Dishwasher Basket for Silverware and CHOPSTICKS!

thingiverse

I was fed up with chopsticks constantly slipping out of the silverware basket. They would fall through the coarse mesh at the bottom and block the spray arm from turning, leaving the rest of the dishes unclean. It was infuriating! Determined to find a solution, I designed this basket from scratch with chopsticks (and other pointy objects that were prone to escape) in mind, featuring a fine-pitched grate on the bottom surface. The original basket had damaged and missing bars in the grating, likely due to years of sharp objects rubbing against them while trying to make their great escape. To prevent sharp objects from making a break for it, I made all four bottom corners solid, both on the side and bottom edge, so that the tips of these objects would harmlessly rest there. This keeps the sharp edges away from the grating bars, ensuring a long-lasting basket. You should print this with ABS, Nylon, or another high-temperature non-toxic filament. The dishwasher gets scorching hot, and filaments like PLA will soften and distort under those conditions. I originally printed this using PETG, but it slowly warped over time in my high-temperature European dishwasher. In retrospect, I'd advise against using PETG. I've added an Inventor 2018 file for your convenience. The grate extrusions are quite delicate, so be careful when resizing the bars – they tend to fail if you try to manipulate them too much! (Trust me, I know from experience.)