How to 3D Print Custom Tool Organizers for ANYTHING!

[@Ziloden]

So far I've only printed things from the internet. This video was what finally prompted me to open fusion, and actually start learning to make something myself. Spent 5 hours yesterday on one set of 14 sockets. Lots of trial and error and googling, but learned a ton. This morning another set took 2 hours as I learned some better ways of doing things. Just did another set in 30 min. Can't wait to get to stuff that's not just circles! Thanks for the inspiration.

[@PhilVandelay]

That's great to hear! It definitely does get easier and this kind of stuff is a good place to start

[@dreizenit7758]

this is actually a good way to learning basic fusion or solidworks and 3d printing altogether.. learning along the way plus you get to organize your tools

[@Halon750]

This is the way...

[@KristianWithK_]

This is the most German video I’ve ever watched. Good job!

[@milkymalkum5708]

I'm getting a 3d printer for christmas this year and my immediate thoughts were printing work-related items like you show here, but good lord man, your tetris skills are on point. You've absolutely sold me on an organizational system like this. One thing I'm likely to improve on your design is adding finger-loops or easy grab points on the socket moulds for a smoother removal. Thanks for sharing this!

[@evlli2342]

for modeling complex 2.5d objects I love just throwing it on a flatbed scanner

[@PhilVandelay]

Damn I didn't even think of that one! Great idea

[@youngien]

And than do you just line tracing them and expand them in 3D?

[@Stubones999]

One of the good reasons for doing this organizing grid is that it shows that you have missing tools at the end of a job.

[@chrislambe400]

Highly reccomended for surgeons.

[@nicktorea4017]

@@chrislambe400 surgeons have left scissors & other instruments inside of patients before after a 20 hour shift on consecutive days just over worked & over tired

[@criggie]

That really is rocket surgery.

[@Adones09]

I have FOUND sooo many tools (10 mm) while working on cars.

[@jssid4218]

@@Adones09 You can keep it. I already replaced it. LMK if you find my 12mm. Missing that one, reg and deep socket.

[@crashkg]

I find that I always make some measuring error so my solution has been to print out a drawing diagram at 1:1 from fusion on paper to check everything before I send it to the 3D printer. This has saved me many hours for printing time and filament.

[@PhilVandelay]

I found it can also help to print just one layer of the object for this purpose to check the fit. Costs almost no filament and is relatively quick

[@crashkg]

@@PhilVandelay Yes, I usually do test prints as well, but the time of the inkjet printer and the cost of the paper is much less than plastic. Thanks for your content.

[@markm0000]

I kept thinking of ways to organize my toolbox at work, and all the products money can buy have very poor space efficiency. This is the best concept I’ve seen so far and fully customizable. The best engineering from Germany. Thank you

[@cidercreekranch]

This is most concise and comprehensive video I've seen on the subject of drawer organization using gridfinity.

[@mikelastname]

Nice. Right at the very end I think you spelled out why keeping tools organised in a modular fashion like this is great - it makes them easy to use. If tools are hard to use, because you can't find them, or you have to keep going back to the drawer to get a new one, jobs become a chore. Very nicely done!

[@DaveEtchells]

SUPER useful video, thanks!! I hadn’t known about the Gridfinity generator for F360, and seeing you going through the steps to make this cutouts made it very inviting for a novice F360 user like me to give it a try. Amazing that I’m finally going to have organized tool drawers after all these years!

[@red1inerr113]

That might just make me jump over to F360 from Inventor, no need to model up blanks from scratch.

[@zeroforkgiven]

The multicolor lettering is just so satisfying to look at. Wow.

[@janphilippruhl4921]

I had never thought about taking a picture and importing it to draw the geometry from. It changes my perspective to construct. Thank you so much! 😊

[@hendricksfamilyny]

I’m not typically a commenter. I like to lurk. But this video was awesome. So full of actual useful topics, ideas, and instructions. Viel Dank!!

[@billdoodson4232]

Phil, you are right about Lista cabinets being the best you can get. I managed to get 4 of the narrower ones last year, 3rd hand, originally they had been supplied to the McLaren F1 team. Really not cheap even 3rd hand, my son will inherit them. The main problem with mine are that a lot of the drawers are 50mm, which meams that for many items, they dont have enough height internally. I have 2 new 100mm drawers being delivered tomorrow, which will replace 2 of the 50mm drawers in 2 cabinets. Spares etc are really easy to get hold of and are not a horrific cost. Having just taken delivery of a Qidi Q1 printer I will be putting it too work making some of these drawer organisers. Many thanks for posting this, at this time.

