The New Hotness

Shortly after acquiring the Greatest ShopVac, I zip-tied half a foot of cardboard tube to the handle to corral the nozzle and keep the ungainly hose from sprawling across the floor. While disembowling the Ottlite into a mini-lathe light, the plastic trim joining the baseplate to the vertical tube cried out to become a nozzle caddy:

ShopVac Nozzle Caddy - front view — ShopVac Nozzle Caddy – front view

It was exactly the right size and shape (by my admittedly slack standards) to hold the nozzle, plus being destined for the trash, so all it needed was a pair of clamp brackets conjured from the vasty digital deep:

ShopVac Nozzle Caddy - solid model — ShopVac Nozzle Caddy – solid model

The bosses fit into a tapered slot along what was the rear side, with a pair of 4 mm holes at each end for screws into threaded brass inserts epoxied into the brackets:

ShopVac Nozzle Caddy - clamps mounted — ShopVac Nozzle Caddy – clamps mounted

They obviously descend from the many clamp mounts I’ve made for everything from garden hoses to bike running lights. A pair of 4 mm SHCS squish the clamp around the handle, with a strip of electrical tape improving plastic-to-metal griptivity:

ShopVac Nozzle Caddy - side view — ShopVac Nozzle Caddy – side view

The clearance just barely allows a nylock nut atop a washer and you’ll want to trim those 40 mm screws to an exact fit, but it came out pretty well.

The original dimension doodle with some modeling ideas that didn’t survive more thinking:

ShopVac Nozzle Caddy - Dimension Doodle 1 — ShopVac Nozzle Caddy – Dimension Doodle 1

A more detailed doodle with brass inserts instead of the nylock nuts and an aluminum spreader plate that was obviously not necessary:

ShopVac Nozzle Caddy - Dimension Doodle 2 — ShopVac Nozzle Caddy – Dimension Doodle 2

In retrospect, the inserts would make more sense.

The angle doodles convinced me not to bother modeling either the slot’s taper along its length or its mold draft.

Kinda looks like it grew there and makes one wonder why they don’t include a caddy as a standard option.

The OpenSCAD source code as a GitHub Gist:

	// ShopVac Nozzle Caddy
	// Ed Nisley KE4ZNU 2022-02

	Layout = "Show"; // [Handle,Block,Show,Build]

	HandleOD = 20.0;

	//- Extrusion parameters must match reality!

	/* [Hidden] */

	ThreadThick = 0.25;
	ThreadWidth = 0.40;

	HoleWindage = 0.2;

	Protrusion = 0.1; // make holes end cleanly

	inch = 25.4;

	function IntegerMultiple(Size,Unit) = Unit * ceil(Size / Unit);

	ID = 0;
	OD = 1;
	LENGTH = 2;

	//———-
	// Dimensions
	// Handle lies along X axis

	Handle = [200,HandleOD,HandleOD]; // X = longer than anything else

	WallThick = 5.0; // Thinnest printed wall

	Screw = [4.0,7.0,25.0]; // M4 socket head cap screw
	Washer = [4.5,9.0,0.8]; // M4 washer
	Insert = [4.0,5.9,10.0]; // M4 brass insert

	Block = [15.0,Handle.y + 4WallThick + 2Screw[ID],HandleOD + 2*WallThick]; // overall clamp block
	echo(str("Block: ",Block));

	Bosses = [[Block.x,9.5,13.0],[Block.x,15.0,9.0]];

	ScrewOC = Handle.y + 2*WallThick + Screw[ID];

	Kerf = 1.0; // cut through middle to apply compression

	Gap = 1.25;

	CornerRadius = Washer[OD]/2;

	//———————-
	// Useful routines

	module PolyCyl(Dia,Height,ForceSides=0) { // based on nophead's polyholes
	Sides = (ForceSides != 0) ? ForceSides : (ceil(Dia) + 2);
	FixDia = Dia / cos(180/Sides);
	cylinder(d=(FixDia + HoleWindage),h=Height,$fn=Sides);
	}

	// Shopvac handle

	module Handle() {

	rotate([0,90,0])
	translate([0,0,-Handle.x/2])
	rotate(180/(4*8))
	PolyCyl(Handle.y,Handle.x,4*8);
	}



	// Clamp block

	module ClampBlock(BossID=0) {

	difference() {
	union() {
	hull()
	for (i=[-1,1], j=[-1,1]) // rounded block
	translate([i(Block.x/2 – CornerRadius),j(Block.y/2 – CornerRadius),-Block.z/2])
	cylinder(r=CornerRadius,h=Block.z,$fn=8);
	translate([0,0,-(Block.z/2 + Bosses[BossID].z/2 – Protrusion)])
	cube(Bosses[BossID],center=true);
	}

	for (j = [-1,1]) // screw holes
	translate([0,j*ScrewOC/2,-(Block.z/2 + Protrusion)])
	rotate(180/6)
	PolyCyl(Screw[ID],Block.z + 2*Protrusion,6);

	cube([2Block.x,2Block.y,Kerf],center=true);

	Handle();

	translate([0,0,-Block.z])
	rotate(180/6)
	PolyCyl(Screw[ID],Block.z,6);

	translate([0,0,-(Handle.z/2 + Insert[LENGTH])])
	rotate(180/6)
	PolyCyl(Insert[OD],Handle.y,6);
	}
	}

	// Splice block less handle bore

	module ShapedBlock() {
	difference() {
	ClampBlock();
	Handle();
	}
	}




	//———-
	// Build them

	if (Layout == "Handle")
	Handle();

	if (Layout == "Block")
	ClampBlock(BossID=0);

	if (Layout == "Show") {
	color("Green",0.25)
	Handle();
	xofs = -((len(Bosses) – 1)/2 * Gap*Block.x);
	for (i=[0:len(Bosses) – 1])
	translate([xofs + iGapBlock.x,0,0])
	ClampBlock(i);
	}

	if (Layout == "Build") {
	yofs = -((len(Bosses) – 1)/2 * Gap*Block.y);
	for (j=[0:len(Bosses) – 1])
	translate([0,yofs + jGapBlock.y,0])
	translate([0,0,Block.x/2])
	rotate([0,90,0])
	ClampBlock(j);
	}

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