#freegrid — Public Fediverse posts

#3DPrinting #Gridfinity #Multiboard #OpenGrid #HSW #GOEWS #FreeGrid #PleaseMakeItStop

Okay here it is. My new improved box for some nuts and bolts, before and after, using the #FreeGrid workbench and #FreeCAD 1.0-RC2 with the "experimental" compound composition option set in the Part Design workbench and a multi-filament printer. Very pleased with the result.

#FreeGrid issue #1 just closed today. It's now a #FreeCAD Workbench available through the Addon manager. I got credited due to some small work I did, but my contributions to FreeGrid have been small. FreeGrid is mostly original work from @in3dca and some great work from @hasecilu over the past several months to create the Workbench and make it parametric instead of a procedural macro.

When FreeGrid was first created, Gridfinity was basically limited to Fusion 360, and FreeGrid was the alternative that didn't tie you to a particular vendor. Now Gridfinity is truly openly available for OpenSCAD and FreeCAD as well, which is awesome. I can see myself using both systems, depending on whether 50mm spacing (FreeGrid) or 42mm spacing (Gridfinity) makes most sense for any particular use case, and whether particular modules I want to use already exist for one system or the other. Vive la différence!

Just in time for #FreeCAD 1.0, a #FreeGrid workbench is now available!

Woah, someone just posted a link to #FreeGrid in an #InfiniGrid forum on reddit and my site is blowing up! [relatively speaking, so anything more than the occasional drip is "blowing up" 😀 ]

@trevorflowers Thanks @in3dca for FreeGrid!☺ 🎉

I admit I got lost trying to fully follow the shapes being built in StorageGrid.py when I wanted to try to optimize them to make the macros run faster. I kept thinking that it should be possible to speed it up, but never succeeding because I couldn't seem to keep all the shapes in my head while trying to modify them. Were there any tricks you used during development to develop it one piece at a time?

However, for those who enjoy doing that, there's an #OpenSCAD macro package for #Gridfinity; I wonder if anyone would be interested in making a fork of that, tweaked for nice regular 50mm #FreeGrid layout, for those who prefer building in text? 🤔

So it's been a while since I've had some time with #FreeGrid but I got a few hours to make some tweaks. v1.2.1 is out with minor updates:

• Control the floor supports from the UI (thanks @mcdanlj)
• A zero-height box now generates a flat base to build on
• Generated objects are refined and look much prettier ;)

Four days later, a #FreeGrid caliper module with parameters for just about everything. Also has storage for 12 batteries and the little screwdriver needed to open the battery compartment.

New #FreeGrid module on the way! Will post the finished print later today.

@noise Allow me to complicate your life by introducing you to #freegrid https://github.com/instancezero/in3dca-freegrid

I found my 2mm endmill. It has a 4mm shank, and it was hiding in the 4mm R8 collet. 😁

I need to get back at some point to working on #freegrid and building out my organization system so I can find things!

@trevorflowers I ordered 5000 of these magnets for my #freegrid setup: https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804464302214.html

I only have a few grids printed so far. I had the usual ID-prints-smaller-than-modeled problem which made me have to press the magnets in hard, and was thinking of fixing that before printing the rest of them.

@mcdanlj @trevorflowers Alas, I have not done much. One of my other personalities is eating up all my time at the moment. 👥​👥​👥​ I'm sure that just before that project is complete, I'll pick #freegrid back up again...

@trevorflowers I prefer #freegrid to gridfinity because it is built entirely on open source software. @in3dca have you had time to keep moving that towards being an actual #FreeCAD workbench yet?

@FreeCAD — @in3dca maintains the #freegrid macros for #FreeCAD which he plans later to update to a workbench as he has time available. Mind helping him connect to folks in the FreeCAD community who might be looking to reconnect to him post-twitter?

@in3dca welcome to Maker Forums. We can collaborate on #freegrid here! 😁

@smellsofbikes example pictures of any of them? ☺

I have now purchased 6200 6mm x 2mm magnets, committing to #freegrid to the tune of about $200 in magnets. Printing grids, boxes, and custom trays will take months though. Just gluing the magnets in place will be substantial time investment!

For the tailstock bracket, I'll get stronger pull if I #machine the bracket out of steel instead of aluminum, but hopefully I don't need to do that.

It helps if you have enough filament on the spool to finish printing the part. 😬

Looks like I'm running low on black PETG, and I like the idea of the grids being black to contrast with colored #freegrid boxes and other friends, so I guess it's time to place another order.

A 5x6 #freegrid base isn't that much plastic, really (though over 100g more than I would have guessed) but even at 150mm/s with a 0.6mm nozzle, it will take over three hours to print.

I have five of them to print before I print five 5x5 bases.

And that's for just one drawer.

I think I need to buy another few 3D printers to solve my storage problem. 🤪

Just discovered that my ER11 tray is 150mm x 160mm — curious whether I can rejigger it to fit in a 3x3 #freegrid system. 🤔

I just became the first outside contributor to the #freegrid macros for #freecad — removing the need to use supports when printing freegrid boxes.

https://github.com/instancezero/in3dca-freegrid