The Problem

The long ClosetMaid brand wire shelves are meant to be cut to size, but they don't come with the caps (which they “conveniently” sell separately) needed to cover the rough cut metal surfaces you are left with. Honestly, this is really uncool that they wouldn't include something like that. Ours has been covered with tape for quite some time now…

The Solution

I knew it would be easy enough to print something that did the job, but took it upon myself to make an elegant solution for our closet (and yours too!). The idea was to cover the end, have it look good, approximate the original dimensions, have it press fit over the rubbery wire coating (meaning no need for adhesives), and be easy to print.

The Details

I started by taking the dimensions some existing endcaps of the same shelf that had been preinstalled in our closet (using the $10USD calipers that had just arrived from Amazon). I didn't like the weird tips of the original caps though, so I made a point to round/smooth mine out more. I also ended up realizing that the way we had cut our shelf didn't allow for all the caps to be the full size as the ones I was trying to replicate. So I made a smaller version so as to not have to cut another section of shelf away. We ultimately used the small version for most of the wires as it saves material (and we both thought it looked good that way). Honestly, we may replace the existing endcaps on our other shelf with these as we like the black color contrast.

I thought that I would print these in a higher quality, but I was prototyping at 0.2mm. Once I got the design down, I didn't bother to print at higher quality, as they aren't located in a place where anyone will ever get to see them up close. That and they feel plenty smooth for us. Although it wouldn't take hardly any filament or time to print more (each one is under a gram of PLA).

Even if you are using the same shelf as I did, the fitment may vary depending on your printer, settings, etc. But worry not! I've provided the FreeCAD file (the software is free and open source!) Granted, you can probably do just fine using your slicer's resize/scaling tool too.

Lastly, I just wanted to disclose that the longer cap shown installed in the photo(s) is not the provided long version cap. That was an earlier prototype that isn't the best fitment I landed on, and is also a little shorter than I ended up with for the long ones (the ones meant to be the same length as the product). I saw no real reason to print the updated / better one as this looked fine and worked well already.

ClosetMaid Shelf I made this for:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/ClosetMaid-SuperSlide-72-in-W-x-16-in-D-White-Ventilated-Wire-Shelf-4735/100146445

ClosetMaid End Caps I would have bought (one size I replicated):
https://www.homedepot.com/p/ClosetMaid-Large-and-Small-Closet-Pole-End-Caps-for-Wire-Shelving-14-Pack-71016/100095946

My Print Settings:

Printer: Creality Ender-3 V2 Neo (stock)

Material: Polymaker Polylite PLA (Black)

Temperature: 200C hotend, 50C bed

Layer Height: 0.2mm

Supports: None

Infill: N/A (solid - all walls)

Extra

TinkerCAD wasn't cutting it anymore for the types of things I want to make. This little project represents my very first foray into parametric CAD! I used it as a way to start learning FreeCAD, and I can't describe how cool it was to make such a tiny thing exactly as I needed it to be! It's simple, but it was a great way to start learning the tools. I'm very pleased with the result! (although I won't be admitting how long it took me to complete it :| ). To top it off, I hadn't even gotten around to uploading it yet and I see that Printables is holding a contest for this kind of thing. It's like it was meant to be! Also… How did I manage to never own calipers until now????