axle points and which are going to have the dowel xed
in. For me, I decided the holes in the tray ends and the centre of the side-circle would be axle-holes, and the holes in the
outer edge of the side-circle and all on the stands would be xed in place. I created a couple more parameters for these,
with 0.5 added to the diameter of the dowels.

A Storage Carousel. Complete From Design to Assembly.: Page 4

A Storage Carousel. Complete From Design to Assembly.: Page 5
 Download
https://www.instructables.com/FWA/ZJL4/LDEJBYAV/FWAZJL4LDEJBYAV.csv

Step 2: Start Designing!

Start with the tray. Using the Create>Box option, start with one corner at the centre of the design space and drag it

A Storage Carousel. Complete From Design to Assembly.: Page 6

towards the bottom-right, so the values will be positive. [I may have been missing something, but I had to type the
parameter names into the dialog box rather than at the drawing, otherwise if you come back to edit the feature later,
only the nal value is there, not the parameter name, which means if you change the parameter, expecting it to change
all related parts, that doesn't happen unless you originally typed them into the dialog box.] After creating anything,
always rename it in the 'Browser' to make it easier to keep track of later.

Step 3:

After creating the tray front and back in the same way (making sure they overlap the base), move the base up a little
(Modify>Move) to make sure the tabs aren't at the bottom of the sides, [I used the Thickness parameter for this] then use
the Cylinder option to create the tray ends, and the dowel. To get the dowel placement right, use Construct>Axis
Through Cylinder/Cone/Torus, to put a constructor at the centre of the tray's side, then move it up by half of the tray's
height (YOuterDimTray/2).
[On my rst attempt at this, I put the tray dowel right in the centre of the tray's side, which was a mistake. Luckily I'd cut
and built only one tray before realising it would overbalance as soon as something was put in it! So, I had a re-think after
that, I wasn't sure if the trays would pass each other if they were hanging below their pre-calculated positions, but it
turns out that isn't an issue - as long as the dowels are still in the same positions on the side-circle. It then looks like a
Ferris Wheel (which now makes much more sense).]

A Storage Carousel. Complete From Design to Assembly.: Page 7

Step 4:

Since the dowel-holes here are going to be axle-holes, they need to be formed separately (as opposed to using the
dowel as a cutting tool) to give the dowel room to move. [I added 0.5mm to the dia. of the dowels to get the axle hole's
dia. but 0.25mm would probably have been su cient] Do some test holes in a scrap piece of your material to gauge the
size in which your dowels will turn easily without moving about too much.
Make sure you expand the 'Objects To Cut' drop-down, and make sure it will only be cutting through the objects you
want it to.

A Storage Carousel. Complete From Design to Assembly.: Page 8

Step 5:

The next stage was to start on the tabs. This is where the pre-calculated parameters really come into their own. Use
Construct>O set Plane and o set it from the inside of the tray-end at the origin, by 0mm. Then create as many more as
you need to get all the way along the tray, always o setting from the previous plane by XTabWidthTray. If the calc's
worked out, the last one created in this way will match up with the inside of the other end of the tray. Select the rst
plane in the browser, then hold shift and select the last plane, then left-click on the name of the top one and rename it
something like 'XCutPlanes' (all those selected will be renamed with incremental numbering). Without changing the
selection, right-click on one and select 'Create Selection Set'. Name the selection set the same, and then hide them (press
'V' to hide/show selected objects).
Repeat in the same way for each of the remaining two dimensions (make the inner tray side (front or back) one starting
point for ZTabWidthTray, and then make the top face of the base the last starting point for YTabWidthTray). This is the
most tedious part, but it's worth it.
Select the tray base, front, and back, then choose the tool Modify>Split Body. In the dialog box click Select for the
Splitting Tools, and select the rst and last of the XCutPlanes, tick Extend Cutting Tools, and click OK. Repeat with the
tray-base alone and the rst and last of the ZCutPlanes.
A Storage Carousel. Complete From Design to Assembly.: Page 9
They should look like the images above.

