Gridfinity bin with a label lip, customizable: any size, compartments and scoop

Parameters

Every slider in the viewer above, with the range the model accepts. The model rebuilds valid at both ends of each range.

Proof: measured on the model

What the design must satisfy and what our CAD engine measured on the model at the default values. Only measured values are shown here; nothing on this page has been printed by us yet.

• valid solid, one body, 125.5 x 83.5 x 45.8 mm, fits a 256 x 256 x 256 mm printer; overhangs: 3.9% of surface would need support.

Print notes

Orientation

Feet down on the bed, as modelled.

Supports

None. The label shelf has a 45 degree underside, and with magnet holes on, the 6.5 mm pocket ceilings are short bridges.

Material

PLA or PETG

Layer height

0.2 mm

Settings

Keep the wall a multiple of your line width (1.2 mm is three 0.4 mm lines) so the slicer leaves no gaps

Hardware

24 x 6 x 2 mm disc magnets (optional, with magnet holes on, 4 per cell)

Time and filament

About 4 h 15 min and 90 g at the default size: a rough estimate from the model's volume and surface (PLA, 15% infill, about 1 mm of walls, 0.2 mm layers), not a slicer.

• Print a 1 x 1 bin, 2 units tall, before a batch and try it in your baseplate. The feet follow the published spec, but printers differ by a few tenths of a millimetre.
• The magnet pockets open under the feet and are 6.5 mm wide for 6 mm magnets: glue the magnets in, all the same way up, so they pull toward the magnets in your baseplate.
• The label shelf is 13 mm deep, measured on the model: 12 mm label tape fits with a little room.

How it was designed

Designed with buildcad's AI agent, checked by the buildcad team. This is the request it started from and an edited account of what it did (more on how text to CAD works).

The request

A Gridfinity bin for the small parts drawer on my workbench: 3 x 2 grid units, 6 units tall, split into 3 compartments across the width. It needs a label lip along the back of each row that holds 12 mm label tape, a finger scoop at the front so screws slide out, and magnet holes in the base as an option. Make the width, depth, height and number of compartments adjustable.

1. 1

   It used the Gridfinity helper

   The agent built the bin with buildcad's Gridfinity helper, which follows Zack Freedman's published spec: 42 mm cells, 7 mm height units, the standard feet and stacking lip. For 3 x 2 cells and 6 units it set out to measure 125.5 x 83.5 mm outside, 45.8 mm tall with the lip, and 24 magnet pockets of 6.5 mm.

2. 2

   The first build, then the label shelf

   The first build was one valid body at exactly those sizes. Probing down and across the back of each compartment, it found a flat label shelf 13 mm deep with a 45 degree underside, enough for 12 mm label tape.

3. 3

   Compartments and scoop measured

   A ray across the bin crossed 4 walls of 1.2 mm, the 2 outer walls and 2 dividers, so 3 compartments. Rays down the front showed the floor curving up from 7.2 mm high at 21 mm from the front wall to 16.7 mm at 5.8 mm from it: the finger scoop.

4. 4

   A rows option and the sweep

   It added a "Rows front to back" slider, each row with its own label shelf, said so in its reply, and rebuilt all 11 slider extremes as one valid body each.

5. 5

   The overhang warning

   The printability check flagged 5.0% of the surface. The agent put it down to the label shelf and the stacking lip and said they print fine without supports.

6. 6

   Our change

   We found the warning came from the magnet pockets: their 24 ceilings are 6.5 mm bridges over the feet, and without them the check reads 3.9%. We set the magnet switch off by default, so the default bin passes every check. Turn it on if you use magnets: the switch and the pockets are unchanged.

One run of the agent: 1 min 15 s, about $0.26 of model time at list price (claude-sonnet-5-5). We changed the code afterwards, as described in the last step.