Modular Pet Food Organizer Drawer (Customizable!)

Because my cats are little gourmets, they demand a high variation of their food. To finally get rid of the chaos of different types of cat food, I designed a fully modular pet food organizer. My goal was to be able to easily see and reach for all different types of cat food. The design is extendable to fit your available space, see below for details.

Features: 

• Modular design - use the cups that fit your pets need the most

  • Four styles are available yet (see pictures for reference): 

    • pouches

    • trays (multi-usable with pouches)

    • small cans (single-cup, multi-usable for pouches)

    • small cans (double-cup)

• Easy to change cup - change without tools!

• Easy to print - no supports needed 

• Extendable - additional rows possible (each row uses 10 cm of space)

• Easy to assemble with printed alignment tool

This build is theoretically also possible for stationary mounting in the cabinet although that reduces the idea to a simple set of cups for pet food.

BOM: 

• approx. 2,5 kg of PETG (or your favored material)

• 4x M3 heated inserts per cup (length max. M3x5,7)

  • with all single-cups you need a total of 32x M3 inserts

  • Please note: if you use double-cup you will need less inserts

• 2x M3 heated inserts for the handle 

• 4x M3x10 screws per cup 

  • all single-cups: 32x M3x10 screws 

• Plywood or other base with 50 cm length and 40 cm width

  • the width can easily be adjusted in 10 cm increments to fit your space

• Drawer rails for bottom mount with 450 mm length

  • I used these from Amazon (non-affiliate link: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0D5CYXPV1?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1)

• Some screws to mount the drawer rails to your plywood (unspecified)

• Some screws to mount the rails to your plywood (recommended 4x12 or 4x16)

• 2x M3x25-30 for the handle, depending on the thickness of your plywood

Alternative for heated inserts: 
You can also glue the mounting rails to cups. If you do so, keep everything lined up properly with clamps to ensure the fit. Also, you must prevent warping during printing of you plan to glue the parts. If you use the heated inserts, you can slightly bend the warped prints back by screwing everything together

Print instructions: 

• Print the following models per row:

  • 1x rail_front

  • 1x rail_back

  • 4x mounting rails

  • 2x single-cups (style doesn't matter)

  • 1x Locking pin 

• Print the mounting_helper

• Print the handle and handle_plate

• Settings

  • Perimeters: 4x

  • Infill: 15% Grid or Gyroid

  • No supports needed

• Please note: the locking pin has to move with only slight force in and out. Adjust the scale by 1-2% if that is not the case with your printer/filament.

Assembly instructions: 

1. Print and buy all parts.

2. Attach the drawer rails to your cabinet.

1. Screw the rails to you plywood.

2. Insert all the heated inserts to the mounting rails.

3. Attach the mounting rails to the cups with 4x M3x10 screws. Look out for the correct orientation of the rails (angled side points inwards).

1. Use the printed mounting_help to draw the mounting position on your plywood. To do so, guide the printed part along the left and right side of the plywood and draw a line through the suggested holes.

2. Align the rails on the drawn line and mark the drilling points.

3. Pre-drill at the right spots and mount the rails to the plywood. Keep enough space in the front for the handle. 

4. Drill the holes for the handle in the front. Use the handle_plate as guide for the correct measurement. Mount the handle with 2x long M3 screws (length depending on the thickness of the plywood).

1. Slide in the cups from the back.

1. Lock each row with a locking pin. The pin doesn’t need to stay there rock-solid. The movement alone won’t kick the pin out of position.

2. Enjoy!

I will also share the design files (f3d) for further community adaptions and remixes. I would love to see your makes!

If you love this model the same way as I do, I would be very grateful for a small cup of coffee via https://ko-fi.com/purrfect3d. Thank you!