[@rotors_taker_0h]

Holy cow, just googled them and, well, it's impressive how much the cabinets cost.

[@PhilVandelay]

Yeah it depends a bit on what you keep in them. For me the 50mm version works great but some stuff I have to keep in other places as it's too thick. I think what the large flat drawers excel at is stuff like drills and endmills, I can't imagine a better system to organize and store those. As you said, I'm pretty certain this cabinet will still be in use somewhere after I'm gone. It's hard to overstate how well they're made

[@billdoodson4232]

@@rotors_taker_0h Yeah, quality is never cheap, even second hand. They hold their price really well. Honestly though if you spot one or two for sale, go for it if you can. You won't regret it at all.

[@joeywilson9625]

What is yours Phil? Is that their default green? Or a custom color?

[@talbech]

Nice video. I am doing similar stuff for my workshop. One of the main advantages besides organisation with the Gridfinity is as you say the ability to take a set of items with you to a working table. I have a combination of drawers, cleat walls cabinets and sticking to Gridfinity gives me a ton of ways to constantly optimise.

[@DrFiero]

Try gluing a felt sheet (dark green for that retro feel!) down into the bottom of the drawers, then redo your tetris of the grids. Everything will be quieter, and have a better feel!

[@hendricksfamilyny]

The little meshy mats coated with rubber also work really well for this.

[@SlowExpensive]

Until they melt in your drawer. Felts much nicer.

[@DrFiero]

@@SlowExpensive - must agree. I had the rubber mats for a short while, but they got all gooey and gross after a fairly short while. In my machinist cabinet, I still have the original felt liners from nearly 50 years ago when I bought it!

[@AscDrew]

Dropping some tiny magnets into the molds would be great for minor resistance and hold in place, especially for sockets if you are going to walk around with the whole tray.

[@Trust_me_I_am_an_Engineer]

I have a solution for your long bits, that I 3D printed 7 years ago. I made the slots horizontal and deep enough so the bits sit just below the surface so they can't slide out. At one end of the slot, make the slot over a short length (10 mm long or so) about 8 mm deeper than the rest of the slot. To take the bit out push the end of the bit down into the deeper end and the other end will pop up, making it easy to grab. It avoids finger slots which need extra space and which I find inelegant 😊. Very informative video! Especially the different methods of designing the slots for the tools. Thank you so much for posting this.

[@CaptainGuntu]

That is an elegant solution.

[@Catrik]

Very nice tip! I'll definetely keep this in mind

[@olewurtz7625]

Some great ideas, thank you for sharing. You almost made me regret designing and building a rolling tool storage during covid, but then I saw a potential in taking your designs and adapting them to my covid project.

[@tonyc7352]

I am coveting that heavy duty drawer cabinet so hard. If I had them in my humble shop I would stand there and just open and close them for fun. Each time the drawer closes and I hear and feel that sweet thunk/click and it gives me jollies in some part of my brain.

[@leatherbydanny]

tool boxes are pricey ... look for used microfiche storage cabinets... they might pay YOU to take them!! ( fantastic tool boxes! )

[@tonyc7352]

@@leatherbydanny Thank you for the advice, I checked them and they seem nice too. I was starting to resign myself to the possibility of sleeping with someone as trade. I'm just not the rob-a-bank kind of guy.

[@metricdeep8856]

3D printing is perfect for tool organizing. I also use those little felt/rubber pads (for chairs, cupboard doors etc.) for certain items that need extra protection. It gives some shock protection and tightens up extra clearance when you don't feel like reprinting.

[@therronhumphrey]

Im super new but Im sure most people know. There is a ruler specifically for measuring things in units of gridfinity bin lengths and heights. This has helped a ton instead of measuring things and doing the calculation or using spare bins.

[@PhilVandelay]

Good to know!

[@bragoen]

I like how you focus on calibrating the canvas on the mat grid while the object in the picture is A CALIPER with an actual RULER on it, and they're far more thin and precise than the grid marks.

[@PhilVandelay]

I hope this is a joke and I don't have to explain what an example is

[@mattchinnock7064]

I see some people are angry that you’re selling some of this work. A lot more people will watch this, think it’s great but not tell you, so just adding this comment to voice some support.

[@hendricksfamilyny]

Those people can shut up TBH. He just unlocked a world of “this is how you can do this pretty easily”. That’s worth money, literally.

[@Alan.livingston]

I love that people print gridfinity and sell it on Etsy. I have zero intention to buy a 3d printer when it’s cheaper and far easier to just get other people to do the leg work.

