DDD Printable Wall Control: 3D printed hangers for steel pegboard panels

The system exists because commercial hangers do not fit every tool

The DDD Printable Wall Control project provides a wide range of modular pegboard hangers for use with the Wall Control powder-coated steel pegboard solutions sold on Amazon. The author describes the research behind the choice, landing on Wall Control as a durable, high-strength and low-price organization solution that works with existing quarter-inch standard pegboard pegs, and noting that the panels add 1 inch slots which allow greater strength and rigidity for compatible hangers. The commercial accessories Wall Control sells are described as high quality and reasonably priced. The argument for the printed parts is that printed solutions can offer highly customized solutions made at home for your own organization needs and can do so quickly and inexpensively. The author is careful to recommend using both, as needs arise. This is a workshop project, aimed at a person with a printer and a wall, not a software tool.

Three part families, and the naming scheme is the specification

The designs come in three families, and the README is careful about the dimensions each one uses:

* Sidepiece dimensions are `height x depth`
* Centerpiece dimensions are `height x width`
* Sidepieces come in left/right pairs.  They have a hook that connects to Wall Control and are usually used to attach a centerpiece to the wall
* Centerpieces usually are there to actually hold whatever you are trying to hang
* Locking spacers can be used to fully constrain the part so nothing moves around

The practical consequence is that the filenames are the documentation. A sidepiece is three inches tall and flat in the front will have a filename starting with 3x0, and a centerpiece two inches high and three inches across will have a filename starting with 2x3. The repository layout follows the same structure, with `Sidepieces/`, `Centerpieces/`, `Quickhooks/`, and `Accessories/` directories, plus a `Sources/` directory for the original design files. Anyone planning a print job reads the dimensions off the filename rather than off a table, which is unusual and mostly useful, since it means you can tell whether a model fits before opening the file.

Quickhooks are the fast print, sidepieces and centerpieces are the structure

The Quickhooks series are fast-printing models for lightweight use cases, and the collection is designed for easy printability, with all parts provided in a printable orientation and no supports required. That last constraint drives most of the design decisions in the repository, including the pins in the belt clip recipe, which exist because some centerpieces have no tabs to press into the sidepiece, and the author states that this is always a result of avoiding supports in the print job. Sidepieces extend out from the wall and come in a variety of lengths and shapes, offered in left, right, and center variations, and they are the parts that hook into the panel. Centerpieces are designed to mount between a pair of sidepieces and create custom hook, shelf, or hanger solutions that snap into place between a variety of sidepieces. Some centerpiece models add a locking feature that allows for completely rigid connections to a Wall Control panel.

The belt clip recipe is the worked example worth reading

The README walks through one complete hanger, for tools with a belt clip such as a tape measure or pocket knife, and gives the full bill of materials as a list of STL files with the dimensions spelled out. You print one 3x0 Flat Left and one 3x0 Flat Right, which are the left-hand and right-hand sidepieces, three inches tall and flat in the front so there is nothing sticking forward. Then a 2x3 Spacer clip-on as the center hook for the clip, two inches high and three inches across, plus a 1x3 Locking Spacer and an 8mm Lock Pin, and four 4x10x8mm pins. The description of the locking pin is the part that explains the whole system. It screws into the locking spacer to press a pin into the quarter-inch holes on the Wall Control panel, providing a fully-constrained fit on the wall, and the README says to drive it into place with a quarter-inch square drive ratchet, and to print a bunch because this is the core feature of the system.

Press fit is the default, and glue is the escape hatch

The Other stuff section covers the practical realities of printed hardware. The parts are designed with a press-fit, and you can use a vice or clamps to force the parts together. The final fit is determined by the calibration of your printer, and if anything is loose you can add a drop of CA glue to keep the parts held tightly. This is an honest admission that the system depends on the user's specific printer and settings rather than on a fixed tolerance, and it is the main thing to weigh before printing a large set. It is also the reason the locking parts exist. A friction fit can be improved with glue, but a locking pin driven into the panel holes cannot creep at all, and the README credits the locking idea to Seth Altobelli on Thingiverse for several centerpiece models.

The getting started advice is to start from the middle

The tl;dr section is short and slightly counter-intuitive. Start with the centerpieces, find something suitable for the thing you want to hang, then find a matching set of sidepieces using the dimensions from the centerpiece. That is the opposite of the order the parts are named in, and the reasoning is straightforward once you look at the recap list. The centerpiece is the part that does the holding, and its dimensions determine the reach of the sidepieces, so choosing the center first and working outwards is what avoids printing a set of sidepieces that turn out to be the wrong length. For a first build, the advice is to pick the object you most want to hang, measure what it needs, and then work backwards through the naming scheme.

Where this project is the wrong tool

Two limits are obvious once the dependency on the commercial panels is understood. The first is that you need Wall Control panels. These are steel pegboard products with both quarter-inch peg holes and one inch slots, and every dimension in the design set is chosen to work with that geometry, so if your wall is a different brand of pegboard, a different hole spacing, or a slat wall with a different slot profile, none of the models will mount. The second is load. The README describes press fits, a vice, clamps, and CA glue as the way to keep parts together, which is fine for a tape measure and questionable for something heavy. There is also no versioning or release process to speak of, with no GitHub releases, so the models are simply the current state of the repository, and any change to a design is indistinguishable from any other commit. If you need a certified load rating or a repeatable bill of materials, this is not that.

Editorial conclusion

DDD Printable Wall Control fits someone who already owns Wall Control panels and wants hangers for a tool they cannot buy off the shelf, and who is comfortable with FDM printing and with press fits that need a little force. It is the wrong choice if you are starting from nothing, because the panels are a commercial product the designs are built around, and it is the wrong choice if you need parts that carry real load, since the README describes the fit as press-fit with CA glue as the remedy for a loose part. Before you print, read the recap section on the dimension conventions, because the filename is the only specification, and print a locking spacer set rather than relying on friction alone, since the README calls that the core feature of the system.

Frequently asked questions

Official sources

1. aderusha/DDD-Printable-Wall-Control-System on GitHub
2. Issues
3. License: MIT
4. README