Step 6:

Now select the two end pieces of the base, and use all of the ZCutPlanes to split them up. Select the two side pieces of
the base, and split them using the XCutPlanes. Finally select the four end pieces of the two sides and split them using the
YCutPlanes.
You'll end up with the rst image above, and then you can select every other tab (click on one, then hold shift and click
on the others), then right-click and select 'Remove' until you have the second image above. At this point it's important to
realise that the sides do not have the tab-holes even though it looks like they do in that second image.

A Storage Carousel. Complete From Design to Assembly.: Page 10

Step 7:

Now re-join the tabs to their respective parts: Choose Modify>Combine, select the base, and then the tabs surrounding
it, make sure the Operation is 'Join', and 'Keep Tools' is de-selected. Then hit OK.
Repeat with each of the sides.

A Storage Carousel. Complete From Design to Assembly.: Page 11

Step 8:

The nal step for completing the tray is to cut the tab holes in the sides and ends. Start by choosing Modify>Combine,
with a side selected as the Target Body, and the base selected as the Tool Body. Make sure the Operation is Cut, and that
Keep Tools is selected. Hit OK. Repeat this with the other side, and then the ends - select an end as the target, and the
base+sides as the tools.
Your tray is complete!

A Storage Carousel. Complete From Design to Assembly.: Page 12

A Storage Carousel. Complete From Design to Assembly.: Page 13
Step 9: Circular Sides

For the sides, create another cylinder, this time centred on the tray dowel, with the usual thickness, and a diameter of
DiaSides. Move it downward by CtrSideToTrayDowel, and away from the tray's end by Spacer. Put a constructor at the
centre with Construct>Axis Through Cylinder/Cone/Torus (selecting the face of the outer edge of the side for this). Then
use that constructor as the centre of a new hole. Just as the previous one, except for the size - DiaCtrAxleHole.
Select every part of the tray, especially the dowel, and then choose Create>Pattern>Circular Pattern. Click on the axis
selector and then use the axis constructed earlier. Make sure Distribution is set to Full, and set the Quantity to NrTrays.
When you hit OK, you'll have the trays distributed around the side, but they will need to be rotated around their dowels if
you want them to look as if they are hanging correctly (it only a ects the appearance of the design, and has no e ect on
the outcome, so you could leave them as they are if you like).
Now, select the side, and open Modify>Combine. This time you'll be choosing the tray dowels as tools, and cutting into
the side (remember to have Keep Tools ticked).
Create the centre dowel now, using the same axis and the parameters DiaMainDowels and MainDowelLen, then move it
by XMoveMainDowel, so it looks like the second image above.

A Storage Carousel. Complete From Design to Assembly.: Page 14

A Storage Carousel. Complete From Design to Assembly.: Page 15
A Storage Carousel. Complete From Design to Assembly.: Page 16
Step 10: Stand

