13 ms·

Gridfinity: The modular, open-source grid storage system

432 points by nateb2022 1y ago

stevenpetryk 1y ago
It’s such a nice project. But boy do I think it would benefit from mass production. People spend a lot of time printing generic bins and baseplates that would be better spent just printing custom bins.
- f1ay 1y ago
  You can use this custom gridfinity generator. https://gridfinity.perplexinglabs.com/ https://gridfinity.perplexinglabs.com/ Ironically printing custom pelican inserts with this right now
- KeplerBoy 1y ago
  I guess selling injection molded parts is forbidden under its licensing terms, which seems unfortunate. Let people make some money while everyone is saving money.
  - kragen 1y ago
    It's not clear what tort would be committed under US law by someone who sold injection-molded parts using the Gridfinity STLs. Patent infringement? No patent has issued. Copyright infringement? Copyright generally only covers expressive elements of works such as the sculpture in question, not functional elements like the "Sega" string that was at issue in Sega vs. Accolade. Trademark? Also doesn't protect functional elements. Basically, it seems like the inventor purports to be licensing the kinds of exclusive rights to their invention that a patent would grant them, but without actually meeting the legal requirements for receiving a patent. (I don't know of any other jurisdiction that would give them a cause of action either, but law is diverse enough, and many governments are corrupt enough, that I'm sure there's somewhere in the world they could win a lawsuit.) Maybe some actual lawyers could chime in on this.
  - rented_mule 1y ago
    It's been MIT licensed for a couple of years now: https://x.com/zackfreedman/status/1650629770156326912#m https://x.com/zackfreedman/status/1650629770156326912#m or for those allergic to X: https://lightbrd.com/zackfreedman/status/1650629770156326912#m https://lightbrd.com/zackfreedman/status/1650629770156326912...
  - poulpy123 1y ago
    I don't know if it's the case of gridfinity but > Let people make some money Why would people who did nothing to invent and develop the system would get the money and not the creators ?
    - Dilettante_ 1y ago
      For providing a useful intermediary service?
    - giarc 1y ago
      Generic drug manufacturers did nothing to invent tylenol but they sure make a ton of money making billions of pills each year.
    - nancyminusone 1y ago
      Moldmaking is hardly "did nothing".
- Gigachad 1y ago
  Time has never really been an issue imo. For the average person your printer sits unused 99% of the time if it takes you half a day to print a baseplate and some bins, who cares. It’s still faster and cheaper than shipping.
- paradox460 1y ago
  Commercializing doesn't really make sense. So I need to get a small 1x1x3 container to store washers or whatever. With my 3D printer, I'll have that container in under an hour. Even if I bought it with the fastest shipping Amazon has available, assuming it was from a local Warehouse, the earliest I could get it would be half a day away. Having a local store that sells them would be marginally faster, but then I have to go to the store, pick it up and come home. The hour I spend waiting for the printer isn't an hour. I'm I'm completely blocked from doing anything else. It's just an hour in which my printers busy.
  - hobofan 1y ago
    The example you bring up is for a single one-off extension. Yeah, for that case it doesn't make a lot of sense. However, for initial setup of the system (e.g. filling up multiple drawers with baseplates and basic bins, as you will see in many videos online), it would definitely jump start the process a lot, where you'll otherwise spend weeks printing everything. Additionally, if you also go for the fancier baseplates/bins that include the magnets you'll also spend quite a bit of time on assembly and will require external hardware anyways. I personally didn't think it was a big deal as for me adopting the system incrementally over time worked quite well, but I think there definitely is a niche of people (and possibly businesses) that would like to adopt Gridfinity for its other benefits and appreciate faster initial setup time.
- JKCalhoun 1y ago
  I think they're a good intro to 3D printing. You wouldn't download "Hello world"?
- inanutshellus 1y ago
  I don't understand the sibling posts that're arguing with you. Consumer-grade containers would be cheaper than 3d printing if buying a set, it'd get folk up-and-running without fuss, and when they wanted to customize it they could do so with the help of any of their 3d printing fanatic buddies. So yeah. I agree with @stephenpetryk. Storage solution companies should start marking their bins as Gridfinity-compatible (which is a protected use of copyright regardless of whether "Gridfinity" is copyrighted).
  - LanceH 1y ago
    The place to start would be enough basic bins and the grid itself for the Alex drawers from Ikea. The cool things about gridfinity is not just the custom pieces, but also the exact fit that can be achieved. Since every drawer seems to be a slightly different size, exact fits with basic bins would never quite be achieved without targeting a specific drawer. Also, I've turned down the fill and structural strength a lot without issues for most things. How strong does a bin for cotton swabs need to be?
- Aurornis 1y ago
  > People spend a lot of time printing generic bins and baseplates that would be better spent just printing custom bins 3D printing with a modern printer is set and forget. You send the print file to the printer and you go get it a couple hours later. Still faster than waiting for a package from Amazon and lower resource usage than driving to the store. The customization comes everywhere from picking the bin you want to selecting the color filament to match your layout. Gridfinity isn’t my thing but people who are into it are usually customizing something, from the color to the baseplate.
- Rebelgecko 1y ago
  Especially for baseplates, since I have some drawers that are larger than my print area. It'd be awesome to just buy an injection molded 8x7 on Amazon or whatever for $5 instead of fiddling with glue and interlocking puzzle pieces.
- regularfry 1y ago
