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Gridfinity: The modular, open-source grid storage system

gridfinity.xyz

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Re: Gridfinity: The modular, open-source grid storage system

#101

Post by Aurornis »

stevenpetryk wrote: post #2

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.

> 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.

Re: Gridfinity: The modular, open-source grid storage system

#102

Post by a_bored_husky »

bobsmooth wrote: post #67
lrvick wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But, importantly, you can 3D print a dildo mold.

The layer lines will show up in the silicone.

Beeswax

https://www.billieruben.info/post/3d-printing-sex-toys-a-qui...

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28819927

Re: Gridfinity: The modular, open-source grid storage system

#103

Post by toolis »

nancyminusone wrote: post #92

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…

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.

Re: Gridfinity: The modular, open-source grid storage system

#104

Post by phoronixrly »

idiotsecant wrote: post #99
i5heu wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

context: 3D-print material like PLA is food safe, but due to the many edges and lines between the print layers it is basically impossible to clean to a food safe degree.

You can make it reasonably food safe with an acetone mist bath, though. It melts all the irregularities into a smooth surface.

While theoretically you can get certified food-safe blend of PLA, the rest of the extrusion path must also be food-safe... I personally am not fond of eating hot degraded PTFE... Or the trace remains of charred ASA/ABS I printed last week through the same nozzle... Or in fact any of the various coatings of the heated bed or leftover trace amounts of previous prints...

It's just a black hole that I choose not to get into by not printing stuff that's expected to be in contact with food.

Re: Gridfinity: The modular, open-source grid storage system

#105

Post by LanceH »

nancyminusone wrote: post #92

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…

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.

Re: Gridfinity: The modular, open-source grid storage system

#106

Post by jerf »

cobbaut wrote: post #94
slau wrote: post #18

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

Creator yes, but is Gridfinity not based on this video from Alexandre Chapel? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHFK5sY8ToE

Acknowledged on the linked website directly under "Origins of Gridfinity".

Re: Gridfinity: The modular, open-source grid storage system

#107

Post by LanceH »

inanutshellus wrote: post #88
stevenpetryk wrote: post #2

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.

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 (w…

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?

Re: Gridfinity: The modular, open-source grid storage system

#108

Post by LanceH »

Gigachad wrote: post #8

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 f…

There is a fusion 360 plugin where you can customize all this. You won't be able to download everything out there for the default grid size, but you can make your own.

Re: Gridfinity: The modular, open-source grid storage system

#109

Post by WillAdams »

lrvick wrote: post #45
SOLAR_FIELDS wrote: post #16

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 spac…

I just pull out calipers, take some quick measurements, then put them into OpenSCAD, export, and hit print. Between Honeycomb Storage Wall and Gridfinity almost every tool I own has a home.

While it wasn't 3D printed, that is how I did things when I first got my first CNC machine:

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/shapeoko--379709812305098767/

Re: Gridfinity: The modular, open-source grid storage system

#110

Post by WillAdams »

nancyminusone wrote: post #92

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…

One video which discusses usage for tools:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYA0xLryF-g

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