[@sperformance.96]

​@@Alan.livingston is not cheaper

[@Alan.livingston]

@ I guess it depends. If I drop $500 on a printer and then a bit more on consumables, I have to print a certain amount to amortise the cost to a point where it is cheaper. If I just print a few gridfinity things and then the printer sits there collecting dust while the filament goes wonky from humidity then I doubt I’d hit the break even point.

[@sperformance.96]

@@Alan.livingston A single Gridfinity piece, like one designed to hold magnetic bit holders, can cost around €30 (approximately $32) on Etsy. That’s the price of just one piece, and you can’t even customize it to your specific needs. With 3d printers you gain the ability to design and customize countless other pieces exactly how you want them. In the long term, the value and flexibility far outweigh the initial cost.

[@Wil_Bloodworth]

That cabinet is amazing. Nice work on the organizers!

[@strider5402]

An alternative to taking pictures is 2D scanning with a printer, this works well and will not give you any sort of perspective effect and will be much more accurate for flat objects. Just be sure not to scratch or break the glass on the scanner if you are working with metal objects

[@MrStolarsky]

Did the same for my tools. I was scanning them with w scanner (2D) but never thought of including a scale for reference, thanks!

[@criggie]

I did the same with my sockets and GF, but the tolerances were a challenge. Then I pivoted and used square bosses and just put the socket down on top. That worked so much better than holes, for me.

[@PhilVandelay]

Yeah it definitely can be tricky to figure out tolerances as round holes tend to have shrinkage in 3d prints. I don't know if you knew, but in many slicers there's a parameter that lets you adjust hole tolerance in a print without changing the actual model. Using test prints this can be very helpful to figure out how much extra space you need and then save a print profile for that application

[@SPOK3S]

this video is both educational and satisfying. Awesome work

[@DavidKonerding]

To get a tight fit when working with a canvas/photo, draw the lines of the sketch directly on the edges of the object. Then use offset lines to make a slightly larger path. For 3d objects, use Offset Face.

[@Carlos-gm3zn]

I’ve been wanting to do this for months now, too. Cool video and thanks for the tips!

[@sporadic3684]

Now I have the confidence to try this myself. Thank you

[@jb510]

Awesome video. Thank you so much for going into how you designed the trays. So many YTers just skip design and focus on the end result. Looks good and gave me hope on doing it myself.

[@thoperSought]

for baseplates, I want to strongly recommend Gridfinity Refined, and Gridfinity Refined Parametric Spacer, on Printables. Gridfinity Refined has a simple and a complicated baseplate, and the simple is better, imo. it has little dovetail connectors to tie the baseplates together. the spacer takes up the extra space, so that your baseplates can't slide around in the drawer. between the two of them, you don't have to worry about your baseplates shifting around at all, even if you always close the drawer kinda hard

[@Zogg1281]

The beauty of doing this is discovering that you need more tools to fill the draw up again!! 😂 Thanks for the into to this system, I'm going to have to look into this as I've been trying to organise some tools and just can't get a good fit. It's also a good opportunity to dust off my 3D printer as I haven't had a chance to use it in quite a while 👍👍👍👍👍

[@garyjones2582]

I don't know much about all this 3D printing stuff, but you did a very nice job putting all this together.. save those cases and repurpose them for something else...thx for sharing...

[@deannaatkinson3004]

I’ve known about canvas in Fusion for a while. But, I owe you thanks for showing me a real practical way to use it. Until now I’ve been laying out my profiles in Adobe Illustrator and exporting as .svg. But importing .svg into Fusion I need to scale around 1.333 to get it close to accurate. Using canvas in the way you described will save me so much time.

[@dathat555]

21:24 - For the socket trays, consider adding a magnetic strip along the bottom (or perhaps in each individual hole) to help retain the sockets when moving the full set to the workbench.

[@TheMadComputerScientist1787]

This is great. I'm in a similar situation organizing a small, hand tools only, woodworking and gunsmithing shop. I didn't really have any idea how to approach this especially for things like Wera screwdriver handles.

[@thoperSought]

well, I wish I'd known about the gridfinity plugin two weeks ago, before I started fighting with-and ultimately redoing from scratch-a filled-in box file from printables

[@RickRolling-tc7vb]

Thanks Phil, very interesting video. I have used a few different commercial systems and none of them are as good as this: most waste space at an astonishing level and pay more attention to aesthetics than function, so I yeet them out and find more practical and useable solutions. Yours look like they will last well too, and I'm pleased to see you minimising your plastic waste. Thanks again.

[@VaughnCampbell]

He did not come up with the system.