  The Slant3d guys have a trope about 3d printing primarily being a fulfilment technology, not a manufacturing one. To me it doesn't matter if someone is selling an injection moulded baseplate if I can print one for pennies from filament I already have and it's in my hands in a couple of hours with no delivery charges.
defrost 1y ago
Warning (or recommendation): Impossibly ambitious cleanup campaigns are like catnip to ADHD havers
- lvturner 1y ago
  sighs in stalled project and half organised gridfinity cupboard Though the plus side to this is that it can be done somewhat inrementally
- nancyminusone 1y ago
  I must have a very indifferent attitude towards catnip then. I've also sought treatment for OCD. It doesn't give me any kind of "organizing superpower", it just makes we want to wash my hands after touching things.
  - defrost 1y ago
    There are a number of variant edgecases. While I like organising warehouse sized spaces down to separating out screws by thread type I also enjoying taking a bowling ball to Jenga towers. I believe that's classed as OC/DC.
grigri907 1y ago
Learn from my mistake: Not at all about the electrical grid and energy storage strategies. Great in its own right though
jot 1y ago
There’s a filament saving variant where you can use toilet rolls or other waste cardboard for the walls: https://www.printables.com/model/880256-cardboard-gridfinity-bins https://www.printables.com/model/880256-cardboard-gridfinity...
- throwaway0665 1y ago
  Wow this is amazing.
  - ffsm8 1y ago
    Why do people want to reuse toilet paper rolls? Paper is not a hygienic material, and these are used in a place that's rife with bacteria...
    - VBprogrammer 1y ago
      If you are worried about this you might want to consider whether you have a healthy degree of concern about hygiene and bacteria. It could be worth speaking with a therapist.
      - Gigachad 1y ago
        If the bacteria on toilet rolls was an actual problem, toothbrushes would be a much bigger issue than storage tubs.
        Nullabillity 1y ago
        Usually you don't use your toothbrush while fondling your genitals...
        IlikeKitties 1y ago
        You don't know what you are missing but to each their own i guess.
Gigachad 1y ago
I’ve been trying this out. The biggest problem I’m experiencing is that your draws won’t be a perfect multiple of the grid size. Which means you are always going to be left with gaps on the side which are wasted space which could be up to 40mm. There is kind of a solution to this where you can use non standard grid sizes to perfectly fit your draws, and there are generators which will create the baseplates and bins for you. But you lose the ability to use other people’s models. Feel like it would have been better if they had picked a smaller grid size so the average wasted space would be smaller.
- rcarmo 1y ago
  What I do is print custom bins to store long things on the side of the grid. Making it smaller or bigger would not have fixed anything.
  - Gigachad 1y ago
    Making the grid size smaller makes the wasted space less. In the worst case scenario, your draw is 1mm too short for the last row, so the other 40mm becomes wasted. If the grid was half the size for example, the worst case scenario is 20mm wasted.
- MarkCole 1y ago
  There is also the option to do half bins / half grid pattern at the edge. So you have the normal 42x42 grid pattern, then on one edge there are 21x42 sized boxes. There are a number of designs that support the half grid pattern. This would reduce your maximum lost space down to 20mm, and you would still have compatibility with the gridfinity system.
  - Gigachad 1y ago
    I’ll have to give this a shot. I can always put the generic bins I can generate as half size on the edge and put the downloaded ones in the standard grid.
    - 1y ago
kalev 1y ago
Took me a while before i understood it was to store physical items. For a second I was thinking some battery solution-like grid storage system. A few photos on the homepage would help a lot and make it much more clear for noobs like me.
- delecti 1y ago
  When I visit that page, the thumbnail of the embedded youtube video displays automatically and shows a gridfinity setup with a wide variety of tools in it. Presumably he's presuming that people can see that.
- hwillis 1y ago
  Same, hah. The similarity between gridwall and powerwall in another comment also snagged me. "Perfboard" has also gotten me before- both are perforated board, but one is used for quick circuit boards and the other (more commonly called pegboard) is a wall-mounted modular hook system for storage.
- lotyrin 1y ago
  Based on the title alone I was thinking it was a solution for storing grids... not that I had any idea what kind of grid one might need to store.
morjom 1y ago
Open-source Honeycomb storage wall by RostaP: https://www.printables.com/model/152592-honeycomb-storage-wall https://www.printables.com/model/152592-honeycomb-storage-wa... https://www.reddit.com/r/honeycombwall/ https://www.reddit.com/r/honeycombwall/ Although they aren't open-source as Gridfinity or HSW: Cargo modular storage system by Play Conveyor: https://thangs.com/designer/Play%20Conveyor/3d-model/Cargo%20Containers%20-%20Modular%20Storage-1191155 https://thangs.com/designer/Play%20Conveyor/3d-model/Cargo%2... Multiboard, by Multiboard: https://www.multiboard.io/ https://www.multiboard.io/
- cjonas 1y ago
  Why mention multiboard and not honeycomb storage wall (HSW)? It's open source and arguably a better ecosystem.
  - morjom 1y ago
    I didn't come across it is why. I'll add it.
  - lrvick 1y ago
    Also the proprietary license on multiboard is absolutely insane. Not only is it closed source, even the printed objects have strings attached. If you ever use anything you print from the multiboard library in a for-profit setting you are obligated to pay a monthly license fee. HSW 100%
    - cge 1y ago
