Gridfinity
From Open Source Ecology
Basics
- An Open Source Modular, Mostly FDM 3D Printed, Storage System
- It was created by Zack Freedman
- The philosophy behind it is not to store the most stuff, but to make it easily visible, easily picked up, and easily put away
Initial Release
- This was announced in A Video by the YouTube Channel "Zack Freedman" Titled "Gridfinity: Your Ultimate Modular Workshop is FREE!" ( ~21 Minute Watch )
- Quotes:
- 0:12 "Gridfinity: Your Ultimate Modular Storage System for your Workshop Tool Chest and Spare parts. designed, not to help you store more stuff, but to finish more projects, it's free, it's open source, almost 100% (fdm) 3D Printed"
- 1:12 "In My Opinion, Every Item in The Perfect Workshop Is: A.) Has a Dedicated "Home" Within Reach of Where You'll Use It, B.) Is Exposed and In Position for Instant "Grabification", C.) Shields you from Accidents like Spills and Injuries and D.) Is effortless to setup and super easy to put back and rearrange. Follow these rules and you'll be able to find anything instantly, reset back to clean in seconds, and adapt your workspace as your projects change; In other words, your workshop will help you finish projects
- 2:46 "Other Storage Systems are Designed to Hoard the Most Crap per Cubic whatever, but Gridfinity is built different; The goal is to display your stuff so you can quickly find what you need and get back to the project as soon as possible
- 4:21 "These Removable Divider Snap Boxes are super cheap and they're...yeah i mean they store a ton of stuff, but they have some major problems. In order to nab a part, you have to find the right box (from your stack of boxes) clear enough space, pop the latches, fish out the parts, and then when it comes time to clean up you got to repeat that for every single part you used (later mentions in this note the issues of the dividers coming loose mixing various screws/nuts etc, or a container falling on the floor and spilling all over)
- 5:05 "The Divider Bin is the Most Important Storage Block in the Gridfinity System, that's why these things are called storage blocks
- 5:34 "And don't overthink it, if you print the wrong thing (storage block module), you can just rip it out and drop in a new one, and reuse the old one in a different part of your workshop. The System can change with you
- 5:54 "The Curved Inner Surface lets you scoop parts out with a single finger. This lip allows you to stack them near infinitely, and the undercut label tab allows even the most hand-eye uncoordinated among us to carry the whole bin to the workbench without spilling it on the floor
- 6:26 "Alexander Chapel already made a modular storage system, and he already made a number of videos about it; those videos are better than this one. Alex's Design Did in Fact Inspire the Gridfinity. And i know how salty people get about the whole concept of "stealing ideas"
- At 6:41-6:42 there is an AMAZING rant/quote overlayed over the video:
- "Zach's use of the phrase 'stealing ideas' in no way implies that it is a legitimate concept, nor that if it were to exist, it would have any moral, philosophical, economic, societal, strategic, or prescriptive implications of any significance. Because ideas can be created with zero effort and duplicated without compromising the original, they have no intrinsic value beyond intellectual property rights, which are a legal construct imposed and enforced by the state. IP ownership is irrelevant anyways, since these laws protect implementations and not concepts. Even without invoking copyrights or patents, granting total control of abstract ideas to the most prominent figure associated with them has chilled the cultural and technical progress of humanity far more than artificial IP Monopolies have promoted innovation. An incalculable amount of art and invention that would have otherwise have improved the public good has been lost to Self-Censorship , benefiting the wealthy and powerful alone. Watching someone succeed with your idea sucks, but human progress is more important than your feelings"
- "Alex increased the capacity of his system by storing parts in a filing cabinet full of assortment boxes; i am trying to minimize the amount of work by showcasing stuff where you are likely to need it. Alex is a woodworker so he added lids to his thing to keep out all the sawdust...alex made his system for users to buy, i made more of a framework for the community to extend"
- 7:10 "The Concept of Stealing Ideas is Bullshit"
- Then another text imposed over the video frame that says as follows:
- "By the time knockoffs arrive, a creator should have already used their first-mover advantage to improve the design and move the goalposts, or be deep in the development of their next project. After all, if they came up with one good idea, why shouldn't society expect more? A culture o innovation should punish self proclaimed "inventors" who rest on their laurels-rather, constant pressure from competitors should force them to rapidly push their concept to the absolute limit, until a point of diminishing returns is reached. Then, market forces should compel them to channel their imagination into a new way to help humanity. I use the phrase 'market forces' loosely - the exceptional quality and maturity of Free and open-source software, largely developed by volunteers, utterly nullifies the claim that financial incentives are a necessary precondition for innovation. Patents server an important role in the fundraising process, but on balance society's progress is aided by free access to useful concepts-in other words, humanity as a whole benefits if "stealing ideas" is permissible, and in my opinion, more so if it's explicitly encouraged" )
- 7:25 "The Second part of the system is baseplate, and the frame is the bare minimum to organize the organizers. This Z Shaped Socket lets you "plop" storage blocks down with zero resistance, but this little vertical lip keeps them from getting knocked back out. If you're a klutz, you can glue four magnets to each socket and give yourself a little more resistance"
- 8:14 "One Important Detail is that all Storage Blocks are Entirely Contained in a Whole Number of 42 Millimeter Squares (blocks moreso?). (By doing this) You can equip any configuration and they're guaranteed to be compatible. All blocks are multiples of 7mm high so if you find mismatched heights to be irksome, you can even out any two storage blocks by stacking the shorter one on at the absolute most 2 divider bins."
