Coin Caddy and CD Holder - Organisers for Your Car

I purchased a new car recently and while it has everyone that opens and closes, it was missing a couple of things that I had in my old car, that I was missing. In my old car (built in 2002!) I had a coin holder and a mat in the bottom of my console to hold a CD case or two. Now some may argue that we don't need a coin holder or CD holder anymore, because these are almost redundant things.

HOWEVER, there's always a situation where you need a coin or two - and I sometimes go on road trips that will take me to more remote places where phone reception might be a bit patchy and so Spotify and the radio becomes a bit spotty. I love my music so it's always good to have a backup plan.

I decided to design a coin holder (that also holds a couple of pairs of sunnies (sunglasses) and a mat that will hold a couple of CDs, that I could then print on my 3D printer.

In this Instructable, I'll take you through the process of how I did it, so you might be able to design and print your own. (I'll include the files, however the dimensions used are specific to my car (Subaru XV) and Australian coins.

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To complete this project you need:

• Access to a computer with 3D modelling software - I used Fusion 360
• Access to a 3D printer
• Filament in the colour of your choice

Before commencing the design, I had a look online to see if there was anything I could buy that would do the job. While there was, the most popular solution was the one pictured. While it does hold the coins, I felt it could block the CD case and you would have to remove the tray each time you wanted to get something in the bottom part of the console.

I decided I wanted something that was a bit more compact and just held the things I needed - my phone usually sits in the console under the media player as it is connected to the front USB ports for Android Auto/Apple Play.

I needed to get the measurements of the console, so I also did that. I got the measurements of the base of the console (length and width) - I didn't bother about the height, as I'd already sat a CD case in there to make sure it fits.

I also measured the width at the top and the dimensions of the 'T' the is inset, as this is where I would slot the coin holder into. Once I had these dimensions, I got online to get the dimensions of each Australian coin and the dimensions of a CD jewel case.

CD Jewel Case dimensions: 142 x 125 x 10 mm

Australian Coin Dimensions (diameter): (via Royal Australian Mint)

5 cent = 19.41mm

10 cent = 23.60mm

20 cent = 28.65mm

50 cent = 31.65mm

1 dollar = 25.00mm

2 dollar = 20.50mm

Sunglass Arms: Obviously these differ quite a bit from pair to pair, but I left a 30mm x 5mm space, this will accommodate almost all pairs.

Now that I've got the dimensions of everything, it's time to design the parts.

Open Fusion 360 and start by creating a sketch and drawing a rectangle with the overall dimensions (length and width) of the coin holder. Finish sketch.

Then select the rectangle and Extrude it to a height that is big enough to accommodate the depth of your coins (I chose a depth of 50mm).

Then on the top face, start drawing the rectangles that will accommodate each denomination of coin. I chose to round up to the next mm for the coins to ensure they all fit in their respective slots. They were all the same length and had equal spacing between each slot for visual appeal. I aligned the left and right sides (with the middle parts overlapping depending on coin width) - as you can see in the pictures.

Once you've got all the rectangle sketches, select each one, one by one and use the Extrude tool to put holes into the shape. You may choose to go the full depth of each coin, I chose to go halfway, so each coin would stick out of their slots and would be easy to pick up out of the caddy. Ensure you check your measurements, as each depth will be different based on the dimensions of the coin. For example, the 50 cent coin is 31.65mm (I rounded this up to 33mm for the width, and so the depth will be 33 divided by 2 = 16.5mm depth). Whereas the depth for the 5 cent coin was only 10.5mm (21 / 2 = 10.5).

Repeat the process for each coin slot.

Then to get the roundness for each slot, select the two bottom edges at the base of each cut out. Select the fillet tool and enter the same dimension as you did for the depth (16.5mm for the 50 cent coin). This give a diameter for the curve to fit the coins. Repeat the process for each cut out.

Once you've done this, you can create the shell of the model. You don't need the whole box around the coin slots, you only really need a shell around each coin - this will save printing time and will use less filament.

Press the 'S' key in Fusion 360 which brings up the search bar and type 'shell'. Use Ctrl+Click to select the 4 sides of the shape as well as the bottom of the shape. In the distance field, enter the thickness you want your shell to be - I chose 2mm. Also ensure 'Inside' is selected for the direction. Once you hit OK, you should have a shell that looks like the last two pictures in this step.

Draw your rectangles for the cut outs for your sunglasses (as I said, mine were about 30mm x 5mm). You might just choose to make one bigger cut, it's really up to you. I centred these on my design with a 4mm gap between the two holes. Then I just used the Extrude tool to cut the 2mm into the shape to get through to the other side.

Once you've done this you need to create the 'handle' or the part that will slot into the 'T' shape in the console. I sketched out a rectangle on the bottom face of the shell where I wanted the bulk of the handle to come out from (this was the full width and 15 mm wide. I then used the extrude tool to extrude it to a depth of 21mm (the full depth is 23mm, but I already had a 2mm shell).

I then created the smaller bit for the base of the 'T' in the middle and use the Extrude tool to pull this one out. The depth of that part was smaller, as I just wanted it to help 'home' the piece as it's being slotted in, and didn't need to be the full depth.

I then selected all of the edges of the handle and use the Fillet tool to round the edges slightly (only 1mm).

Once you've finished the handle, your model is really finished. I had never done anything with images in 3D printing before, so wanted to experiment with adding a logo. As I drive a Subaru, I thought about adding their logo to my model. Obviously all rights belong to Subaru for their logo. I located an SVG file online of the logo and inserted it using 'Insert SVG' command.

I had to resize the image, and reorient it so it would sit on the face I required it on. Once I'd sized it up, I used the Extrude tool to deboss the logo into the design.

Then I saved the file as an STL.

This design was very simple and drew on most of the principles already outlined in the coin caddy example, but in short:

1. Draw a rectangle the size of the base of your console
2. Extrude it to the depth you want - 2mm should do it
3. Draw the holder arms onto the top face. Make sure that the space inside these arms will hold the CDs. The first go, I used the exact dimensions and it didn't fit! So I added a mm or two for the width of each CD and also added a couple of mm for the length of each one.
4. I added enough space for 3 CDs, but you might decided to add more or less capacity.
5. Once you've got your design right, select all the rectangles and use the Extrude tool to pull this up (I brought it up 5mm).
6. Copy the design and rotate it and place it on the other side of the plate.
7. Once you're happy with the design, save it as an STL.

If you just want to print the files that I have made, you can download them here.

Once you're happy with your models, pop them in your slicer (I used Cura) and prepare them for printing.

The CD Holder is fairly straightforward to print - you'll want 3 or 4 layers for the top and bottom of it and 20% infill for the few layers in the middle. Based on those settings, my print took about 4 hours.

For the Coin Caddy, you want to use similar settings (3 or 4 layers top and bottom, 20% infill). Make sure you also use supports in this print! I turned the model over in Cura, so the top of the print was face down on the build plate. This created the least amount of supports needed, but also meant that the logo print wasn't the clearest.

For the supports I chose an angle of 60 degrees and this printed fine.

Check out a few of the pictures I took during the print above. After the coin caddy was finished, I removed the model from the build plate and just broke out the supports with my fingers, they all broke off relatively cleanly.

Now that you're done, you can fit your newest accessories to your car. Now everything has it's place in your console!