The Box of Cubes - an Easy Print in 41 Sizes

I designed this box of cubes — a decorative storage container with a lid. The print requires no support and uses only a minimum of material but creates a stable box and looks great with opaque and transparent filaments.

• Update 2023-01-22: Updated all prints to revision 2. See the section “Revisions” for details.
• Update 2023-01-21: Added Variant B, with a higher knob for the hinges for PETG prints and larger PLA prints.

Requirements

All you need is a 3D printer and 50g or more filament.

How to Print the Box

After you have decided which size of box you like to print, search for the model file of the box and the matching lid. I prepared a PrusaSlicer project with an example print in the files section; use this as a good starting point.

If you like to slice the models from scratch, have a look at the table below:

Dimensions

The part number for each box is part of the filename:

LR2302-BOX-<variant>-H<height>W<width>D<depth>.3mf

LR2302-LID-<variant>-W<width>D<depth>.3mf

Variant and Revision

The variant is a single letter followed by the revision number. In this project, you find variants A2 and B2, which have a cube size of 30mm. The cube size is used for the calculation of the side dimensions.

Variant A best suits smaller PLA prints (width ≤05 or 150mm). In this variant, the height of the knob in the hinge is 0.8mm.

Variant B is best suited for PETG prints or prints with similar soft plastics. Also, if you print PLA boxes with a width larger than 120mm. The height of the knob in the hinge is 1.5mm, to keep the lid more securely in the body of the box.

Height, Width, Depth

The height, width and depth are specified as the number of cubes in the box for the given dimension. The value 03 means there are three cubes in this dimension.

If you multiply the number of cubes by 30mm, you get the box size in that direction.

The box has a little bit of spacing (0.25mm) for the width and depth to allow the boxes to be packed in a closed space.

Catalogue PDF

In the file section, you will find a catalogue PDF with a complete overview of all dimensions. This catalogue also contains handy tables where you can easily look up all models based on a single parameter.

Each model in the catalogue is shown with an image, all parameters and the corresponding model file name. So, before you despair of finding the right model, download the catalogue and search for the model's name there.

Explore More from Meti·kumi

Interested in my designs? Browse through my collection of 3D models:

👉 https://metikumi.com/3d-models/

Stay connected on social media for the latest updates and work-in-progress insights:

👉 https://metikumi.com

Photos, Sorting, Compatibility

The photos of the real prints were printed using an Original Prusa i3 MK3S+, using various “magic filaments” from 3Djake.

When I created this project, sorting the model files was still not supported on this platform. Sorry for the random order of the model files. Please download them all, so you can display them sorted on your disk.

The boxes are compatible with the rail grids of my storage boxes system.

Fusion360 Design and Generator Scripts

In the “other files” section, you will find the Fusion360 sliced designs for the box body and lid. Also, the generator scripts are used to generate all the different sizes for the boxes.

The designs are not the construction designs of the box, but the sources used to generate the shown models. These sources were derived from the original design I did.

I provide these sources and scripts to demonstrate how you can use these to generate size variants of your designs. All you have to do is slice your designs accordingly and modify the script's parameters.

Conclusion

The Borg approved this most efficient cube-shaped design. If you found it useful, please rate it and upload photos of your prints.

Happy Printing!

Revisions

Revison 2

After I broke two lids while testing the prints, I realized I had to make concessions about the material savings and the sleek look of the lids. In the second revision I added a brim around the whole lid, that considerably increases the stability and removes stress from the corner points at the cube edges.

With this rim, it made no sense to add a part number to the lid. As the part number in the lid is redundand for the box, I removed it completely.

I also adressed the spacing between the lid and the box which was a little bit too small at a few places. The lid now runs more freely with less chances to touch the box body.

The geometries between the lid and the box along the hinge side had minor geometry issues that sometimes caused imperfect prints. I changed these geometries in a way, the slicer produces more reliable results.

In case you liked revison 1 better, you find a ZIP file with all files of revision 1 in the “other files” section.