Glowforge project: painter's tape dispenser made from MDF

As a DIYer and maker of all sorts, I use painter's tapes a lot.  I simply need to organize them better rather than allowing them to stack on top of one another.  Each tape of a specific width deserves a dispenser on its own so it can be ported to whereever my project is being worked on.  However, painter's tape dispensers are quite expensive, IMHO.  I should be able to make some on the laser cutter fairly quickly at a much lower cost.

A few weeks ago, I made three.  Though not perfect, these dispensers function well enough for my purpose.  I made another one today and plan to keep it in the basement workshop.  To thank those who follow me on Instagram, I am offering the plan (in two SVG files) for those laser-cutter owners who may like to give this a try.  The files are available free to download in my shop. 

The final product  -------->      :

Materials needed: MDF (0.125" thick and 0.2" thick), 3mm brass tubing, serrated blade as shown below

For the blade, I cut a section from an old hack saw blade.  You may use other blades including a recycled one from your Cling Wrap perhaps.

STEPS

The assembly is straight forward.  Spread wood glue on the finger joints.  Bring up the sides.  Press on the joints to squeeze out excess glue.  Apply additional pressure on the joints where you see gaps.  Of course, you will wipe away glue squeeze outs.  I did use clamps on the piece when the glue was curing.

There are three hexagonal pieces.  Glue them together and align the edges. 

Cut a brass tubing (3mm O.D.) 2.1" long. Insert the brass tube into the hexagon block when the glue is drying.  This helps to align the edges.  The hole is intentionally sized to be very snug so the brass tube is friction tight . I didn't use any glue on the brass tubing.  If the hole is too tight, file or ream it so you won't need to hammer the tube into the hexagon.  I used the hammer just fine.

Before putting the hexagonal block into the core of the painter's tape, sand the six sharp corners on the hexagon slightly (not aggressively).  With slight removal of the corners, insertion will be smoother.
 

Cut your blade and glue it to the front.  There is a tiny slit where you will drop the blade into behind the front panel.  I used Gorilla Clear Grip.  I have glued an acrylic bar on the back end of the blade, just to make sure the blade will not come off.  To finish the project, glue on each side the small pieces with rounded corners.  They will keep the brass tubing from sliding out.

This is a simple project if you've a laser cutter, right?   

Here is the a file image of the plan (pieces of 1/8"), file 2 pieces are to be cut on 0.2" thick MDF.

I used Inkscape and Glowforge to cut the pieces.

The actual thickness of the MDF I used is 0.122" and 0.2".

The finger joints sizing is made having taken into consideration of the width of my machines' laser beam kerf.  The joints are not too tight or loose, just to my liking.  This may not be the case for you because of the materials you have and/or keft differences.

I hope this file may be useful to you.  XO

This last photo shows all the painter's tape dispensers I made, one of them was made pre-Glowforge.  :)

I'm relatively new to SVGs and laser cutting, please use the "contact form" on this site to let me know your thoughts, if any.  Thank you!