Stackable LEGO Storage Bins for Kids – 250 mm Bins, Small Inserts and Decorated Lids

A family of sturdy, stackable storage bins for LEGO pieces, designed for a kid’s play mat. Each big bin holds the pieces of one larger build, e.g. one tram car. The bins stack securely, the lids keep dust out, and the small bins fit four to a big bin for sorting small pieces.

The design is deliberately simple: square shape, 15 mm rounded corners, and a rounded floor-to-wall cove that makes it easy for little hands to scoop pieces out of the corners. The lower 10 mm of every bin is a narrower stacking foot. It drops into the bin below and seats on a 45° chamfer, so stacked bins centre themselves and don’t slide around. There are no horizontal overhangs anywhere, so everything prints without supports.

The bins are intentionally robust, with solid walls and a solid base, so they feel like a real product rather than a thin-walled print. That costs material: a big bin needs roughly 400–500 g of filament and a lid about 220 g.

The lid uses exactly the same foot as the bins, so it fits on any big bin. It has a flat top and is pocketed from below to save material. Besides the plain lid, there are two decorated multi-colour versions as 3MF: one with the logo and one with a brickman head.

The small bins share the same design language: same radii, foot and seat. They also stack on each other.

FEATURES / PARAMETERS

• Big bin: 250 × 250 × 100 mm, 2.4 mm walls, solid 10 mm base (inner floor at 10 mm)

• Usable height 80 mm when stacked, stacking pitch 90 mm

• Self-centering 45° seat, 0.4 mm clearance between the foot and the bin below

• Big bin variants: open, halves, quarters (2 mm dividers with rounded tops, ending 2 mm below the next bin’s foot)

• Lid: 250 × 250 × 14 mm, flat top, pocketed from below (3 mm in the middle), 4 mm grip band above the rim

• Small bin: 120 × 120 × 78 mm, 2.0 mm walls, inner floor at 8 mm

• 4 small bins fit into the open big bin and sit flat on its floor. A lid or another bin still fits on top.

• Filament: big bin about 400–500 g, lid about 220 g, small bin about 125 g

FILES

• stackable_lego_bin.stl – big bin, open

• stackable_lego_bin_halves.stl – big bin with one divider

• stackable_lego_bin_quarters.stl – big bin with a cross divider

• stackable_lego_bin_small.stl – small bin (fits the open big bin only)

• stackable_lego_bin_lid.stl – plain lid

• stackable_lego_bin_lid_with_logo.3mf – multi-colour lid with logo

• stackable_lego_bin_lid_with_brickman.3mf – multi-colour lid with brickman head

PRINT SETTINGS

• Printer: the 250 mm parts need a full 256 × 256 mm bed. On a Bambu Lab X2D, print them with the left (direct drive) nozzle only. The right nozzle and dual-nozzle printing only allow 235.5 mm. For the multi-colour lids, feed all colours to the left nozzle via the AMS instead of using both nozzles. In my prints the purge waste was small.

• Orientation: bins foot down with the opening up. The plain lid is exported upside down (flat top on the plate). For the decorated lids, keep the orientation saved in the 3MF. No supports. Use a brim (see Warping).

• Layer height 0.2 mm, nozzle 0.4 mm

• Wall loops: 6 for the big bins and lids (solid 2.4 mm walls), 5 for the small bins (2.0 mm)

• Bottom shell layers 5, top shell layers 5–6

• Infill: gyroid 10 %

• Gaps between floor and wall: if the sliced preview shows a thin gap where the floor cove meets the wall, set “Filter out tiny gaps” to 0 and use the Arachne wall generator.

WARPING – IMPORTANT
The big bins and lids are large, flat 250 mm parts and tend to lift at the corners. The thing that made the biggest difference in my prints was limiting the printer’s fans.

• In Bambu Studio you can only set the part cooling fan at the nozzle. Keep it moderate in the filament profile.

• The auxiliary and chamber fans of the X2D can’t be set in the slicer. Turn them down on the printer. Unfortunately the printer resets them after the first layer, so check them again once the first layer is done and turn them down again.

• Always use a brim, keep the door closed and use a clean, grease-free plate.

• Some filaments warp more than others. My silver silk PLA warped even with a brim.

SILK FILAMENT AND SEVERAL PARTS PER PLATE
The 45° transition from the foot to the side walls is an overhang. In my test with silk PLA, a small bin printed alone came out clean, while three on one plate got a rough band exactly at this transition. The likely reason: a single small part has short layers, so the slicer slows them down for cooling, while with several parts the overhang is printed at full overhang speed. For several parts per plate, especially with silk:

• Overhang speed (25–50 %): reduce to about 25–30 mm/s

• Enable “Force cooling for overhang and bridge”. This only affects the part cooling fan on the overhang lines, so it doesn’t work against the warping advice above.

• Keep a slower outer wall speed for silk filament
  For the cleanest result, print the small bins one at a time.

MATERIAL
PETG looks and feels a bit more like a regular injection-moulded part and is more forgiving when dropped. PLA works fine too.

TIPS

• Fit test: before a full print, cut the bottom 15 mm and the top 15 mm of a bin in the slicer, print both rings and check that they seat together.

Not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by the LEGO Group. LEGO and the Minifigure are trademarks of the LEGO Group.

TAGS
lego, lego storage, storage bin, stackable, organizer, kids room, toy storage, multicolor, box with lid, bambu lab