Cotton Swab & Pad Dispenser | Wall Mount

Customizable: the OpenSCAD source (.scad) is in the files. Open it in the free OpenSCAD app and use its Customizer panel (Window - Customizer) - that is what "Customize" refers to below.

One swab at a time, one pad at a time, from a slim box on the bathroom wall or inside the mirror cabinet.

Cotton swabs (left). Swabs lie across the box on a floor that slopes down to the front. At the bottom they roll under the front panel through a gap of one head plus 1.2 mm and stop in a small tray against a lip. The tray is 1.2 heads deep, so one swab sits in it; the next one waits under the panel and can't climb over it, because the panel edge is in the way. A notch in the middle of the lip lets your fingertip get under the stick. Take one, the next rolls in.

Cotton pads (right). Pads stack flat in a square box. The panel stops 2.8 mm above the floor, so the bottom pad slides out forward and the stack stays behind the panel. A notch in the floor lets your finger reach the bottom pad.

Reeded front panel. The fluted front slides down into grooves in the side walls and sits on the groove ends, which set both gaps. Print it in a second colour — wood-look PLA gives the Japandi look in the pictures. The lid keeps the panel down and the dust out.

What to measure:
- your swabs: length tip to tip (swab_len, default 75 mm) and the cotton head at its widest (swab_d, default 6.5 mm);
- your pads: diameter (pad_d); the files hold 50, 55 and 60 mm;
- pad thickness in a stack: height of the pack divided by the number of pads (pad_pitch, default 1.8 mm). Set pad_gap to about 1.5 pads.

Customize: swab length and head size, exit gap play, pad diameter, how many pads it holds (sets the height), pad pitch and exit gap, wall thicknesses, floor slopes, panel thickness and slide play, reed size and spacing (or a flat panel), screw hole size or none, lid rim depth and play, which part to output. The file refuses settings that would let two swabs or two pads out at once, a box too low for its swab floor, or a part that would not fit a 250 mm bed.

Numbers (checked on the mesh, 75 mm swabs, 60 mm preset):
- Size 151 x 83 x 136 mm (50 / 55 mm presets: 141 / 146 mm wide). Holds 70 pads and roughly 135 swabs (estimate).
- A swab with a 6.5 mm head rolls from the box, under the panel and into the tray without touching; heads up to 7.4 mm still pass. Two stacked swabs (5.5 or 6.5 mm heads) can't pass.
- The second swab cannot roll over the first: it hits the panel edge after 20 of the 75 degrees it would need.
- The bottom pad slides out under the 2.8 mm gap; the pad above it is stopped by the panel. Works for pads 1.4–2.8 mm thick in the stack.
- Panel slides with 0.3 mm play front and back; the lid's rims locate it with under 1.2 mm play.

Mounting: two 4.5 mm holes in the back plate, one in each compartment, for 4 mm screws. Screw it up with the panel off, then slide the panel in. Or use mounting tape on the flat back.

Prints without supports — 0 mm² steeper than 45 degrees on every file (0 supports). The body prints upright as it hangs; the long edges over the two exits belong to the separate panel, so the body has no bridges over air longer than about 3 mm. The screw holes are teardrops. The panel prints flat with the reeds up, the lid prints upside down. The steep part of the swab floor is hollow underneath to save plastic; its underside is 40 degrees from vertical.

Print time and filament (Bambu Lab P2S, 0.20 mm Standard, PLA, 60 mm preset): body 4 h 08 min, 201 g; panel + lid 2 h 01 min, 97 g. About 6 h and 298 g for the set. The included 3MF is the body plate; print the panel and lid from the STL files on a second plate.

PRINT SETTINGS: PLA or PETG, 0.20 mm layers, 3 walls, 15 % infill, supports OFF, brim not needed. Two plates: body / panel + lid (fits 250 x 250 mm beds).

Honest notes: this model has not been test-printed yet. The fits above come from measuring the STL files with simple swab and pad models, not from real ones. Cotton is fuzzy and pads are soft: if the swabs don't roll, raise front_slope to 18–20; if two pads come out together, lower pad_gap. The swab count is an estimate. The pictures are 3D renders made from the same files; the swabs, pads and wall in them are render props, not part of the download.