Fish Filter Holder
I began this project because the filter housing in my fish tank kept tipping over and having an uneven flow. I've had my fish (Bean) and his filter for quite a while so I suspect that the suction cups on the back of it are getting weak.
As a solution, I designed, in Creo, a couple of new ideas for mounting the housing to the tank. This'll make it more sturdy and easy to remove when the filter needs to be changed on a weekly basis. The first design incorporated a clip that could be attached to the top rim of the tank. Then a housing for the filter could be attached to the clip via magnets. This makes it easy to keep the clips on the rim while also making it easy to remove the filter.
The next design was made after I noticed that there are 2 small holes in the back of the filter housing. Instead of designing a big new housing, these holes allow me to make a snap-fit pivot that can attach the filter housing to the clips. This is also more cost-effective when considering the amount of material needing to be used. This is the one I ended up going with and it works great.
The Problem
Design 1 in CAD
Design 2 in CAD
(Final version has green parts connected)
Final Design
As seen in the cad, there are multiple holes for magnets. The reason for this is if the water level gets low then I can easliy place the filter housing one "setting lower" until I have time to add more water to the tank
Custom Keyboard Riser
I conducted this personal project because a new keyboard I received has a greater than average height. So much that after even 30 minutes of usage my wrists needed a break.
As a result, using the original base as a guide, I dimensioned and modeled a new one in Solidworks. This model had to be split into two halves that needed to fit on my personal 3D printer's print bed. In the models, I had to also dimension and extrude cutouts for the battery and miscellaneous electronic housings, as well as the screw pins for the keyboard itself. On the underside of the keyboard, I incorporated cuts and attached small rubber pads to prevent the PLA material from sliding over a wooden desk.
I really enjoyed this project as it taught me more about dimensional strategies in CAD as well as improved on an aching problem. To this day, the keyboard riser is still holding up as intended.
Left side in CAD
Right side in CAD
Riser Assembly
Final Design
The picture shows the height difference from the original riser to my new custom one. This design is much more comfortable for my wrists and it still holds up strong to this day
Sink Sponge Rack
This project solves an age-old question of where to put a sink sponge. Yes, there are methods on the market such as a sponge dish but I always found those to accumulate gross liquids. Taking inspiration from similar products and designs, I designed and modeled a rack that hangs over the sink, has a draining feature, and is supported by the faucet.
This process involved taking the dimensions of an everyday sponge as well as steel wool. With those, the first part I modeled was the "bin" that holds these and has holes on the bottom to drain excess water stored in these cleaning tools. Next, I dimensioned the faucet diameter and determined a respectable thickness that the "ring" part needs to be supported.
This project solved a huge problem in my apartment because now my roommates and I won't leave trails of dirty liquids on the counter, or store these dish cleaning products randomly at the bottom of the sink.
Design in CAD
Design Test Fit
Design in Use