A little project I have had rolling in the back of my head for a while now is having fun designing a vape accessory. The biggest hurdle in the creative process was designing something I can actually have made at what I considered a reasonably low price. Since I live in Downtown San Francisco I no longer have a workshop of tools to tinker in, so I found m options even more limited.

Finally it hit me one day in my truck, A functional stand that can go in a cup holder, but also work as a desk stand would be really cool. I know there are some on the market but it was about making a product design of my own. The first part of the process was figuring out the manufacturing part. This is where the wonderful world of 3d printing is a life saver. The advancements in 3d printing over the years has advanced so much that now you are able to use all kinds of different material types, even metal! I love products that hold their own weight and can last a beating to tell the story, so metal was a must have for my base. The down side to metal was that it will scratch the mods placed in it. So designing plastic sleeves that can snap into the base was the next part of the process, and may take a few iterations to get right with tolerances so tight.

After much feed back from fellow vapers it was clear that the stand should be able to hold a juice bottle, a mod or two, and anything extra would be cool. I think I have nailed that in this design as it allows for two 22-23mm mods, a juice slot that can hold most bottles on the market, and for good measure two holes for drip tips, or a pen or pencil if you would so like (I said it could be a desk stand after all!).

With the design process done, it has been sent off for its first iteration of print testing. I am extremely excited for its arrival so I can test all the elements before making the final metal base.

 

Check out the forum thread here for updates!