[@rocoaf]

Hey for the longer bits showed in 17:54 you can create a hole large enough to insert a small magnet using a soldering iron and that way they are going to stay in place, or 3d printing that again with the holes for the magnets

[@이관규-e9z]

3D 프린팅으로 정리를 어떻게 할까 늘 고민하고 있었는데, 정말 이상적인 정리 방법인거 같습니다. 정말 인상적이네요.

[@--JawZ--]

Awesome work with this, and nice to see how it all was done. Inspirational to say the least!

[@ransbikes3413]

Your videos are packed with value!

[@boomupengineering]

Good use for a 3D printer. That grid system is a good idea which I'll start using.

[@chadbennett]

Great job. Thank you for sharing your workflows.

[@MarkTellier]

Thanks a lot for sharing this most excellent video Phil. I learned a lot and will use your tips to customize my own blocks.

[@antoniofleitas6992]

I learned so much watching this video. Thank you!

[@dennisgu2506]

Warum…..warum hab ich mir das angeguckt 🙈 Gridfinity mit Boxen ok, aber das weckt meinen inneren Monk und jetzt muss ich das auch machen 😂 Sehr genial gelöst 👍🏻

[@MrTimdtoolman1]

What a great idea, I could benefit a lot from a organizing setup like this in my tool box.

[@glennfelpel9785]

Outstanding video. You have touched on many good ideas. I particularly like the picture on a mat with a grid. Here we use SolidWorks and it too has a Sketch Picture feature and your technique makes the scaling much easier. I believe they also have an automatic outline tracing check yours they may have it too. What a good video. Thank you.

[@firstmkb]

I want my tools organized this well, and now have a better justification for getting a 3D printer. The scanner looked AWESOME, but I need a sponsor for that. And maybe a channel.

[@6arepo6]

Real life Resident Evil 4 inventory management! (fantastic job BTW).

[@RiceCrisp320]

You could add a layer of a bright filament under all your cutouts so it is very apparent what is missing at a glance.

[@christosvolikakis1523]

lovely toolbox! always looking for them

[@timberry7832]

I enjoyed your video. I like your, “that’s good enough attitude”. In this day and age when we think we have to over engineer everything to the point it’s counterproductive and sometimes defeating. 👍

[@mrtnsnp]

If you have both metric and inch-based tools, then either separate them into different drawers, or give the organisers different colours, if you only have a few. A few tools for ¼"/20 tpi can be practical to mount camera's, even if your shop is otherwise fully sane.

[@drxym]

Looks great although I think if there are any solid areas I'd be tempted to hollow them out to save material and also serve as spaces to stash additional small items.

[@greatdane3343]

That was very satisfying and inspiring to watch. Thanks for sharing.

[@MultigrainKevinOs]

Well that is just incredibly satisfying, great video and project!

[@kodywillnauer9422]

Really clever on the large tools grid.

[@hypnolobster]

Throwing away blow moulded cases after organizing their contents is one of my favorite things

[@ge2719]

i wonder what they are made of, if they could be recycled into 3d print filament :P

[@creativusme]

@@ge2719 I started to notice that (at least for the Lidl Parkside tools) they are made from recycled HDPE. Since I already recycle bottle caps made from HDPE, it was easy to reuse it. It would technically work as a 3D printing filament, but it is a nightmare to print with (I already tried).

[@ge2719]

@@creativusme sounds like its used for pressure moulds for a reason then.... what do you do to reuse them melt them into slabs?

[@creativusme]

@@ge2719 Well, there are different techniques. I could explain it via text, but it would be kind of long and hard to understand (I'm not a native English speaker; I'm Italian). I started by watching the "Brothers Make" channel ( www.youtube.com/@BrothersMake ) ( kzbin.info/www/bejne/hajQmIyLf712r68 ) and found my own way to do it. In simple words, yes, I melt them into slabs or press moulds I built myself.

[@dangoesfast]

You can cut the molded inside layer out and 3D print your own internals, or use Kaizen foam, or just use them as like a storage case. They're not very strong with the inside removed, but you can epoxy support strips in

[@MrPhatNOB]

15:11 Tetris theme played in my head while watching 😂 Excellent and inspiring video mate 👍🏻 thank you.

[@m-tech1816]

yess, exactly what i started doing, but those designs are even more approachable👌🏻 I should continue with mine..

[@paradoxx_4221]

If you ever make new boxes, consider making little cutouts at the sides for your fingers so you can take the parts out more easily

[@PhilVandelay]

The objects sit in there pretty loose so it didn't seem necessary. They all protrude far enough so you can easily grab them

[@TBJK07Jeep]

I have a tall Lista style cabinet I got for really reasonable price. Roughly 60” tall(152.4cm) 26” wide (66 cm). I have done some gridfinity with it but not a lot. I do want to do some with Mic’s, calipers, etc. I do need to get better at Solidworks before hand.