For the stand, we could just use a block, but I wanted something with a bit more shape to it, so started with a sketch.
First select everything we have so far, and choose Modify>Move, Select the 'Point to Position' option, and select a point
at the top centre of the centre axis of the nearest side (it'll snap to this when you get close). Set X,Y, and Z to 0, and hit OK.
Now click on Create>Create Sketch, and choose the YZ Plane as the sketch plane. Turn Snap on in the Sketch Palette
dialog, and choose Create>Line. Click on the bottom left tray dowel, the top centre tray dowel and the bottom right tray
dowel, then press the Esc key so you have a pair of lines like an arrow head. [Now a part that had me ba ed for the rst
few minutes.] You need to remove the constraints from the end-points of those lines, or you won't be able to move them
later. Right-click on one of line end-points and select Delete Coincident, repeat for each of the three points.
A Storage Carousel. Complete From Design to Assembly.: Page 17
Next to get that nice rounded top, choose Modify>Fillet, select both lines, and drag the top of the llet until you have a
shape you like. In my case I changed the value to 6*Thickness. Notice that this also gets a new point added at the centre
of the rounding. Now select all three points and choose Modify>Move. Use the 'Point to Position' option, click on the
Point box in the dialog, and choose that top centre point as the start point. Set Y to 0 (X and Z should already be 0) to
place the curve in a nice position around the centre axle.
Now move the two bottom points individually. Select the bottom-right one, Modify>Move, Point to Position, choose the
point itself as the Point, then move it to a position you like the look of, or use Y = -CtrSideToTrayDowel - DiaTrayEnds -
ExtTraySideOverMainSide - ( 6 * Thickness ); Z = CtrSideToTrayDowel + ( DiaTrayEnds / 2 ) + ExtTraySideOverMainSide + (
3 * Thickness ). If you choose your own position, take note of the values for the next point. Repeat the move for the
bottom-left point, but use the negative of Z. [ Z = -CtrSideToTrayDowel - ( DiaTrayEnds / 2 ) - ExtTraySideOverMainSide - (
3 * Thickness ) ]
Now create a line between the two bottom points. You can take the edge o the resulting corners using the llet tool if
you like. To make a space as a hand-hold at the bottom, use Create>Rectangle>Center Rectangle. If you hover near the
centre of the bottom line, it will show a triangle next to it when you can snap to the centre of the line. Make it whatever
size you like (you can safely ignore the half that appears below the line) and llet the top corners.
If you now click within the main sketched shape, it will select the shape we need, and you can then click on Finish Sketch.
Next choose Create>Extrude, type Thickness into the Distance box, and make sure that the Operation is set as New Body.
Once you have the new body, move it away from the circular side by Spacer.
Select the main dowel, and choose Modify>Move\Copy, make sure Create Copy is selected, and choose Free Move as the
Move Type. Drag it towards the bottom left corner of the new body. Once it's in a position you like, select the new dowel
and choose Create>Mirror. For the Mirror Plane choose the XY Plane.
Finally, select the stand body, and choose Modify Combine, select the three main dowels as the Tool Bodies, and select
Cut as the Operation, making sure that Keep Tools is ticked, then hit OK.
That's it as far as the required elements of the design are concerned. If you want to make it look fully formed on screen,
copy the stand twice, moving each one by Thickness, then select the circular side, and all three parts of the stand, mirror
them on the YZ Plane, then move the new parts to the opposite end of the dowels.

A Storage Carousel. Complete From Design to Assembly.: Page 18

A Storage Carousel. Complete From Design to Assembly.: Page 19
A Storage Carousel. Complete From Design to Assembly.: Page 20
 View in 3D Download
https://www.instructables.com/FIB/QORR/LDHE7IAA/FIBQORRLDHE7IAA.f3d

Step 11: Create DXF Files

This is where the add-in DXF for Laser comes in.

Choose Create>Save DXF for Laser Cutting. Select the top face of the tray's base as the rst face, and edit the Laser Kerf
value to suit your own laser [for the M1 it's 0.08mm], and hit OK, a save box opens for you to save the le.
Repeat with a tray side (front and back are identical so only one DXF le is required), a tray end, a circular side, and a
stand part.
That's all you need for the DXF les.
Download
https://www.instructables.com/F4M/DH5P/LDITMQ5U/F4MDH5PLDITMQ5U.dxf

