Matt's Tray

thingiverse

This is a tray that stacks. I laser-cut it using a 30w Epilog Zing out of 3mm MDF that you can buy at any home center for less than $10 for a 4'x8' sheet. I have been teaching kids with Legos for about 11 years, and during this time my school has probably spent $50k on Lego kits. With so many kids and such a huge quantity of Legos, I looked everywhere for inexpensive sorting options but found nothing suitable within my budget since all my money went into buying Legos. Then I created my own tray-cutting tool after failing to understand the instruction manual for some cheaper options. UPDATE (11-7-2014): I redesigned the layout to reduce waste and fit on a 6" x 9.5" piece of MDF. Instructions To assemble this tray, I used my 30w Epilog Zing engraver to cut out pieces from 3mm MDF. The laser speed is set at 30%, power at 100% and frequency at 600hz. I designed all the parts to fit within a small sheet of paper, measuring roughly 11" by 16", so they can be easily handled and stored. The base measures 4.5" in length and 3" in width. Its height is about 2.25" with sides that slope outwards by 4 degrees. Assemble the front, back and sides first then pop it onto the bottom plate. You will see two tabs on top of the sides which can be locked into wider second and fifth holes on the bottom to enable stacking. To secure it further, apply plain white glue or wood glue to the joints.