What to measure
Empty the drawer and measure the inside at the bottom, not at the rim: many drawer boxes taper or have rounded corners, and the bottom is the smallest part. Take the width at the front and at the back and keep the smaller number. Then measure the inner height from the drawer floor to the lowest thing above it when the drawer is shut, which is often the underside of the worktop rail. Last, lay your longest knife on a ruler. Dinner knives are commonly 220 to 240 mm long, and the channel has to be longer than that.
Splitting the drawer into modules
A kitchen drawer is wider than a printer bed, so plan modules. The values here make one tray 245 mm long, which fits a 250 mm bed, with two channels about 77 mm wide: one for knives and one for forks, for example. Divide your drawer width by the number of modules and take 0.5 mm off each so they drop in side by side. On a 220 mm bed, shorten the tray to 215 mm and store long knives in a channel that runs the other way.
Clearance, wall and material
A drawer insert wants a loose fit: leave 0.5 to 1 mm in total between the modules and the drawer sides. Walls of 1.6 mm, four passes of a 0.4 mm nozzle, stay straight over a 245 mm length; thinner walls bow inwards on long trays. The floor is 1.2 mm. Keep the height 5 mm or more below the inner height of the drawer. PLA is fine for a cutlery tray and easy to print flat; choose PETG if the tray will be washed in hot water, because PLA deforms in a dishwasher.
Printing
Print with the floor on the bed, as generated. No supports are needed. Use a 0.2 mm layer height. Large flat floors lift at the corners, so clean the bed, use a brim of 5 mm if your printer tends to warp, and avoid a draught across the print. Infill does not matter: walls and floor this thin are made of perimeters and solid layers only.
Outline drawing
Top view. The tray is 45 mm high with 1.6 mm walls, a 1.6 mm divider and a 1.2 mm floor.
Parameters the generator will use
| Setting | Link parameter | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Model | model | drawer_bin |
| Outer width (X) | width | 245 |
| Outer depth (Y) | depth | 160 |
| Outer height (Z) | height | 45 |
| Wall thickness | wall | 1.6 |
| Floor thickness | floor | 1.2 |
| Compartments across (X) | cols | 1 |
| Compartments deep (Y) | rows | 2 |
| Divider thickness | divider | 1.6 |
All lengths are in millimetres. Outer size from these values: 245 x 160 x 45 mm.
Open the generator with these values
This model is free. One $7 licence key opens five more models. Get a licence key on Gumroad ($7)
The fitted drawer organiser bin is the free model: no licence key and no account are needed to preview it and download the STL. The other five models (pipe and cable clip, hex bit holder, screwdriver rack, 42 mm grid bin and drill guide jig) need a licence key.