Outcome

INTENTION

I wanted to make a box to hold my 3DS games since my current game case is full, and carrying the loose ones in a plastic bag just seems to be begging for something to be lost.

RESEARCH AND CONTEXT

I looked at some 3DS game cases, but since most of them are made so that the games are held snuggly, I decided I would just make a chest instead. I knew I wanted the lid to be able to lock in such a way that the lock wouldn't easily come undone during rough transport in my bag, so I went through a couple lock designs before finally deciding on a twist lock that would be wedged snugly in so that even if the box was upended, it'd be difficult for it to open.

PROCESS AND PROCEDURE

I modeled it in Fusion 360. Lots of extruding! I added height to it to make it a little more proportionate after having to thicken the front and back walls to accommodate the lock and hinges. After deciding on a design, I printed it out.

Unfortunately, some problems arose with the print. I had tried to print the hinge in place, but since the printer isn't perfectly precise, the hinge ended up sealed together. 

FINAL PRODUCT

Since the hinge was faulty, I ended up using it as a dice container instead for my polyhedral dice, which is easier to dig through than my dice bag and less prone to dice skittering off the table than dumping them all on the table.

REFLECTION

I'm pretty satisfied with how the locking mechanism came out, although it'll never be used as the hinge is broken. Next time, I would print the hinge and box in separate pieces. I think the lock and the lid are also a bit too thick; I had worried a that the plastic wouldn't be able to hold up if I were to make it thinner, but after having done a couple pieces and struggled with peeling plastic off, I think it would've been fine if I had reduced the size of those parts.