Personal CAD – Making Project

Nightstand Organizer

Mahathi Mallina

EDSGN 100H, 2022, Section 016, Dr. Ritter

December 12, 2022

Images

Figure 1. Hand sketch of passive speaker

Figure 2. Isometric view (left) and front view (right) of passive speaker
Figure 3. SolidWorks drawing of passive speaker

Figure 4. Hand sketch of phone holder

Figure 5. Front (left) and isometric (right) views of phone holder

Figure 6. Hand sketch of charger organizer

 Figure 7. Isometric view of charger organizer

Figure 8. Front view of organizer with specific labels

Figure 9. SolidWorks drawing of charger organizer

Figure 10. Hand sketch of glasses organizer

Figure 11. Glasses holder made using splines and sweep tool on SolidWorks

Figure 12. SolidWorks drawing of glasses holder

 Figure 13. Hand sketch of book organizer’s two parts: shelf and end

Figure 14. The book organizer is composed of a shelf (left) and a book end (right)
 Figure 15. Front of book end with engraving

Figure 16. How the two pieces attach together to form adjustable organizer
Figure 17. SolidWorks drawings for book shelf (left) and book end (right)

Figure 18. Initial sketch of assembly

 Figure 19. Final assembly of nightstand organizer in isometric (left) and front (right) views

CAD Features

I used the following features in this project:

1. Extrude Boss/Cut
2. Shell
3. Linear Pattern
4. Fillet
5. Loft
6. Revolve
7. Sweep
8. Text

Most of the features I used were the same ones I thought I was going to use when I
proposed this project. In fact, I followed my initial CAD plan perfectly with only a few minor
adjustments to sizes to be more visually appealing. The only step that varied in terms of
features used was when I planned to use the intersect tool to connect one spline to another for
my glasses organizer. However, when building the actual part, I realized that this was not
actually feasible as the intersect tool is meant to intersect and merge solids, surfaces and
planes. SolidWorks kept finding my two sweeped splines to be the same solid, so it would not
allow me to use the tool. Instead, I had to create a reference plane that went into the second
spline and loft a tube out so the two splines would be connected.
Reflection

1. Considering the entire project, what did you learn (beyond new SW features)?

Beyond new SolidWorks features, one of the most important things I learned was how to
continuously adapt a design to reflect new changes. In other words, I feel that this project really
tested my flexibility and how I am able to overcome some challenges. Most notably, for the
phone holder and clock part, I initially sketched it to only have enough space to put a phone and
charging port. However, despite taking into account the fact that the entire part would be 9”
long, I didn’t realize that there would be a lot of extra space around the cut-out that would
make it aesthetically unpleasant. I knew I couldn’t make the part smaller as I wanted the length
to match that of the passive speaker, so I had to redesign it on the spot. I evaluated user needs
again, realized I wanted an extra space to store small jewelry, and added a “pocket” to use up
the space. Overall, the entire process helped me learn how designing products is all about
realizing that not everything goes to plan and you’ll have to constantly change your design.
The clock part also taught me the importance of making sure your initial sketches are as
accurate and to scale as possible. This would help limit the amount of changes you have to
make in order to fit user needs and give you a very solid path to follow.

2. Describe how you designed your SW model to take into consideration your
manufacturing process(es). For example, you may wish to discuss incorporation of
appropriate tolerances, part sizes (based on nominal material sizes), etc.

I designed my model to take into consideration manufacturing processes by ensuring

that all the parts I wanted to 3D print were smaller than the printer’s maximum volume.
Additionally, I made sure that most of the features on the 3D printed parts were big enough that
they could be printed out accurately and support material can be removed easily. For instance,
the glasses holder has a diameter of 0.25 inches and wide space between the splines, which will
make it easier to remove any support material that may be used. On the other hand, for the
wood manufacturing, I made all the sizes bigger than what I would anticipate them to be to
account for the slight difference that occurs when cutting parts or laser cutting. For example, for
the clock part, I made the length and width of the cut-out for the phone 0.08” longer to add
“wiggle” room in order for the phone to fit snugly with tolerances. I also used many simple
shapes like rectangles and circle cut-outs that can be made with the set sizes of wood (usually
less than 5” wide and 1” thick) and limited tools in the lab like the band saw and drill press.
 3. How would you change your design if you were able to redesign your concept to better
meet your needs (identified before or during the project) and/or manufacturing
constraints? Include updated sketches to demonstrate your changes. Include justification
for changes.

Since I did not take into consideration the fact that the 3D printer also has tolerances
and I need the glasses holder to fit into the hole in the passive speaker, I would make the
holder’s diameter 0.01” smaller than 0.25” diameter hole in the speaker to ensure it fits. In
terms of other user needs, I realized that I also collect junk like plastic bottles, wrappers and
paper on my desk when I’m in bed doing work. In order to combat this, I thought it would be
nice to have a mini trash can that is discrete but would still allow me to toss the small pieces of
trash without having to get out of bed. One part I would most likely redesign would be the book
organizer because realistically, it would be a struggle to reach the book across the nightstand
when I’m in bed. Therefore, I would most likely increase the height of my project and
incorporate a redesigned book organizer underneath the clock and above the charger organizer.

Figure 20. Updated sketches for redesigned concept