      >Also the proprietary license on multiboard is absolutely insane. Licensing in the 3D printing community tends to be a mess, with licenses that are often absurd, and selectively and sometimes dramatically enforced and unenforced. Multiboard is one of the most absurd I've seen, and is so utterly toxic I feel like touching anything involved with it would be risky: I'd really encourage people to read it [1] (and not the misleading summary they give). I suppose by even writing this I'm making myself ineligible for the license, as the license would not allow me to act in any way contrary to the interests of the company behind Multiboard, or even encourage any third part to act contrary to those interests. If the terms aren't absurd enough, there's a clause for the company to terminate the already limited ability to make and use derivative works if they feel you are taking advantage of the license terms. Yet at the same time, go to any 3D printing model website, and you'll see numerous obvious copyright and trademark violations of Multiboard, often under completely incompatible licenses. Not only are these not removed (I have reported them before), but the owners of Multiboard will even officially comment on the sites praising the designs. It's bizarre, but despite things at times going dramatically wrong, like with Benchy's license suddenly being enforced after many years of encouraging violations, people in the community largely seem to ignore the problem. [1]: https://docs.google.com/document/u/0/d/1C0-Iyxydqk_d2I3o_5ualJ9Ywt9gwVdl9eukvC8JeKA/mobilebasic https://docs.google.com/document/u/0/d/1C0-Iyxydqk_d2I3o_5ua...
SOLAR_FIELDS 1y ago
An old colleague of mine went through the process of doing gridfinity. One of his main struggles was getting boxes that fit his power tools perfectly. He was looking for a way to easily get a shape of the tool into CAD. What’s the most straightforward and effective way to get a CAD representation of a solid these days? Of course there are expensive solutions but is there anything reasonably achievable in the DIY space?
- 127 1y ago
  I do the following: 1. Draw the outline of the tool in question on A4 paper 2. Scan it 3. Trace it on Blender, extrude, boolean 4. Print Of course, only works for small enough tools. Maybe use more A4 sheets?
- junon 1y ago
  Photogrammetry is one. Generally results in messy geometry though and tolerances get finicky. The CAD plugin in Blender is my favorite though. Need a caliper to get measurements and then I can build out my hooks/clamps/whatever. FreeCAD for when I just need sketches as I find the solid part workflow utterly confusing, whereas I'm very well versed in Blender.
  - xsmasher 1y ago
    I use Photopea. If you can get a decent silhouette you can do Image > Vectorize Bitmap to get a path and save it as an .SVG Blender can import an SVG; then you can clean up the curve if necessary.
  - diggan 1y ago
    > Photogrammetry is one. Generally results in messy geometry though and tolerances get finicky. The trick is a hybrid approach, use photogrammetry to get a draft model into whatever environment you use (like Blender or whatever), then use that for creating the high-quality cutout manually, which will be very easy with a in-place 3D draft model right in the scene.
- pavelrub 1y ago
  The common approach is to take a photo of an object from above together with a ruler or something of a known size for scale, then import that directly into the CAD software, scale according to the scaling object, and create a cutout along the object's outline. No need for calipers, 3d scans, or other complex measurement procedures. There are a lot of videos and guides on how to do that.
slau 1y ago
Zach Freedman, the creator of the original Gridfinity, is also an amazing writer and wordsmith. His videos are full of amazing tongue twisters, alliterations and incredible puns. I wish he’d write books. Highly recommended: https://m.youtube.com/@ZackFreedman https://m.youtube.com/@ZackFreedman
- hanklazard 1y ago
  Yeah his video was linked on the page and i found him incredibly entertaining. Agreed, he’s a very clever writer.
- pragma_x 1y ago
  > full of amazing tongue twisters You mean, always amazingly augmented, aspiring to alienate all other audible aspirations? Zach is always a treat.
- VBprogrammer 1y ago
  It took me a long time to convince myself he wasn't the actor from Numb3rs.
- cobbaut 1y ago
  Creator yes, but is Gridfinity not based on this video from Alexandre Chapel? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHFK5sY8ToE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHFK5sY8ToE
  - jerf 1y ago
    Acknowledged on the linked website directly under "Origins of Gridfinity".
  - theideaofcoffee 1y ago
    Yes, he explicitly calls it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ra_9zU-mnl8&t=384s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ra_9zU-mnl8&t=384s
d--b 1y ago
It is by no means a perfect solution, but its simplicity and its mass adoption make it by far the best one out there. Kudos to all gridfinity makers out there.
f1ay 1y ago
This is for generating custom bin / baseplate sizes in multiple "formats", and solves a lot of the issues I see brought up on this thread. https://gridfinity.perplexinglabs.com/ https://gridfinity.perplexinglabs.com/ Outside of gridfinity it can be used to generate odd-sized grids via the GRIPS option, make HSW honeycomb walls, and supports multiboard, and a few others.
tetha 1y ago
Maybe I'm a bit of a downer there, but I looked at the overall effort and time investment of making Gridfinity and rather got myself a cutting board and glue to recycle old cardboard. Don't get me wrong, Gridfinity looks amazing. But, cutting a few cardboard base plates from old shipping boxes into place and putting together little stands for a metronome, tuner and a few other small things, as well as a bunch of boxes for plecs and other small stuff took like half an hour to an hour. And I could reuse some trash shipping boxes I had around here.
- devrandoom 1y ago
  You'd be surprised how many ways there are to make storage containers. Gridfinity is one of them.
- bityard 1y ago
  Along these lines, foam core board is a super common and effective material for making drawer organizers and little boxes. It's very cheap and holds together surprisingly well with hot glue or super glue. Adam Savage is a huge fan of it and he's tried everything.
  - Sinthrill 1y ago
    Adam Savage has done everything, but he's still a little bit behind on practical 3D printing. I think as of 2~ years ago he said he still wasn't 'up' on his CAD programs. He did get a new Nylon FDM machine and a few other things, but he isn't so much a software design person. Mr. Savage has a huge bias towards using their hands to solve their problems and I wouldn't take his work style as a referendum on the utility of these other tools. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWXcnVTY3pk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWXcnVTY3pk Foam Core is still cool tho
- freetime2 1y ago
