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show me your 3-D printed tool organizers!

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whateg01

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 13, 2006
Messages
11,507
Location
doo dah, kansas, usa
With the old ender it took too long to prototype different organizers so I stopped. With my flash forge it's fast enough I've started to play around with wrench organizers. Still trying to get the spacing just right. Some of the ones I've seen place the wrenches too close together to get my fingers in between them and others waste a lot of space because they are too far apart.

One that I really want to do is drill organizers that fill a standard 26" tool box drawer.
 

1Bad55Chevy

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 20, 2025
Messages
623

You can scroll through there and browse (and download) other people's designs.
 

Andres26tnt

Well-known member
Joined
May 11, 2018
Messages
994
Nice, I've been printing my own tool grid for my Tstak, basically had to make everything from scratch because the boxes a shallow and have raised portions for the dividers. Lots of prototypes, but overall I'm happy with the outcome. PXL_20250425_103104167~2.jpg
 

CallumRD1

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 7, 2017
Messages
339
Location
Colorado
I use 3D printed organizers throughout my shop. Here a a few examples:
- High-density combination wrench organizers (ratcheting and non-ratcheting)
- Tray for small files with handles (by far the most used files I own)
- Labeled organizer for Starrett pin punches
- Compact holder for a full set of parallels
- ER collet tray (ER32 in this photo, but I use similar ones for ER11 and ER20 too)


IMG_6761.jpg

IMG_6762.jpg
IMG_6763.jpg
IMG_6764.jpg
 

DekNgo

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 15, 2022
Messages
181
Location
TX
I use 3D printed organizers throughout my shop. Here a a few examples:
- High-density combination wrench organizers (ratcheting and non-ratcheting)
- Tray for small files with handles (by far the most used files I own)
- Labeled organizer for Starrett pin punches
- Compact holder for a full set of parallels
- ER collet tray (ER32 in this photo, but I use similar ones for ER11 and ER20 too)


IMG_6761.jpg
Those high-density combination wrench organizers are nice! Is that your own design?
 

Poolshark314

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 5, 2021
Messages
658
Location
MD
Congrats on your printer! Not sure if you have seen this thread yet, but there's a few of us that are pretty into Gridfinity as well:

 

larry4406

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 27, 2006
Messages
19,576
Location
Northern Virginia
@lilscorpion has a thread which includes extensive 3d printed tool organizers amongst other cool projects.

 

CallumRD1

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 7, 2017
Messages
339
Location
Colorado
Those high-density combination wrench organizers are nice! Is that your own design?
Yup. I just measured the thickness of all the wrenches and made slots with enough clearance. It didn't take very long. The embossed text accented with a contrasting color sharpie is a very useful detail. Makes it super quick to grab the correct tool.
 

Callelle

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 3, 2022
Messages
643
Location
Depew NY
Something I'd really like to see are trays for locking extensions. The "V" grove holders don't work great with the collars on shorter extensions, and the normal trays that I see don't have room for the collars.
 

ZX3ST

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 6, 2015
Messages
163
Location
STL
Gridfinity here too. There's a lot more, but this is the only picture I have handy to show off. Still a work in progress.
 

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CallumRD1

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 7, 2017
Messages
339
Location
Colorado
I just got a printer and am headed down this road. What filament material are most of you using?
I almost exclusively use ABS. It's cheap, strong, and won't deform if left out in the Colorado sun. But it requires a good printer with an insulated enclosure to print well. My print chamber is typically about 65˚C (150˚F) when I print large parts out of ABS.
 

R07AG

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 26, 2024
Messages
57
Location
Wisconsin
I just got a printer and am headed down this road. What filament material are most of you using?
If it's gonna stay indoors, I just use PLA. All of my gridfinity is made with Creality PLA. For outdoors, I use PETG.

There's better materials, but those have worked for everything I've need so far.
 

Andres26tnt

Well-known member
Joined
May 11, 2018
Messages
994
I just got a printer and am headed down this road. What filament material are most of you using?

I use PLA or PLA+ for prototypes and general indoor stuff. For outdoors, heat/chemical resistant PETG, ABS, and ASA. TPU is good also for impact resistance, it's basically like rubber.

PLA and PLA+ is fine to print without an enclosure, relatively safe with low fumes. The others will need a hardened steel nozzle, enclosure and evac fan. They require higher heat so they will release more fumes. You just need a nice HEPA air filter. Plenty available for cheap. I usually just set it and forget it lol. Always have it on cus I hate the smell of plastic.

I have an A1 with this upgrades, was cheaper then buying the nicer model. I'm printing PETG flawlessly out the box. But you might want to get a dryer too as they tend to **** up moisture.
 

bayseven#7

Member
Joined
Jan 4, 2024
Messages
8
General questions on 3d drawer trays, how long to print and how much filament is used?
Would it be cheaper, but not as much fun, to buy them?
 

Andres26tnt

Well-known member
Joined
May 11, 2018
Messages
994
General questions on 3d drawer trays, how long to print and how much filament is used?
Would it be cheaper, but not as much fun, to buy them?

That depends on a lot of factors. Quality, speed, material, infill and such.

Example a toolgrid 6X6 square takes me up to 5ish hours to print on a nicer quality settings. If I use a draft or lower quality settings I can do it in 3h.

How much filament used, also depends on a lot of things. Those 6x6 squares use 156g. Model something up and slice it, the software is pretty accurate with the info. I use Cura slicer.

Fiy printing takes time, it's not super fast. But as you go, you forget and it becomes routine. Now I just set it and forget about it 😂. I've printed stuff up to 21h, my usual consistent time is 3 to 5h

How cheap? PLA is cheap, 10$ to 15$ a kilo. I can custom print trays cheaper then buying. That's it custom, anything you buy to include toolgrid will have to be modified to fit like you want.
 
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Andres26tnt

Well-known member
Joined
May 11, 2018
Messages
994
I would have to buy more boxes or get rid of some tools. So much wasted space! 1747757028275.png

Un-used tools are giant waste of space imo 🤷. I thought the same thing, then I sat down to Tally the amount of times I'm using a tool. Turns out you can reduce the amount of tools by quite a good amount. Most of my "what if tools", or I should say "I might need this in the future" tools go to my overflow storage box. I have pouches or custom made organizers to store them.
 

whateg01

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 13, 2006
Messages
11,507
Location
doo dah, kansas, usa
I don't really have a lot of just in case tools. Pretty much everything gets used once in awhile. The only area I could really pare down the collection is the screwdriver drawer.
 

Andres26tnt

Well-known member
Joined
May 11, 2018
Messages
994
I don't really have a lot of just in case tools. Pretty much everything gets used once in awhile. The only area I could really pare down the collection is the screwdriver drawer.

What is once In a while?

Once a month, few months, weeks, or days? If it's once in a month, that to me is a what if tool. Goes to my overflow, takes me 5 minutes to pull out when I need it. Also keeps my area clean, no more having junk in my work bench.
 

Andres26tnt

Well-known member
Joined
May 11, 2018
Messages
994
Here my Toyota custom trusco(toyo) steel box, wanted to do a specific vehicle box. The Toyota in questions is the Caldina GT-T also known as the GT4. Basically a Celica chassis stretched to a station wagon. Has the GT4 running gears awd system and engine. Came out amazing, tho I wish I had a larger printer as I will like to print the full tray without split it to make it fit in the bed. Maybe that will be my next purchase. All PLA+, works great for items not exposed to the sun.

PXL_20250324_112357318~2.jpgPXL_20250302_102247436~2.jpgPXL_20250324_134912719~2.jpg
 
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