Modular Drawer Organizer System - 42 mm Grid + 269 Interlocking Boxes (IKEA ALEX)

A complete drawer organizer: a 42 mm grid plate that lies on the drawer floor and boxes that lock into it - no glue, no screws. Everything is designed for printing without supports and with thin 1.6 mm walls, so a whole drawer uses surprisingly little filament. The set is sized for a drawer with 595 x 420 mm inner size (IKEA ALEX style) and for a 256 x 256 mm print bed (Bambu Lab P2S).

What is included (269 STL files)

• 01 Grid Plate: six tiles that fit a 256 mm bed (2x 6x6, 2x 6x3, 1x 2x6, 1x 2x3 = 14 x 9 cells, 588 x 378 mm) plus a 4x2 sample plate

• 02 Basic Boxes: 100 boxes, 1-4 x 1-3 cells, heights 20/30/40/50/55 mm, plain and evenly divided

• 03 Special Boxes: 25 compartment types (flash drives, rulers, cards, batteries, pencils, screws, pins, coins, dice, cables, pliers, sliding-divider guides), each closed, with dovetail tongue and with dovetail groove

• 04 Adjustable Dividers: boxes with guide ribs every 8 mm plus 16 loose divider plates

• 05 USB and Connector Stands: slanted stands (20 degrees) for USB-A, USB-C, micro-USB, mini-USB, USB-B, Lightning, USB 3.0 micro-B, SD and microSD

• 06 Back Strip: three-part strip for the free 42 mm at the back of a 595 x 420 mm drawer

The files are unpacked below. Download the Assembly Guide (PDF) for print settings, assembly steps and three complete layout proposals with parts lists, and the Parts Catalog (PDF) to see every part.

Highlights

• Lock system: small rings under each 42 mm cell drop into the plate pockets (45 degree lead-in). Boxes stay centered and lift out straight up.

• Dovetail joint: open-sided boxes end in corner posts; a dovetail tongue slides into the groove of the neighbour from above (0.2 mm clearance). The seam is hair-thin.

• No supports: feet rings, bottom edges, pockets and tongue ends have 45 degree chamfers.

• Light: 1.6 mm walls, 1.2 mm floor. Designed for PETG, PLA should work as well.

• Biggest parts are 252 x 252 mm (plate) and 251.8 x 41 mm (strip) - they fit a 256 x 256 mm bed.

Print settings

• PETG recommended, 0.4 mm nozzle, 0.2 mm layers

• 4 perimeters (1.6 mm), 6 bottom layers, 4 top layers, infill 10-15 % gyroid

• No supports, no brim (a 5 mm brim or glue stick helps on the 252 mm strip segments)

• Orientation as exported (divider plates flat)

• Print a fit test first: Grid_Plate_4x2_SAMPLE and Box_2x2_30mm. The box should drop into the pockets without force.

Quick start

• Measure the inner width and depth of your drawer. Cells = floor(size / 42 mm).

• Print the grid plate tiles and lay them on the drawer floor (they lie edge to edge).

• Pick boxes from the catalog or copy one of the layouts in the guide.

• Join open-sided boxes by lowering the groove box onto the tongue box.

Notes

• The 42 mm pitch is a common grid size, but this is a separate system: the parts are not compatible with Gridfinity baseplates or bins.

• Plug sizes of the connector stands are nominal (+0.6 mm clearance). Test one stand with your own drives and cables first.

• Tongue and groove boxes must have the same depth.

• The flash drives in the renders are for illustration only and are not included.

• This model was designed with the help of an AI assistant (Claude), which wrote the parametric generator scripts.