  I needed to organize a bunch of tools and other miscellaneous items in a closet. I tried printing a few Gridfinity items, but quickly realized that it wasn't worth the time, effort and filament + electricity costs. I ended up going to the dollar store and buying a bunch of plastic containers and some labels, and managed to get everything organized in an hour and for under $10. I think Gridfinity is more geared toward people looking for a hobby than a practical storage solution. Which it totally fine - people are definitely creating some cool stuff with Gridfinity - but probably good to decide up front which group you fall into.
PeterStuer 1y ago
Had to watch the first 60 seconds of a linked video to know what this even was. It's printable tool storage, tools as in screwdrivers etc. I guess they assume anyone hitting the site already knows this. When I read 'grid' and 'storage' on HN, I think of other stuff.
bravesoul2 1y ago
It's open source! Basically it's just the number 42 open sourced :). That makes it the MCP of things ha ha.
jmartin2683 1y ago
Zach is awesome
WillAdams 1y ago
Resisted this for a long while, instead using a series of plastic organizers in various sizes, eventually settling on the Storehouse 10 Tray Organizer Utility Box from Harbor Freight which organizer size matches that used for selling a fair range of hardware on Amazon --- then, when I dropped one, breaking the dividers/separators in the box and went to look for a replacement discovered it was out of stock locally and was being discontinued. On that basis, a DIY/roll-your-own solution became far more attractive. - no waiting on shipping - no worry about whether or no there is an SKU which meets my needs (I had to modify the 10-tray compartments into 5-tray front--back organizers for endmills) The thing which finally pushed me over was the development of a matching Systainer system: https://old.reddit.com/r/gridfinity/comments/1lnkt93/wip_update_6_gridfinity_systainer_base_geometry/ https://old.reddit.com/r/gridfinity/comments/1lnkt93/wip_upd... which hopefully will be ready by the time my order of a new/larger 3D printer than my current (tiny) Ordbot Quantum arrives.
- joshmarinacci 1y ago
  This. Every commercial system I've used changes or is discontinued. I now take my storage into my own hands, even if it takes longer.
  - rsync 1y ago
    I standardized on Sortimo t-boxx for our workshops: https://www.mysortimo.us/en_US/Storage-Bins-%26-Boxes/T-BOXX/c/47220?q=:tsa https://www.mysortimo.us/en_US/Storage-Bins-%26-Boxes/T-BOXX... ... and although the insert colors changed, the architecture and sizing has been constant for more than 15 years ...
    - WillAdams 1y ago
      Sortimo is a bit large for my needs (or at least what is readily available at a reasonable price here in the States).
    - tecleandor 1y ago
      I like T-Boxx, but they get very expensive (+€60, without accessories), and as I'm not using them commercially, it doesn't make sense for me. Meanwhile, among others, I've placed alerts for their L-Boxx Mini, so I buy a couple of them each time they go €8 or less. (Less than 8 is unusual, but around 8 is possible)
nancyminusone 1y ago
I've always viewed these projects with a bit of suspicion - like I have trouble believing that anyone who does this actually does more with their tools than organize them and put them away. Which is fine if that's what you like, but not why I personally own tools. Shop time is limited enough as it is. Also seems like a great way to add +50% plastic volume to everything you own. Incidentally, I've found the cardboard boxes that 3D printer filament comes in to be an excellent basis for general storage.
- 7thpower 1y ago
  Everything has a place, and when it’s in its place, I can find it quickly and get to work. These systems help me with that.
- toolis 1y ago
  to each their own. if you do 1 small project per year, it might make sense to dig for 30 minutes in home depot bucket to find out you don't actually have the part you thought you have. doing that more frequently starts to become major waste of time. my tools don't live in gridfinity boxes, shallow tool drawers are good enough, but metric bolts, nuts and other stuff is neatly organised.
- LanceH 1y ago
  I've printed a ton of little compartments for all manner of things for crafts. I'll print the grid to lay flat in a drawer, and then print various size boxes which socket into that grid. I'll also print a grid to lay on the table, so there is never a need to pull parts from the drawers, just pull the whole box and it sockets onto the table with it's own dedicated space and no slippage. There is also a plugin for Fusion 360 which allows customizing a lot of items that can go into the grid. I do work on my shop, but only so far as it furthers my hobbies. As far as gridfinity goes, it's really nice to have the right size and amount of storage for everything. Imagine those inserts people buy for cutlery for a drawer in the kitchen. There is always a gap on the side for something to fall into. There is only a slot for all knives. No place at all for corn on the cob holders. Now imagine this same problem for building models where a person may have 200+ different items in different amounts. Previously people used things like tackle boxes from fishing, or one of those plastic cases for holding screws. But they never quite line up. Also, 3d printing is very much an asynchronous kind of thing. You work on your shop by pushing a button and get results an hour later. It's not woodworking where you spend 80 hours building your bench, then the next 500 hours building all the parts for it.
SparkyMcUnicorn 1y ago
Using the OpenSCAD build to customize them is great! I've been able to print baseplates that fit precisely inside different drawers, add magnets, etc. https://github.com/kennetek/gridfinity-rebuilt-openscad https://github.com/kennetek/gridfinity-rebuilt-openscad
wnolens 1y ago
A cool solution using only cardboard and hot glue. Love this person's channel. https://youtu.be/fUyQEPzpkLk?si=cADJNQbbquJCUBKD https://youtu.be/fUyQEPzpkLk?si=cADJNQbbquJCUBKD
triceratops 1y ago
When I read "grid storage system" I had something very different in mind. I kept thinking "where are the batteries?"
- roter 1y ago
  And I went straight to storing large numerical arrays, i.e. replacement for Zarr, NetCDF, HDF, etc
justmarc 1y ago
Amazing, beautiful work!
b0a04gl 1y ago
[dead]

