When one big bin beats sixteen small ones
Sixteen cells of grid can hold sixteen 1x1 bins, and for screws that is the right answer. It is the wrong one for things that are simply bigger than a cell: a tape measure, a multimeter, a tube of sealant cut short, rolls of tape, a glue gun's sticks, a box of wall plugs kept in its box. A 4x4 bin with a cross of dividers gives four pockets about 81 by 81 mm and 42.6 mm deep, each holding roughly 280 cubic centimetres. Set both compartment counts to 1 and it becomes a single open tray 163.5 mm square inside, the shape for a hand plane or a set of pliers.
What to measure
Measure the printer first. The bin is 167.5 mm in both directions, so the bed has to offer that in X and in Y with room for a skirt: it fits a 180 mm bed closely and a 220 mm bed with ease. Then measure the drawer height above the base plate; 49 mm is seven steps of 7 mm. Finally think about weight. Four pockets of this size filled with steel hardware can pass two kilograms, and the bin is lifted by its rim, which is why the walls here are thicker than on the small bins.
Clearance, wall and material
The clearance to the grid is 0.5 mm. The outer wall is 2 mm, five lines of a 0.4 mm nozzle, and the floor above the feet and the dividers are 1.6 mm. The two dividers cross in the middle and brace each 167 mm wall at its centre, cutting the unsupported span to about 81 mm. The bin stands on sixteen plain square feet, each 35.6 mm, with no stacking lip. Sixteen feet have to drop into sixteen openings at once, so if the bin sits tight in your base plate, raise the foot inset from 2.95 to 3.1 mm. PLA is stiff and suits a large bin; PETG is tougher if the bin is dropped.
Printing
Print feet down. This is a long print, in the region of seven to ten hours at 0.2 mm layers depending on speed, and it uses well over a hundred grams of filament, so run a small 1x1 bin first to confirm the fit in your base plate. A square this size is prone to lifted corners: clean the bed, keep draughts away, and watch the first layer of the four corner feet. The floor bridges the 6.4 mm channels between feet in both directions without supports.
Outline drawing
Top view, to scale. Four by four cells of the 42 mm grid, less 0.5 mm clearance.
Parameters the generator will use
| Setting | Link parameter | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Model | model | grid_bin |
| Grid cells across (X) | units_x | 4 |
| Grid cells deep (Y) | units_y | 4 |
| Total height (Z) | height | 49 |
| Outer wall thickness | wall | 2 |
| Floor thickness above the feet | floor | 1.6 |
| Compartments across (X) | cols | 2 |
| Compartments deep (Y) | rows | 2 |
| Divider thickness | divider | 1.6 |
| Clearance to the grid | fit_clearance | 0.5 |
| Foot height | foot_height | 4.75 |
| Foot inset | foot_inset | 2.95 |
All lengths are in millimetres. Outer size from these values: 167.5 x 167.5 x 49 mm.
Open the generator with these values
This model needs the $7 licence key: one payment, one key, and it opens all five paid models. Get a licence key on Gumroad ($7)
The bin on a 42 mm base grid needs a licence key: without one the generator shows the model locked, lists the values from this link and fills them in as soon as you unlock. The fitted drawer organiser bin is the free model and downloads with no key.