This is the laser-cut version of the paint rack concept. The Glowforge cut it perfectly and the parts fit snugly enough to be dry-fit but with enough margin to allow them to be glued easily. It was also surprisingly sturdy and the central spine gave good support with the shelves only flexing minimally when loaded up with paint bottles.

Having an actual physical version allows you to learn some things that you can never get from manipulating a 3d model. Here are some things that I like about the design:

• The overall design seems structurally sound even when fully loaded.
• The vertical orientation makes it really easy to view each paint rather compared to having bottles nested behind other bottles.
• Not having individual cut-outs for paint allows for much easier organization. I can easily insert a new bottle between others by simply pushing it in and the other slide out of the way.  Having to rearrange bottles in a rack with holes is like playing Peg Solitaire.

Some things I don’t like:

• Not enough shelves.
• 20″ (50cm) width is a bit too wide for my workspace if I want to add another rack side-by-side.
• While the rack is surprisingly sturdy, the shelves do flex slightly when applying pressure because of their length.

The dimensions for the concept were based on the size limitations of trying to fit all the parts onto two 20″x12″ MDF boards. I’ll need to get creative with the next design to keep it efficient from a material usage perspective, but allow for more shelves.