- 8:43 "The Rigid Dimensions also make designing your own components super easy just clone the template in fusion 360, adjust the parameters, generate some blanks, and hack the planet
- 8:54 "Before you bust out your calipers, you should know that i got a little carried away and designed a few too many toolholders like this one for my calipers. Allow me to show you them. These racks hold the very common and very cheap Harbor Freight Socket Sets and i think they perfectly exemplify this project's philosophy. See the socket already comes in it's own holder, and you can get the classic billy club socket thing anywhere, but both of these need you to grab the holder with one hand and yank the socket off with the other, and i want everything in my workshop to be as effortless a physically possible. In the last episode i broke a ton of cnc bits and i don't see any reason why that's goint to change moving foreward, so i took the angled tray i designed for that video and turned it into a stackable holder for bits and protective tubes. If your 3mm tools came in these jewel cases, you can rip out the whole tool holding part, and just slot it into this version. I also made some high density trays for 1/8th and 1/4 inch Shank tools but are a bit too tall to stack other blocks on top of. Still they are perfect backups in case you break MANY bits.
- 10:56 "This is the Window Bin, a divider bin with one wall replaced with a Microscope Slide , and it's eventually going to become the next Parts Rainbow . Glass Slides are Really Cheap, they resist scratches that would destroy acrylic, and they come pre- Cut to size (no laser cutter needed), so i will design a special frame that will turn these window bins into this ergobled illuminated extravaganza that will surpass the parts rainbow" ... 11:15 "Even on their own these Glass Front Bins are very good for stacking because they let you see what's inside even without labeling them.
- 13:56 "I used to put my tweezers, Needle Files , picks, and soldering gear in these long thing trays, but i found rifling through sharp objects while holding a hot object...it kind of sucks. I found these holders, but honestly they are kind of worse; you have to expose the end of the tool to see what's what, and that means the business end is pointed directly at primo stabbing position. Plus these are top heavy and cantilevered and just itching to be sent tumbling"
- 14:16 "The Pick Rach" ... "angles them away from your hands"
- 14:44 "The tweezer rack hangs them upside down shielding the delicate tips, so you don't need to use those obnoxious protective covers anymore"
- 15:14 "I designed this angled rack to get that combination of saving space, time, and...flesh. It's also angled aggressively enough to mount vertically, if you're so inclined."
- 15:42 "The Inspiration for this Project was Actually this case, the ES121 Electric Screwdriver " ... "and an iFixIt bit set that fits it."
- 17:10 "Designing a new block is easy, just generate a template, add herbs and spices, and hit print. Just remember when you share what you make tag it with #Gridfinity so people who are building the system can find it."
Designs of Interest
3D Printing Tools Organization
"Gridfinity 3D Printing Bundle for nerds"
Automotive Maintenance
Open Source Workflow for Creating Modules for a Gridfinity System
As of Now
- The Specifications etc are Open Source
- One then plugs these into FreeCAD or OpenSCAD and makes their thing
- Alternately they could load up an existing file and modify this (Although need to look into what files Fusion 360 use and if FreeCAD can read them / how easy the conversion is etc
Near Term
End Goal
Internal Links
External Links