Download
https://www.instructables.com/F1M/46UD/LDITMQ5V/F1M46UDLDITMQ5V.dxf

Download
https://www.instructables.com/F46/65YQ/LDITMQ5W/F4665YQLDITMQ5W.dxf

Step 12: Edit DXF Files

This is optional, but there are a couple of tweaks which can save material.
Open AutoCAD [LT 2019 in my case], and click on the Open File icon at the top of the window. Open the dxf le
containing the tray side. [If your setup is like mine, you'll need to zoom out quite a bit to actually see the drawing.]
Press Ctrl+A to select everything, choose Home>Modify>Copy and then click on the top-right corner (hover until the
cursor shows 'Endpoint', so you know it's going to snap there), now click on the bottom-right corner in the same way.
Select the line between the two by clicking on it, and press Del to delete it, there will still be another line between them.
You now have a drawing that puts the two tray sides right next to each other, with only one laser cut to separate them.
Save it as a DXF le [AutoCAD LT 2018 DXF format worked for me].
Depending on the size of your machine's cutting area, or the size of the material you have, or the laser cutting software
you're using, the next step may be completely unnecessary. For xTool Creative, if you rotate something, it considers the
object's original bordering rectangle as part of the object, and if that rotates out of the working area, it refuses to process
it, even if the object itself is still entirely within the working area. [I had to rotate the stand to t it inside the material, so
that rotation had to be done within AutoCAD.]
Open the dxf le containing the stand, select all, and choose Home>Modify>Rotate. Click on the centre of the top-centre
hole (hover until it says Center), and then rotate until it's aligned how you need it. Save it.

A Storage Carousel. Complete From Design to Assembly.: Page 21

 Download
https://www.instructables.com/F3L/JQSM/LDHE7I5L/F3LJQSMLDHE7I5L.dxf

Download
https://www.instructables.com/FI9/02II/LDHE7I5M/FI902IILDHE7I5M.dxf

A Storage Carousel. Complete From Design to Assembly.: Page 22

Step 13: Cutting

Before you start cutting, make sure your laser cutter has the optimal cutting settings. [Another one that had me pulling
my hair out for a while.] One aspect that isn't commented on enough is the thickness/distance setting. [I had assumed
that using auto-measure, or typing in the actual thickness, would be all that was required, and the rest of the testing
would be based around power/speed/passes. Not So!] With any new material, rst set power at 100%, speed at about
20%, and passes at 1. Then make some test cuts (they don't need to be long or deep) at various di erent values of
thickness (in Laser Flat mode) or distance (in Open Plane mode). You are looking to get the nest line possible without
changing any other settings than thickness. [I found that 3mm was the best thickness setting for my de nitely 4mm thick
material.] Once you have that, then you can start testing to get a cut that goes all the way through. At this point you may
want to use a shape such as the maple leaf from the Shape menu, make it about 25mm wide. Keep the power at 100%,
and passes at 1, unless you get to either end of the speed limit. If the lowest speed isn't su cient, increase the passes, if
you get to the fastest speed, decrease the power. Once the shape pushes out easily without any burn marks around it,
you have your settings.
Once you have those settings, it's plain sailing. Put your fresh material in, load the dxf les (using 'Image' in the case of
xTool Creative Space). When you load these les, you'll nd the tab holes for example aren't grouped with the tray sides,
so select each element by dragging a selection rectangle across it, and hit the Group icon so you can move them
together. Get everything aligned in the most material saving way you can and then select all (Ctrl+A) and choose Cut. Set
the values you need, and hit Process.
Repeat until complete!

Step 14: The Assembly

A Storage Carousel. Complete From Design to Assembly.: Page 23

Putting it all together is straightforward, and as long as you've been following along, it should be obvious what goes
where. So, just some tips here:
Don't forget to trim the tray dowels to the length decided by the parameters earlier.
When pressing the tabs into the tab-holes, it can take precise lining up and a lot of pressure to get them fully together.
This is a good indication that your cutting settings were ideal, and no glue is necessary for the trays at all.
Glue between the 3 stand pieces, and put dowels into the holes to keep them in position relative to each other. Glue at
each dowel hole which isn't an axle hole (where the tray dowels meet the side, and where the main dowels meet the
stand). Being careful to deal with any excess which could get against other parts.
When you put the sides on, and when you put the stands on, don't forget to put something of thickness 'Spacer'
between them and other parts, to keep them from rubbing against other parts when it's turning. Anything at, and of
the right thickness, will do here. If you don't have some thin balsa wood you could just use small piles of paper.
That's it, you now have a Storage Carousel. :D Mine is pictured under my model painting station.

A Storage Carousel. Complete From Design to Assembly.: Page 24

A Storage Carousel. Complete From Design to Assembly.: Page 25
A Storage Carousel. Complete From Design to Assembly.: Page 26
A Storage Carousel. Complete From Design to Assembly.: Page 27