Gridfinity Hardware Storage System - BETA

TLDR: Here are some drawers for the 5x4 Gridfinity Storage Box by Pred, and a custom box remix that compliments them.

UPDATE: The Official Release of V1 of the Gridfinity Hardware Storage System is soon!

I have been making a lot of changes based on my own observations and user feedback, and I am in the process of printing and validating the first official version. Documentation and printing are taking a literal age, and I keep on finding incremental improvements to make. So for now, HERE is a link to my updated files for you to use while I take my time. 

ANYWAYS

 

The Gridfinity Hardware Storage System intends to provide a 3d printed parts storage solution that has feature parity with the Sortimo-based Hardware Storage System Adam Savage uses in his cave at a smaller scale.

I started with this excellent remix of Pred’s Gridfinity Storage Box. This box brings a lot to the table. The lid has the 6u bin indexing behavior we are looking for, and the flip-over hinge allows the lid to be stored underneath the box. This allows for easier access to box contents in the drawer if desired, and reduces the space the box takes when you have it on your desk or workbench. The latches are easy to remove, which makes them great if you want to have a color categorization system ( the latches can be blue for metric, red for imperial, yellow for electronics, ect.)

This remix builds upon the shoulders of these giants with these notable changes:

A Modular Drawer System

The drawer storage system allows access to box contents without taking up additional workspace. The drawer cabinet features a 5x7 gridfinity baseplate on the top, and it can be expanded as your storage needs grow. The cabinet is stable up to 5 units high, and 3 units wide. Each drawer unit is assembled using m3x6 screws, and stack together using screw-together mortise and tenon joints.

Replacement “handles” on the side of the lid

The best way to add and remove boxes from the drawers is lifting the box up from the sides. Ridges were added to the lid to make this operation more comfortable. This feature will be reworked in the future before an official release, please read the TODO section for more information 

Large ”Classic” style label

The front handle was removed because it is redundant, and gives us more room for box identification. This is similar to the label size of the original Pred storage box, before the parametric version. If you are using the latches for color categorization, there is room for 5 points of unique identification. You should be able to know exactly which box you are looking at at a glance.

Transparent lid to help identify bin contents

The thickness of the bottom of the grid on the lid was reduced, allowing the bottom to be printed in transparent PETG with a high level of clarity. Bin labels inside the box are easily readable, and you can also make out the contents of the bins themselves.

Box Hardware (per box):

Required:

0.4 and 0.8 printing capability

4 M3x30 screws

Optional:

16 m3x6 countersunk screws

Drawer Hardware (per drawer):

Rubber feet pads

1 Pair of Everbilt 8 in. Side Mount Full Extension Ball Bearing Drawer Slides ($7.67 each in US at time of publishing) (€7.25 in France (unverified compatibility, LMK))

8 M3x6 countersunk screws

4 M3x12 or up to M3x30 countersunk screws

Printing Instructions

Step 1: Emotionally prepare yourself, and reflect on whether you want to attempt this project at all. This project is the largest drawer system reasonably printable on a X1 Carbon. It takes a long time, and uses a lot of filament. You will be printing with your entire vertical and horizontal build area for at least a week. It should be printable on other machines with a similar build volume, namely the Prusa MK 4S. I’ve verified that all parts (barely) fit on the build plate in Prusa slicer.

The Box

All parts of the box except the lid print best in PETG using a .4 nozzle. There are built-in supports for the latch mechanism you will need to remove after printing.

The lid needs to be printed in using a .8 nozzle on a smooth pei plate in order to get good transparency. IMPORTANT: Make sure to print the transparent windows using the correct print settings that enable transparency. These settings do not need to be used for the entire print, just the first couple of layers. I accomplished this by only applying these settings to the top and bottom layers, letting me print the lids in just 3 hours, instead of 13.

There are two versions of the box base. One that screws together, and one that is prints as a whole piece. I STRONGLY RECCOMEND not going with the screw together option. The screw together box is a feature of the flip-over hinge remix I based my box on. The feature’s original intent was to try and make the box printable on smaller machines, but I liked it because it was pretty. After screwing together 20 of these boxes, I can tell you with confidence that the aesthetics are not worth the additional 16 screws per box and assembly time. Also compatibility may have to be removed when I rework the handle.

The Label

I design my labels as an image in Canva, and then convert the labels into an STL using Hueforge. Alternative label generation options will be considered for future Release. I am particularly interested in figuring out compatibility with GFLabel. 
Canva Template Link
Hueforge save file

The Drawers

Both the drawers and the cabinet are printed using PETG and a .4 mm nozzle. Below are the recommended print orientation and support suggestions.

Base and Top: The base and the top should be printed vertically with the back side facing the build plate. They should only fit diagonally. Depending on your printer’s build volume, you may be able to print both at the same time. The top only needs supports on the tenon joints. I only print supports in the lowest of the three mortise holes, but you may need to support all of them depending on your situation. It is important that the mortise holes are dimensionally accurate so the tenon joints slot in.

Sides and Middle: The sides print best with the mortise holes down. This reduces overall support requirements, and ensures that the most important part of the print remains dimensionally accurate. I print supports for the slot that the drawer slide fits into, and nothing else

Drawer: Print with the base facing down the way you would expect. Nothing special here. no supports.

Edit: I'm sorry, did i say nothing special? The drawer is exactly as wide as the mk4's maximum buildable area. Designing this part to fit on a mk4 was a challenge lol. Rotate 90° and then offset 125mm should get you where you need to go. 

Backplate: Prints flat

Assembly Instructions

Screw it all together. The parts only fit together one way, so if you have gotten to this point, I believe in your ability to figure this part out. Good luck!

TODO / KNOWN ISSUES

MOAR GRIDFINITY

I want to incorporate the ability to index on gridifinity to the bottom of the box, similar to Serkaugh’s remix here, I also want the boxes to be able to index on gridfinity when the lid is flipped over to the bottom. This will unlock the ability to have boxes stacked on top of the drawer cabinet. I believe this is a necessary feature that must be implemented before V1 of this project is released.

The handles could be better

The handles built into the side of the lid work really well when the lid is secured closed, but they do not work if the lid is not secured, and removing boxes when the lid is flipped to the bottom is not elegant at all.

The drawer lids do not stay open on their own

The lids open fine, but lower drawer lids do not stay open on their own, making removing bins from boxes sometimes a two-handed operation. This is only fixable by replacing the slides with ones with more travel, or by reducing the protrusion of the drawer handle.

Backplate is bad

The backplate of the drawers does it’s job to prevent horizontal racking, but it does not screw in nicely. The design of this needs to be reworked

Imagined FAQ

• Wouldn’t it be way faster and cheaper to build the cabinet out of plywood?
  Yes.
• Is this parametric?
  No, I am a CAD baby, maybe when I am grown up and strong.
• Does does this project work with other box sizes
  No, I am a CAD baby, maybe when I am grown up and strong.
• Can I print this in PLA?
  No
• Why not?
  Something something brittle, something something material properties

Modified to improve compatibility with a 3d printed modular drawer cabinet