Hatch Container Rechained

Howdy, wonderful people!

It's not often that I revise an older model completely, but the original Chained Hatch Container was a fun one that held a certain place in my heart.  The concept was that a cylindrical container with a screw-on lid connected via an articulated tether that looked kind of like a watch band.

I hadn't thought about that model in a long time, but someone recently alerted me that the newest crop of high-precision printers made things a bit too loose, so I figured it might be time to see if the whole thing could be improved.  And by improved, I mean completely redesigned...

I'd like to hope that I've learned a few things in the years since the original was designed, so just about everything is different.  Here are some of the more interesting (okay, interesting to me) bits:

* The chain part is much thicker!  The old one was 3mm thick, which is narrower than I prefer to go these days for a hinge, if I can avoid it.

* The closure has more guidance features to keep the lid aligned and avoid cross-threading, which was a huge issue with the original.  

* The interior thread is minimised for simplicity, and to avoid the case where unscrewing the lid drives the chain-side edge of the lid upwards against the chain.  It also means the lid doesn't have to be as precisely vertical.

* Everything's just a bit more tasteful and well-proportioned!

Oh, and the chain parts aren't just hinges, either, but slotted runners which allow the chain to extend and contract a little.  The chain extends to allow the lid to move into place, but then can contract as the lid is screwed down.  It can still hang outwards of course, but it's a little neater overall.

Print Description

This is an articulated print, so make sure your bottom layer is nice and neat, watch your bed adhesion, and be careful of print issues like stringing and overextrusion that might cause moving parts to bind together!

Print Dimensions

Hatch Container Rechained occupies 209mm x 83mm on the print bed and is 37mm tall.

Supports Needed?

Not at all!  Designed for straightforward printing!

Scalability

You might be able to scale this a little, but of course the tolerances between the parts will scale, too!  Scaling up too far will eventually cause things to fall apart, while scaling down will eventually lead to parts binding during printing, so beware!

Print Orientation

Hatch Container Rechained prints open, with the lid upside-down.

Further Thoughts

I did run off a print of the original Chained Hatch Container to compare to the new version!  They do look closely related, but the new one really is vastly better in every way :)

UPDATE! Rechained Hatch Container with Lid Movement Restriction

If you found that your Hatch Containers Rechained were prone to having the lid thread slip when tightened, you might want to try the lateral movement restriction version!  It reduces the overall space the lid thread has to move away from the container thread, to keep things neatly meshed together.

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576 Hatch Container Rechained