432 points by nateb2022 1y ago

It’s such a nice project. But boy do I think it would benefit from mass production. People spend a lot of time printing generic bins and baseplates that would be better spent just printing custom bins.

f1ay 1y ago
You can use this custom gridfinity generator. https://gridfinity.perplexinglabs.com/ https://gridfinity.perplexinglabs.com/ Ironically printing custom pelican inserts with this right now
KeplerBoy 1y ago
I guess selling injection molded parts is forbidden under its licensing terms, which seems unfortunate. Let people make some money while everyone is saving money.
- kragen 1y ago
  It's not clear what tort would be committed under US law by someone who sold injection-molded parts using the Gridfinity STLs. Patent infringement? No patent has issued. Copyright infringement? Copyright generally only covers expressive elements of works such as the sculpture in question, not functional elements like the "Sega" string that was at issue in Sega vs. Accolade. Trademark? Also doesn't protect functional elements. Basically, it seems like the inventor purports to be licensing the kinds of exclusive rights to their invention that a patent would grant them, but without actually meeting the legal requirements for receiving a patent. (I don't know of any other jurisdiction that would give them a cause of action either, but law is diverse enough, and many governments are corrupt enough, that I'm sure there's somewhere in the world they could win a lawsuit.) Maybe some actual lawyers could chime in on this.
- rented_mule 1y ago
  It's been MIT licensed for a couple of years now: https://x.com/zackfreedman/status/1650629770156326912#m https://x.com/zackfreedman/status/1650629770156326912#m or for those allergic to X: https://lightbrd.com/zackfreedman/status/1650629770156326912#m https://lightbrd.com/zackfreedman/status/1650629770156326912...
- poulpy123 1y ago
  I don't know if it's the case of gridfinity but > Let people make some money Why would people who did nothing to invent and develop the system would get the money and not the creators ?
  - Dilettante_ 1y ago
    For providing a useful intermediary service?
  - giarc 1y ago
    Generic drug manufacturers did nothing to invent tylenol but they sure make a ton of money making billions of pills each year.
  - nancyminusone 1y ago
    Moldmaking is hardly "did nothing".
Gigachad 1y ago
Time has never really been an issue imo. For the average person your printer sits unused 99% of the time if it takes you half a day to print a baseplate and some bins, who cares. It’s still faster and cheaper than shipping.
paradox460 1y ago
Commercializing doesn't really make sense. So I need to get a small 1x1x3 container to store washers or whatever. With my 3D printer, I'll have that container in under an hour. Even if I bought it with the fastest shipping Amazon has available, assuming it was from a local Warehouse, the earliest I could get it would be half a day away. Having a local store that sells them would be marginally faster, but then I have to go to the store, pick it up and come home. The hour I spend waiting for the printer isn't an hour. I'm I'm completely blocked from doing anything else. It's just an hour in which my printers busy.
- hobofan 1y ago
  The example you bring up is for a single one-off extension. Yeah, for that case it doesn't make a lot of sense. However, for initial setup of the system (e.g. filling up multiple drawers with baseplates and basic bins, as you will see in many videos online), it would definitely jump start the process a lot, where you'll otherwise spend weeks printing everything. Additionally, if you also go for the fancier baseplates/bins that include the magnets you'll also spend quite a bit of time on assembly and will require external hardware anyways. I personally didn't think it was a big deal as for me adopting the system incrementally over time worked quite well, but I think there definitely is a niche of people (and possibly businesses) that would like to adopt Gridfinity for its other benefits and appreciate faster initial setup time.
JKCalhoun 1y ago
I think they're a good intro to 3D printing. You wouldn't download "Hello world"?
inanutshellus 1y ago
I don't understand the sibling posts that're arguing with you. Consumer-grade containers would be cheaper than 3d printing if buying a set, it'd get folk up-and-running without fuss, and when they wanted to customize it they could do so with the help of any of their 3d printing fanatic buddies. So yeah. I agree with @stephenpetryk. Storage solution companies should start marking their bins as Gridfinity-compatible (which is a protected use of copyright regardless of whether "Gridfinity" is copyrighted).
- LanceH 1y ago
  The place to start would be enough basic bins and the grid itself for the Alex drawers from Ikea. The cool things about gridfinity is not just the custom pieces, but also the exact fit that can be achieved. Since every drawer seems to be a slightly different size, exact fits with basic bins would never quite be achieved without targeting a specific drawer. Also, I've turned down the fill and structural strength a lot without issues for most things. How strong does a bin for cotton swabs need to be?
Aurornis 1y ago
> People spend a lot of time printing generic bins and baseplates that would be better spent just printing custom bins 3D printing with a modern printer is set and forget. You send the print file to the printer and you go get it a couple hours later. Still faster than waiting for a package from Amazon and lower resource usage than driving to the store. The customization comes everywhere from picking the bin you want to selecting the color filament to match your layout. Gridfinity isn’t my thing but people who are into it are usually customizing something, from the color to the baseplate.
Rebelgecko 1y ago
Especially for baseplates, since I have some drawers that are larger than my print area. It'd be awesome to just buy an injection molded 8x7 on Amazon or whatever for $5 instead of fiddling with glue and interlocking puzzle pieces.
regularfry 1y ago
The Slant3d guys have a trope about 3d printing primarily being a fulfilment technology, not a manufacturing one. To me it doesn't matter if someone is selling an injection moulded baseplate if I can print one for pennies from filament I already have and it's in my hands in a couple of hours with no delivery charges.