[@rubencatarrunas1546]

Phil, I suggest you change your channel name to "Vandelay industries", what a missed opportunity.. :)

[@TheWrate]

Awesome work Phil. Definitely borrowing your great ideas!

[@smurface549]

Dangit, that's a slick system! Seems like Santa has to bring a couple spools of filament, and I have an excuse to get a better printer 😀

[@_IanOfEarth]

I have a custom L-shaped box in my tool drawers too, glad I'm not alone!

[@425wester]

Awesome info here! Could you possibly make another video in a little more depth regarding the canvas method?

[@anonymoususer4356]

Love the picture trick!

[@hypnoticsstudio4208]

I didnt own the same socket set before but i think buying all of those same tools now would be worth the time savings... I know that took weeks!

[@ExpertDiy]

Very nice! 🤩good job!

[@TerryRossi]

Very informative - thank you.

[@andrewchilds9573]

tip for some of those bits you could design a small space in the bottom of the print for a magnate that way they stay

[@porthose2002]

Really helpful video! Great ideas, too.

[@ifell3]

Nice, I wish I knew about before building and designing my tool cabinet. Definitely think I prefer the sockets that drop in rather than printing little nipples where the push on. Saying that I think I saved a lot of time and material.

[@garysgarage101]

Amazing job. I too scored a nice older Lista about 1/2 your size. It’s a mess right now. I have a Bambu Labs XC1 sitting idle, maybe I should get to work. Thanks for the great idea.

[@Алекс-л3ф]

Amazing! Thansk,l for sgowing approach!

[@jamesharrison1579]

Great video, thanks!!

[@pureexpanse]

Well done. The biggest problem is that no matter how many organizers you have, there are always too few of them.🙂

[@nathan24277]

awesome video. learn't a few things about fusion also. Thank you for sharing.

[@hopelessnerd6677]

That's beautiful! My OCD thanks you.

[@HSolDCS]

I've just watched 20 minutes of a grown-up organizing his drawers and felt jealous 😅

[@tikitime]

thanks for the “water level” tip. i’ll be using that!! 🎉😂

[@stuartkorte1642]

Interesting. I was organizing my tools in my green Lista today. Some good tips. Now I need a reliable 3d printer.

[@michbushi]

You could use a flat bed scanner for dimensionally accurate and distortion- free image, if you happen to have one

[@labcda]

Nice job, really enjoyed watching it and very nice design, i want my 3d printer xD greetings from colombia my friend.

[@youwillneverguess]

Very satisfying!

[@jeremyspecce]

i think it would be cool on a video like this, if for each time you showed an organizer insert, if you put a graphic on the screen that says the grams of filament used and the print time.

[@caseypries7559]

It looks like the picture method works pretty good but I'm thinking a flatbed scanner would work even better.

[@dustinmeier9753]

Cool. I didn’t know there was a Gridfinity extension for Fusion 360.

[@NOBLENAGA007]

Thanks for the tip on Lista! watching the reviews on them, they seem to be a good quality to price ratio. I have been looking for a tool cabinets worth investing in for a few years now, and blowing money on a snapon or cabinets in that category just didn't seem logical to me.

[@PhilVandelay]

Yeah they are definitely bomb-proof and last forever. Here in Germany they're practically the industrial standard for tool storage

[@atelierbaumgartner4391]

lista is the last brand from switzerland that have survided. The Quality is superb. The only brand that was better is Vidmar.

[@enyoc3d]

extremely useful video. thank you!

[@NathanCope-g4m]

Fantastic video! Thanks Phil. Do you have a link to where you got that cutting mat from?

[@christophec.482]

You should also be able to use solid sweep with the 3d scans. Have you tried ?

[@aerial_camera_video_imaging]

Lista are amazing

[@Dongaz]

Any small spaces left after putting all your boxes in, you can fill up with a smaller "filler" box print so they don't move around

[@PhilVandelay]

They can't move around though, that's what the grid on the bottom is for ;)

[@Dongaz]

@@PhilVandelay I knew the way I explained it wouldn't make sense. I was actually referring to the bottom grid pieces. Adding in a spacer to fill out to the back or sides of the drawer.

[@PhilVandelay]

@@Dongaz ah I see. Yeah I actually did that for my other drawer, with this one so far it seems like the contents are so heavy the grids don't really move since they're all attached via the containers into one giant grid