Purpose

I needed a way to store small items outside and keep them dry, so I made this. It is large enough to fit most pens and other small items. It works great with just the main cylinder part, but adding the TPU gasket makes it watertight (though it does depend on your print settings - it’s rather difficult to make a watertight seal). It also floats! The buoyancy depends greatly on the infill density and pattern, but most things small enough to fit in it should be light enough that it still floats.

The case is extremely durable, and I have thrown it against concrete blocks, trees, cars, and just about everything else I can think of. It took me about 3 hard swings with an axe to crack it open, so it should do pretty well for camping/outdoor activities.

I put two eyelets on the side to enable it to be attached to paracord or something to carry it. They are very strong, but let me know if I should make them even more beefy!

Print Settings

I used PETG to print the body and lid, and TPU to print the gasket. Theoretically any rigid material should work for the body/lid, but if it will be outside I recommend using PETG or ASA as those are UV resistant. The STL that I provided for the TPU gasket is 0.5mm thick, but depending on the thermal expansion of your filament, scaling it in the Z-axis might provide a better seal.

Layer Height: 0.2mm (lid/body), 0.12mm (gasket)

Infill Pattern: Cubic

Infill Density: 30-40%

Supports: Tree

Rafts: None

Assembly

Assembly is extremely easy. If you are just using it for storage and don’t need the TPU gasket, then no assembly required!

If you do want it to be watertight, then print the TPU gasket. (be sure to use a smooth build plate!) Once it’s printed, glue it on to the inside of the lid with a strong glue (be sure to remove any stringing or blobbing). The bottom side of the gasket (the one that touched the buildplate) should be the one being glued to the lid. Then let the glue dry, and voila!

You can also glue the gasket to the body if you like; I put two indentations on it in case someone wants to do that.

If anyone would like to see more features, or find anything that needs to be fixed, leave a comment! Thanks!

P.S. Turns out basically nothing sticks to PETG. I would recommend printing this with ASA so you can use a cyanoacrylate glue. The only way I’ve been able to get PETG to adhere to the gasket is with ethyl acetate, and that’s toxic, so don’t recommend.

Rugged Cylinder Container - Ultra Durable

0.2mm layer, 2 walls, 30% infill

0.2mm layer, 2 walls, 15% infill