DIY sled rig with sonar box and gear strapped for ice fishing — DIY sled rig that keeps the sonar, heater and tackle in one pull.

Workbench with clamps, ice auger parts and tools for bench testing rigs — Bench tests mimic -20°C gusts before any rig touches real ice.

Under-ice DIY lab

IceRig Workshop for people who mod their ice gear instead of accepting it

This is not a tour agency and not a generic gear shop. IceRig Workshop is a dark, glowing lab where sleds, boxes, shelters and mounts are re-wired, re-printed and re-built until they survive long nights on cracked, windy ice.

Here you will find detailed DIY projects with cut lists and sketches, tuning recipes for standard equipment, STL libraries for 3D-printed parts and honest bench tests at sub-zero temperatures. Every rig starts as an idea on the workbench, goes through clamps, weights, heat guns and ice baths, and only then gets a spot in the Mini-market section.

DIY sled & sonar mounts Insulated shelter upgrades 3D-printable brackets Bench-tested wiring

Browse DIY projects See bench-test reports

Projects

DIY rigs, kits & STL sets

Focus

Under-ice comfort, safety & order

Testing

Simulated -20°C wind & wet ice

Close-up of tidy LED wiring and USB ports inside an ice fishing shelter — LED strips, USB ports and fuses laid out for gloves-on fixes.

3D printed mounts and clips for ice sonar and action cameras on a workbench — 3D-printed mounts tuned for brittle plastics and icy spray.

DIY workbench map

Three lanes for building rigs that actually fit your ice day

Choose a lane, grab a cut list and follow the tape marks on the bench. No complex jargon, just boards, bolts and simple sketches.

Sled lane Low, wide sled frames with times for sonar and heater boxes.
Box lane Organizers, soft seats and side rails for rod holders.
Camera lane Stable poles and crossbars that do not twist on cracked ice.

Top view of a DIY ice sled blueprint with marked times for gear boxes — Sled plans show weight balance marks and strap points.

Modular organizer box with dividers and padded seat for ice fishing — Box projects focus on quick grab access with gloves on.

Shelter tuning

Turn a basic pop-up into a warm, wired ice pod

Each recipe starts with a stock shelter and adds only what really helps: better light, less draft and cables that never hang in the way.

Warmth

Order

Power

Inside view of an ice shelter with LED strips, side pockets and heater safely placed — LED strips run along ribs, while pockets keep tools off the floor.

3D print lane

Parts tuned for brittle plastics and noisy, windy ice nights

Clamp-on brackets, camera shoes and line clips come with STL files, printer notes and a simple cold-test checklist.

Close-up of a 3D printer nozzle making a small mounting bracket — Sample profiles are tuned for slow, solid winter parts.

3D printed clips and mounts attached to a sled rail on frozen lake ice — Every design is clamped to real sled rails and flexed on ice.

Bench tests

Rigs go through wind, load and glove tests before real ice

Quick lab passes show where a design fails: drafty shelter seams, weak sled bolts or cables that snag at the worst moment.

Wind pass
Panels and mounts face a long blast from the shop blower to reveal flapping corners and noisy rattles.
Load pull
Weighted sled frames are dragged over rough boards to mimic frozen tracks and hidden cracks.
Glove test
Every latch, clip and zipper must work cleanly in thick gloves, or it goes back to the drawing board.

Wind blower aimed at an ice shelter wall panel on a test stand — Wind tests push warm air leaks and loose mounts to the surface.

Weighted sled rig pulled over rough boards during a bench load test — Load pulls show how sled frames twist when the trail gets ugly.

Night solo layout with one chair, compact sled and single heater — Solo layouts keep only what one person can move in a hurry.

Crew layout sketch with two shelters, double sleds and shared table — Crew layouts show how to park sleds, shelters and a shared table.

Night layouts

Cards that answer “where does this go?” before you even pack

Every layout card shows the ice like a small, glowing map: sled lanes, shelter doors, camera poles and heater safety zones.

Clear entry and exit paths, marked away from heater and auger.
Cable-friendly routes so sonar, cameras and power never cross.
Quiet corners for kids or long jigging sessions deep into the night.

Flatlay of bolts, brackets and printed parts sorted into small trays — Kits arrive as sorted trays, not mystery bags of parts.

Packed fabric pouches with labels for sled kit, box kit and camera kit — Packed pouches match the lanes: sled, box and camera kits.

Mini-market

Download a plan, grab a kit and go build it your way

The Mini-market hosts paid and free bundles: blueprints, parts lists and complete hardware sets for your bench.

Blueprint only. Print-ready PDF with cut sizes and drilling marks.
Parts only. Bagged brackets, bolts and clips for builders with their own stock.
Full kit. Everything but tools, matched to a specific sled, box or shelter model.

