I think I first need to soften a bit of what I said in the last post regarding my dislike of Printables (for technical reasons), since the community over there is awesome. Somebody suggested that the 20bin Gridfinity case could maybe use a diet, and my initial reaction was that it would be a lot of work for a little gain (it is lol). But after considering it, and looking closer at the model (which I have not done in almost a year), I agree, it needs a diet. I did something similar with the 16 Bin Gridfinity case over a year ago, and it turned out well.
I was already gonna revisit the 20 bin design anyway, since the same person mentioned they experienced a crack where the latch connects to the case, which has been a rare problem on the older case designs. That problem had been resolved with some longer latch parts (I thought), but I now have a better fix for that problem, which has been successfully used on several similar case designs. The update will include the fix, along with possibly some other goodies.
So I got to work on the 20 bin case update, and I spent several hours yesterday and today on an almost ground up rework of the design, having trimmed a substantial amount of material from it. As sometimes happens though, just when I thought I was done, I noticed something that has really thrown a monkey in the wrench. I'll have to rework the gasket design again, and possibly a bit more, which will likely involve several more hours of work. But I'm planning to fix it, just not today.
I'm not really sure yet how much material and time this update will save for folks printing it, but I expect it will save a few plastic trees in the long run. I also like that it has a bit of a compact look. I'm planning to release these with a 6U, 9U, 12U and 15U deep base, with an optional gasket. I don't know yet if these will get a funky design or pattern like the "Generic Printer Spare Parts Case", but if things go smoothly (unlikely lol), that is a possibility.
I was already gonna revisit the 20 bin design anyway, since the same person mentioned they experienced a crack where the latch connects to the case, which has been a rare problem on the older case designs. That problem had been resolved with some longer latch parts (I thought), but I now have a better fix for that problem, which has been successfully used on several similar case designs. The update will include the fix, along with possibly some other goodies.
So I got to work on the 20 bin case update, and I spent several hours yesterday and today on an almost ground up rework of the design, having trimmed a substantial amount of material from it. As sometimes happens though, just when I thought I was done, I noticed something that has really thrown a monkey in the wrench. I'll have to rework the gasket design again, and possibly a bit more, which will likely involve several more hours of work. But I'm planning to fix it, just not today.
I'm not really sure yet how much material and time this update will save for folks printing it, but I expect it will save a few plastic trees in the long run. I also like that it has a bit of a compact look. I'm planning to release these with a 6U, 9U, 12U and 15U deep base, with an optional gasket. I don't know yet if these will get a funky design or pattern like the "Generic Printer Spare Parts Case", but if things go smoothly (unlikely lol), that is a possibility.
10/28/2025: I spent another hour or so on this design, and I think the gasket problem should be sorted out. I'm starting a test print of a 6U case with the gasket option, to test things out.
10/29/2025: Just a bit of progress to note on the prototype case design. The lid has been printed, and I'm printing a base now. In comparison to the current design, the update should trim it down by a good bit (though I have not checked how much yet). I think I will end up needing to print two prototype cases though, since I will also need to test the version without a gasket. In the pics below, the new lid is placed on top of the current version case (with the lid set so it aligns with the top right edge of the current case design).
10/31/2025: I've got the prototypes printed, and one is fully assembled (aside from the TPU gasket). The 2nd prototype is a 9U version, without a gasket, and it has yet to be assembled. So far things look good for this update. I recently saw a video by Maker's Muse, where he was testing several flexible filaments to make wheels for his battle bots. One of them looked really interesting, as a possible material I could use for a gasket with these cases. I'm checking with the company that makes the filament, to see if I can get a small sample to test with, which would allow me to make one or two gaskets. The TPU Air is much more flexible and compressible than normal TPU, so I expect it could work well, though I may need to modify the gasket design slightly for it. If I can get a sample, and it tests well compared to normal TPU for the gasket, I will likely provide a gasket design for the case that can be used with the compressible TPU Air, and another gasket design that would work with standard TPU. I will post some progress pics of the prototype cases soon.
11/3/2025: The prototypes are completed and based on them, I made some very small changes to the final design, including moving the handle on the larger cases, so it balances better. The gasket works well, though I have not dunk tested it yet - but I don't expect it to be "water proof" anyway. I've not heard back from Siraya Tech about a small sample of the TPU Air, so I don't expect to modify the gasket for that material (as an option), and will likely release the design with the "standard" TPU gasket design. Below are some pics of the prototypes. They are a 6U and 9U version of the case (there will also be a 12U and 15U version included in the profile). I now need to build up the rest of the 3mf profile, with the other sizes of cases.
11/5/2025: I heard back from Siraya Tech, and they offered some very helpful info regarding the gasket material. It seems the foaming TPU Air is not as good a choice for gaskets, compared to other materials (due to chemical resistance and sealing capability). They suggested standard TPU or PEBA as a good option, which I may try in the future if I get the opportunity. Based on the Maker's Muse video, I expect PEBA would work better than TPU. For now, I think I'm gonna stick with the plan, and with TPU 95A, which also means I don't need to tweak the gasket design further. I'm still working through the 3mf profile, which will be rather large due to all the options, and I hope to have things ready this weekend. I also need to do a dunk test of the case which has the gasket, though I don't expect it to do better than my other similar cases with the same gasket type (that is, it will be water resistant, but not water proof).
The 3mf profile is about done now, so I just need to work on updating the description and other things before it's posted. This update will be posted to MakerWorld, but I plan to leave the prior version on Printables a while, for folks who may need spares for that design.
The 3mf profile is about done now, so I just need to work on updating the description and other things before it's posted. This update will be posted to MakerWorld, but I plan to leave the prior version on Printables a while, for folks who may need spares for that design.
11/8/2025: I just uploaded the new design to MakerWorld. The updated design is slimmer, and trims about 14% off the material requirement for a 6U tall case, compared with the v2.3 case. You can find it at the link below:
https://makerworld.com/en/models/1972161-gridfinity-box-for-stuff-20-bin-ver3-0#profileId-2120575
https://makerworld.com/en/models/1972161-gridfinity-box-for-stuff-20-bin-ver3-0#profileId-2120575
RSS Feed