defrost 1y ago

Warning (or recommendation): Impossibly ambitious cleanup campaigns are like catnip to ADHD havers

lvturner 1y ago
sighs in stalled project and half organised gridfinity cupboard Though the plus side to this is that it can be done somewhat inrementally
nancyminusone 1y ago
I must have a very indifferent attitude towards catnip then. I've also sought treatment for OCD. It doesn't give me any kind of "organizing superpower", it just makes we want to wash my hands after touching things.
- defrost 1y ago
  There are a number of variant edgecases. While I like organising warehouse sized spaces down to separating out screws by thread type I also enjoying taking a bowling ball to Jenga towers. I believe that's classed as OC/DC.

grigri907 1y ago

Learn from my mistake: Not at all about the electrical grid and energy storage strategies. Great in its own right though

jot 1y ago

There’s a filament saving variant where you can use toilet rolls or other waste cardboard for the walls: https://www.printables.com/model/880256-cardboard-gridfinity-bins https://www.printables.com/model/880256-cardboard-gridfinity...

throwaway0665 1y ago
Wow this is amazing.
- ffsm8 1y ago
  Why do people want to reuse toilet paper rolls? Paper is not a hygienic material, and these are used in a place that's rife with bacteria...
  - VBprogrammer 1y ago
    If you are worried about this you might want to consider whether you have a healthy degree of concern about hygiene and bacteria. It could be worth speaking with a therapist.
    - Gigachad 1y ago
      If the bacteria on toilet rolls was an actual problem, toothbrushes would be a much bigger issue than storage tubs.
      - Nullabillity 1y ago
        Usually you don't use your toothbrush while fondling your genitals...
        IlikeKitties 1y ago
        You don't know what you are missing but to each their own i guess.

Gigachad 1y ago

I’ve been trying this out. The biggest problem I’m experiencing is that your draws won’t be a perfect multiple of the grid size. Which means you are always going to be left with gaps on the side which are wasted space which could be up to 40mm. There is kind of a solution to this where you can use non standard grid sizes to perfectly fit your draws, and there are generators which will create the baseplates and bins for you. But you lose the ability to use other people’s models. Feel like it would have been better if they had picked a smaller grid size so the average wasted space would be smaller.

rcarmo 1y ago
What I do is print custom bins to store long things on the side of the grid. Making it smaller or bigger would not have fixed anything.
- Gigachad 1y ago
  Making the grid size smaller makes the wasted space less. In the worst case scenario, your draw is 1mm too short for the last row, so the other 40mm becomes wasted. If the grid was half the size for example, the worst case scenario is 20mm wasted.
MarkCole 1y ago
There is also the option to do half bins / half grid pattern at the edge. So you have the normal 42x42 grid pattern, then on one edge there are 21x42 sized boxes. There are a number of designs that support the half grid pattern. This would reduce your maximum lost space down to 20mm, and you would still have compatibility with the gridfinity system.
- Gigachad 1y ago
  I’ll have to give this a shot. I can always put the generic bins I can generate as half size on the edge and put the downloaded ones in the standard grid.
  - 1y ago

kalev 1y ago

Took me a while before i understood it was to store physical items. For a second I was thinking some battery solution-like grid storage system. A few photos on the homepage would help a lot and make it much more clear for noobs like me.

delecti 1y ago
When I visit that page, the thumbnail of the embedded youtube video displays automatically and shows a gridfinity setup with a wide variety of tools in it. Presumably he's presuming that people can see that.
hwillis 1y ago
Same, hah. The similarity between gridwall and powerwall in another comment also snagged me. "Perfboard" has also gotten me before- both are perforated board, but one is used for quick circuit boards and the other (more commonly called pegboard) is a wall-mounted modular hook system for storage.
lotyrin 1y ago
Based on the title alone I was thinking it was a solution for storing grids... not that I had any idea what kind of grid one might need to store.

morjom 1y ago

Open-source Honeycomb storage wall by RostaP: https://www.printables.com/model/152592-honeycomb-storage-wall https://www.printables.com/model/152592-honeycomb-storage-wa... https://www.reddit.com/r/honeycombwall/ https://www.reddit.com/r/honeycombwall/ Although they aren't open-source as Gridfinity or HSW: Cargo modular storage system by Play Conveyor: https://thangs.com/designer/Play%20Conveyor/3d-model/Cargo%20Containers%20-%20Modular%20Storage-1191155 https://thangs.com/designer/Play%20Conveyor/3d-model/Cargo%2... Multiboard, by Multiboard: https://www.multiboard.io/ https://www.multiboard.io/

cjonas 1y ago
Why mention multiboard and not honeycomb storage wall (HSW)? It's open source and arguably a better ecosystem.
- morjom 1y ago
  I didn't come across it is why. I'll add it.
- lrvick 1y ago
  Also the proprietary license on multiboard is absolutely insane. Not only is it closed source, even the printed objects have strings attached. If you ever use anything you print from the multiboard library in a for-profit setting you are obligated to pay a monthly license fee. HSW 100%
  - cge 1y ago
    >Also the proprietary license on multiboard is absolutely insane. Licensing in the 3D printing community tends to be a mess, with licenses that are often absurd, and selectively and sometimes dramatically enforced and unenforced. Multiboard is one of the most absurd I've seen, and is so utterly toxic I feel like touching anything involved with it would be risky: I'd really encourage people to read it [1] (and not the misleading summary they give). I suppose by even writing this I'm making myself ineligible for the license, as the license would not allow me to act in any way contrary to the interests of the company behind Multiboard, or even encourage any third part to act contrary to those interests. If the terms aren't absurd enough, there's a clause for the company to terminate the already limited ability to make and use derivative works if they feel you are taking advantage of the license terms. Yet at the same time, go to any 3D printing model website, and you'll see numerous obvious copyright and trademark violations of Multiboard, often under completely incompatible licenses. Not only are these not removed (I have reported them before), but the owners of Multiboard will even officially comment on the sites praising the designs. It's bizarre, but despite things at times going dramatically wrong, like with Benchy's license suddenly being enforced after many years of encouraging violations, people in the community largely seem to ignore the problem. [1]: https://docs.google.com/document/u/0/d/1C0-Iyxydqk_d2I3o_5ualJ9Ywt9gwVdl9eukvC8JeKA/mobilebasic https://docs.google.com/document/u/0/d/1C0-Iyxydqk_d2I3o_5ua...