Cable routes

Plan where every cable runs before the first hole is drilled

Power, sonar and camera lines follow three dedicated lanes so nobody trips and nothing gets cut by the auger.

Roof lane

LED strips and camera feeds run high along ribs with soft clamps.

Floor lane

Heavy power cables follow marked strips along sled edges.

Outer lane

Spare battery and heater lines stay outside the walking zone.

Top-down sketch showing three planned cable routes inside an ice shelter — A simple plan sketch maps roof, floor and outer lanes.

Cable clips holding LED and camera cables along the roof ribs of a shelter — Roof clips keep light and camera cables above head height.

Floor brackets hug sled edges and leave boots room to move.

Ice-run strip

A three-line strip to check before the sled leaves the garage

No forms, no long lists. Just three quick passes over safety, warmth and order.

Safety line

Ice picks and throw rope on top, not buried.
Heater and fuel strapped upright, away from doors.

Warmth line

Dry mitts and spare socks in a marked dry box.
Insulated seat pads already fixed to the box lids.

Order line

Rods in holders, not floating around in a fabric bag.
Auger blades covered and clipped to the sled rail.

Printed ice trip strip with three colored lines for safety, warmth and order — The strip can live on the workshop wall or inside a sled lid.

Community shelf

Real-world mods pinned to a glowing workshop shelf

Builders can share their sleds, boxes and printed parts, along with short notes on what survived the harshest nights.

Community sled mod with extra rail, rod holders and front bumper — Sled mod with extra bumper and side rail for rod holders.

Community tackle box with padded seat and mounted thermos holder — Box project: padded lid, thermos holder and side tool clips.

3D printed clamp from a community member holding a sonar cable — 3D-printed clamp that gently grips brittle sonar cables.

Bench log

Short logs that show what broke before it reached the ice

Each card is one real tweak: a failed bolt, a torn seam or a cable that kept catching on boots.

Sled frame

Corner bracket crack at first pull

Cheap alloy brackets twisted under load, so the design moved to thicker steel and triple bolts.

Shelter wall seam opened on a tension stand with light shining through

Shelter seam

Light leak at roof cross seam

Extra tape and a wider patch ring stopped drafts that showed up only under strong side pull.

Wiring harness

Glove snag on bare fuse block

A low cover and rounded clamps turned a sharp cluster of wires into a smooth, labelled harness.

Material lab

Plastics and boards that do not shatter or swell at -20°C

Samples go into clamps, freezers and bending jigs before they ever carry a sled rail or box lid.

PETG plates

Clear plates for windows and small brackets that stay flexible.

ABS shells

Rugged covers for fuse blocks and junction boxes.

Birch ply

Sealed panels for sled decks and gear trays.

Labeled plastic and plywood samples on a bench with a marker — Each sample gets a simple tag after every freeze and bend test.

Clamp rig bending a plastic strip to check cracks in cold — Bending jigs show where a part will whiten or crack in cold.

Small parts and test coupons stacked inside a chest freezer — A simple chest freezer stands in for long, dark ice nights.

Night rigs

Three snapshots that show what “ready for the dark” looks like

Packed sleds, clear walk lanes and calm light levels before the heater starts and the first hole is drilled.

Packed sled at night with evenly strapped boxes and heater — Packed sled with balanced weight and nothing sticking out.

View from inside the shelter with a clean path to the door and sled — Inside view shows a clean path to the door and the sled outside.

Lantern and soft LED glow inside an organized night shelter — Lantern and LEDs run just bright enough to see gear, not glare.

STL rail

A small rail of printable parts tuned for cold, brittle nights

Each tile links to an STL file with printer notes and a short “did it survive?” log from real ice sessions.

Small printable line clip for holding fishing line on a rod handle — Line clips that grip gently and do not cut frozen mono.

Compact corner bracket model standing on the printer bed — Corner brackets sized for common sled lip thickness.

Printable camera mount with a tilt joint and clamp — Camera mounts that tilt without wobbling in side wind.

Rod holder insert designed to drop into a sled rail slot — Rod holders that drop straight into sled rail times.

Workshop index

From first sketch on the bench to full IceRig kit on the ice

Start with a single mod or follow the whole track: sled, box, shelter and print lane.

Sketch & tape. Mark rails, box lids and shelter ribs with low-tech tape lines.
Bench & log. Pull, twist and tug until a weak part fails in the workshop, not on the lake.
Pack & test. Load the sled, follow a layout card and check the ice-run strip on the way out.

The rest of the site dives deeper into drawings, printable parts and ready-to-build kits so your own IceRig line grows one calm tweak at a time.

Wide view of the IceRig workbench with sled, box and tools laid out

Before and after comparison of a stock sled and a fully rigged IceRig sled