Like many people, I require coffee in the morning to help me begin to human correctly. Also like many other people my household has a Keurig. Specifically a model B70 which is discontinued but similar to this Keurig:
This is mostly great, I no longer have to try to remember how to grind coffee and not spill the grounds everywhere. However... Now I have to keep track of the K cup pods. No easy task at pre-dawn hours.
Get a K cup holder you say? I don't want to give up counter space. And I haven't found one I really like. And the cubby hole the coffee maker is in doesn't allow the use of a drawer under the Keurig. I know, picky picky right?
The solution?
3D printed K cup PVC pipe adapter!
Gif a man a cup of coffee?!?
Bad puns aside... My wife and I have been using this for about a year now and it's awesome. It's sized to fit exactly to the compartment and holds about a weeks worth of coffee.
Whoa, wait a minute there. What were you doing when you found out K cups fit into PVC pipe?!
Um... story for another time? Or... ask my wife? Wait. No. Don't ask her...
Lets just say K cups and medium size potatoes are roughly the same diameter...
So, how to make one of these?
1. A length of 2" Schedule 40 PVC Pipe.
2. Saw to cut the PVC. A standard wood handsaw will work fine.
3. 3D printed base and pipe support. https://www.makerneer.com/product-page/k-cup-dispenser
4. Hot glue or super glue.
5. Hook tape strips (Optional).
A note on the PVC pipe:
Stick with 2 inch schedule 40 or 2 inch furniture grade PVC pipe. Schedule 80 pipe has a smaller ID and some K-Cups might not fit well. Also, 2 inch PVC pipe is pretty common. The length of pipe used in this project was salvaged from the leftovers of a different project. So, raid the garage and maybe you won't need to buy a new stick of PVC pipe.
Amazon links for the parts. I get a small referral fee if you click the links below. Nothing changes on your end, but it helps me work on more projects to share:
PCV Pipe: http://amzn.to/2xAeQ53
Handsaw: http://amzn.to/2xzUg4K
Hot glue gun: http://amzn.to/2z0rOKB
Hook strips: http://amzn.to/2z0lF0R
Assembly is straightforward:
1. Cut the PVC pipe to the length you want.
Acetone will take the bar code and other markings off the pipe.
I suggest cleaning the PVC pipe with soap and water after cutting it.
2. Place the PVC pipe end into the 3D printed K-Cup adapter base.
3. A couple drops of hot glue or super glue to hold the base securely onto the pipe is a good idea.
I used super glue, doing it again I'd use hot glue so it was easier to remove if needed.
4. Place the pipe support onto the top of the pipe.
If you're making a really long one you can add more supports.
I chose not to glue the support to the pipe and it's worked fine so far.
5. Mount to where you're going to use it.
I used hook tape to mount it to the backside of the cabinet door.
That's it, time to load it with your favorite K-Cup pods and brew some coffee!
I'm sure by now you're wondering how many k-cups we can actually fit in one of these PVC dispensers. The longest continuous stick of PVC I found was 10 feet long. So, by my math we should be able to fit about 67 k-cups into a 10 foot stick of PVC pipe. Not too bad, that's at least a month worth of coffee without a reload!
Worth noting - Occasional when loading an empty tube, a pod will end up a little cockeyed. A gentle nudge and you're back in business.