SOLAR_FIELDS 1y ago

An old colleague of mine went through the process of doing gridfinity. One of his main struggles was getting boxes that fit his power tools perfectly. He was looking for a way to easily get a shape of the tool into CAD. What’s the most straightforward and effective way to get a CAD representation of a solid these days? Of course there are expensive solutions but is there anything reasonably achievable in the DIY space?

127 1y ago
I do the following: 1. Draw the outline of the tool in question on A4 paper 2. Scan it 3. Trace it on Blender, extrude, boolean 4. Print Of course, only works for small enough tools. Maybe use more A4 sheets?
junon 1y ago
Photogrammetry is one. Generally results in messy geometry though and tolerances get finicky. The CAD plugin in Blender is my favorite though. Need a caliper to get measurements and then I can build out my hooks/clamps/whatever. FreeCAD for when I just need sketches as I find the solid part workflow utterly confusing, whereas I'm very well versed in Blender.
- xsmasher 1y ago
  I use Photopea. If you can get a decent silhouette you can do Image > Vectorize Bitmap to get a path and save it as an .SVG Blender can import an SVG; then you can clean up the curve if necessary.
- diggan 1y ago
  > Photogrammetry is one. Generally results in messy geometry though and tolerances get finicky. The trick is a hybrid approach, use photogrammetry to get a draft model into whatever environment you use (like Blender or whatever), then use that for creating the high-quality cutout manually, which will be very easy with a in-place 3D draft model right in the scene.
pavelrub 1y ago
The common approach is to take a photo of an object from above together with a ruler or something of a known size for scale, then import that directly into the CAD software, scale according to the scaling object, and create a cutout along the object's outline. No need for calipers, 3d scans, or other complex measurement procedures. There are a lot of videos and guides on how to do that.

slau 1y ago

Zach Freedman, the creator of the original Gridfinity, is also an amazing writer and wordsmith. His videos are full of amazing tongue twisters, alliterations and incredible puns. I wish he’d write books. Highly recommended: https://m.youtube.com/@ZackFreedman https://m.youtube.com/@ZackFreedman

hanklazard 1y ago
Yeah his video was linked on the page and i found him incredibly entertaining. Agreed, he’s a very clever writer.
pragma_x 1y ago
> full of amazing tongue twisters You mean, always amazingly augmented, aspiring to alienate all other audible aspirations? Zach is always a treat.
VBprogrammer 1y ago
It took me a long time to convince myself he wasn't the actor from Numb3rs.
cobbaut 1y ago
Creator yes, but is Gridfinity not based on this video from Alexandre Chapel? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHFK5sY8ToE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHFK5sY8ToE
- jerf 1y ago
  Acknowledged on the linked website directly under "Origins of Gridfinity".
- theideaofcoffee 1y ago
  Yes, he explicitly calls it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ra_9zU-mnl8&t=384s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ra_9zU-mnl8&t=384s

d--b 1y ago

It is by no means a perfect solution, but its simplicity and its mass adoption make it by far the best one out there. Kudos to all gridfinity makers out there.

f1ay 1y ago

This is for generating custom bin / baseplate sizes in multiple "formats", and solves a lot of the issues I see brought up on this thread. https://gridfinity.perplexinglabs.com/ https://gridfinity.perplexinglabs.com/ Outside of gridfinity it can be used to generate odd-sized grids via the GRIPS option, make HSW honeycomb walls, and supports multiboard, and a few others.

tetha 1y ago

Maybe I'm a bit of a downer there, but I looked at the overall effort and time investment of making Gridfinity and rather got myself a cutting board and glue to recycle old cardboard. Don't get me wrong, Gridfinity looks amazing. But, cutting a few cardboard base plates from old shipping boxes into place and putting together little stands for a metronome, tuner and a few other small things, as well as a bunch of boxes for plecs and other small stuff took like half an hour to an hour. And I could reuse some trash shipping boxes I had around here.

devrandoom 1y ago
You'd be surprised how many ways there are to make storage containers. Gridfinity is one of them.
bityard 1y ago
Along these lines, foam core board is a super common and effective material for making drawer organizers and little boxes. It's very cheap and holds together surprisingly well with hot glue or super glue. Adam Savage is a huge fan of it and he's tried everything.
- Sinthrill 1y ago
  Adam Savage has done everything, but he's still a little bit behind on practical 3D printing. I think as of 2~ years ago he said he still wasn't 'up' on his CAD programs. He did get a new Nylon FDM machine and a few other things, but he isn't so much a software design person. Mr. Savage has a huge bias towards using their hands to solve their problems and I wouldn't take his work style as a referendum on the utility of these other tools. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWXcnVTY3pk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWXcnVTY3pk Foam Core is still cool tho
freetime2 1y ago
I needed to organize a bunch of tools and other miscellaneous items in a closet. I tried printing a few Gridfinity items, but quickly realized that it wasn't worth the time, effort and filament + electricity costs. I ended up going to the dollar store and buying a bunch of plastic containers and some labels, and managed to get everything organized in an hour and for under $10. I think Gridfinity is more geared toward people looking for a hobby than a practical storage solution. Which it totally fine - people are definitely creating some cool stuff with Gridfinity - but probably good to decide up front which group you fall into.

