Cable organizer
Year: 2023
It all started with an observation when my phone charger's cable wrapped around my lozenges for sore throat in my backpack...
... then I started to ideate, whether I can use this phenomenon to design a cable organizer.
Quickly jumped into Shapr3D to draft the shape...
... and rendered my favorite variation in V-ray, wich I really liked and wanted to try whether it works in reality.
So the next step was to create 3D printed mockups. It was simple and quick to test various cylinder height, distances, rim thickness, draft angles... etc. These mockups were great to validate the idea... still in use on my desk btw.
But I did not stop there and as I initially imagined the cable holder would be from a kind of rubber material I decided to cast silicone samples. The mold making was fun and informative... sometimes less fun.
I started with plaster molds then 3D printed FDM and silicone variation and CNC milled aluminium as last and final.
As you can see below there is a significant difference between the high quality FDM mold (left) and the CNC milled version (right) in terms of surface quality and accuracy.
... and this is how the final prototypes were born. I checked various use cases and decided to make 3 different type of cable holder in mini (2x2), medium (3x3) and large (2x5)...
Thanks to the bending around the cylinders the cables hold steady. You can place 2 cables on top of each other in the same row. The cable holders are sticked to the surface with a microsuction tape.
This setup below is imaginary, but definitely shows the "infinite" potentials of organizing your cables...
... oh the most fun part was playing with the colors... :)
... and materials like concrete, teak wood and a high-quality print with the stunning Prusament galaxy black PLA.
This project brought a lots of joy to me. So simple but I had a lot to learn about mold casting and the importance of minor iterations.
Maybe there are supercomplex and great solutions on the market already, but my aim was to solve only the most essential problems in a general home office setup while creating a product which is loveable, fun and pleasing aesthetically.
Thanks for watching!
... and dont forget to check my instagram highlights for more fun and secret (not-anymore) facts about the project.
The awesome photos are made by Kevin as usual.
