UK-based product design engineer Max Maker (real last name available) designs and builds custom drawer slide solutions. And I mean large ones, like the kind that can load a Fiat into the back of an RV.

Because he runs his own business, Max is often assembling and packaging his products himself. And he's constantly optimizing his processes, often with the aid of a 3D printer. For instance, he found he repeatedly needed to cut notches into some foam extrusions, so that he could bend them to turn corners to fit into a box. First he made this simple wooden jig:

But after giving it some thought, he designed this faster system using 3D-printed parts:

Then he designed this very clever packaging station to speed the boxing process:

Max also designed this machine, again from 3D-printed parts, to speed the production of tape strips:

For another project, he needed to polish some tubing. A 3D-printed spool and an angle grinder did the trick:

Of course, not all experiments are successful. Max shares his failures as well; of the following two prototypes, the first here didn't work:

This last one isn't to do with his shop at all. Max sought to get prescription lenses into a pair of snorkeling goggles, allowing him to enjoy his hobby with 20/20 vision:

And he's figured out an easy way to get his garbage cans from the yard to the curb:

There's lots more fun stuff to see on Max's Instagram.

I’m a lapsed industrial designer. I was born in NYC and figured I’d die there, but a few years ago I abandoned New York to live on a farm in the countryside with my wife. We have six dogs.

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