PeterStuer 1y ago

Had to watch the first 60 seconds of a linked video to know what this even was. It's printable tool storage, tools as in screwdrivers etc. I guess they assume anyone hitting the site already knows this. When I read 'grid' and 'storage' on HN, I think of other stuff.

bravesoul2 1y ago

It's open source! Basically it's just the number 42 open sourced :). That makes it the MCP of things ha ha.

jmartin2683 1y ago

Zach is awesome

WillAdams 1y ago

Resisted this for a long while, instead using a series of plastic organizers in various sizes, eventually settling on the Storehouse 10 Tray Organizer Utility Box from Harbor Freight which organizer size matches that used for selling a fair range of hardware on Amazon --- then, when I dropped one, breaking the dividers/separators in the box and went to look for a replacement discovered it was out of stock locally and was being discontinued. On that basis, a DIY/roll-your-own solution became far more attractive. - no waiting on shipping - no worry about whether or no there is an SKU which meets my needs (I had to modify the 10-tray compartments into 5-tray front--back organizers for endmills) The thing which finally pushed me over was the development of a matching Systainer system: https://old.reddit.com/r/gridfinity/comments/1lnkt93/wip_update_6_gridfinity_systainer_base_geometry/ https://old.reddit.com/r/gridfinity/comments/1lnkt93/wip_upd... which hopefully will be ready by the time my order of a new/larger 3D printer than my current (tiny) Ordbot Quantum arrives.

joshmarinacci 1y ago
This. Every commercial system I've used changes or is discontinued. I now take my storage into my own hands, even if it takes longer.
- rsync 1y ago
  I standardized on Sortimo t-boxx for our workshops: https://www.mysortimo.us/en_US/Storage-Bins-%26-Boxes/T-BOXX/c/47220?q=:tsa https://www.mysortimo.us/en_US/Storage-Bins-%26-Boxes/T-BOXX... ... and although the insert colors changed, the architecture and sizing has been constant for more than 15 years ...
  - WillAdams 1y ago
    Sortimo is a bit large for my needs (or at least what is readily available at a reasonable price here in the States).
  - tecleandor 1y ago
    I like T-Boxx, but they get very expensive (+€60, without accessories), and as I'm not using them commercially, it doesn't make sense for me. Meanwhile, among others, I've placed alerts for their L-Boxx Mini, so I buy a couple of them each time they go €8 or less. (Less than 8 is unusual, but around 8 is possible)

nancyminusone 1y ago

I've always viewed these projects with a bit of suspicion - like I have trouble believing that anyone who does this actually does more with their tools than organize them and put them away. Which is fine if that's what you like, but not why I personally own tools. Shop time is limited enough as it is. Also seems like a great way to add +50% plastic volume to everything you own. Incidentally, I've found the cardboard boxes that 3D printer filament comes in to be an excellent basis for general storage.

7thpower 1y ago
Everything has a place, and when it’s in its place, I can find it quickly and get to work. These systems help me with that.
toolis 1y ago
to each their own. if you do 1 small project per year, it might make sense to dig for 30 minutes in home depot bucket to find out you don't actually have the part you thought you have. doing that more frequently starts to become major waste of time. my tools don't live in gridfinity boxes, shallow tool drawers are good enough, but metric bolts, nuts and other stuff is neatly organised.
LanceH 1y ago
I've printed a ton of little compartments for all manner of things for crafts. I'll print the grid to lay flat in a drawer, and then print various size boxes which socket into that grid. I'll also print a grid to lay on the table, so there is never a need to pull parts from the drawers, just pull the whole box and it sockets onto the table with it's own dedicated space and no slippage. There is also a plugin for Fusion 360 which allows customizing a lot of items that can go into the grid. I do work on my shop, but only so far as it furthers my hobbies. As far as gridfinity goes, it's really nice to have the right size and amount of storage for everything. Imagine those inserts people buy for cutlery for a drawer in the kitchen. There is always a gap on the side for something to fall into. There is only a slot for all knives. No place at all for corn on the cob holders. Now imagine this same problem for building models where a person may have 200+ different items in different amounts. Previously people used things like tackle boxes from fishing, or one of those plastic cases for holding screws. But they never quite line up. Also, 3d printing is very much an asynchronous kind of thing. You work on your shop by pushing a button and get results an hour later. It's not woodworking where you spend 80 hours building your bench, then the next 500 hours building all the parts for it.

SparkyMcUnicorn 1y ago

Using the OpenSCAD build to customize them is great! I've been able to print baseplates that fit precisely inside different drawers, add magnets, etc. https://github.com/kennetek/gridfinity-rebuilt-openscad https://github.com/kennetek/gridfinity-rebuilt-openscad

wnolens 1y ago

A cool solution using only cardboard and hot glue. Love this person's channel. https://youtu.be/fUyQEPzpkLk?si=cADJNQbbquJCUBKD https://youtu.be/fUyQEPzpkLk?si=cADJNQbbquJCUBKD

triceratops 1y ago

When I read "grid storage system" I had something very different in mind. I kept thinking "where are the batteries?"

roter 1y ago
And I went straight to storing large numerical arrays, i.e. replacement for Zarr, NetCDF, HDF, etc

justmarc 1y ago

Amazing, beautiful work!

b0a04gl 1y ago

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