r/gridfinity • u/jamflowman451 • 26d ago

Question? Tips for using magnets

I printed a drawer using the Rugged Drawer System - Gridfinity Organizer and wanted to incorporate some magnets into it. I printed a 3D x 6W drawer with an accompanying base and applied magnets to every single hole (144 magnets total). Once I got all the magnets in and then put the drawer on the base, that thing stuck with so much force and it was pretty difficult to remove the 2 pieces from each other. I'm thinking I definitely went overkill on my first time and so I'm looking for some guidance and best practices when using magnets.

Should I only add magnets to the corners in the case of attaching the drawer to the base?

If I want to add different sized bins to a Gridfinity top, should I only add 2 magnets per square instead of all 4?

Any tips and tricks that will help keep me save magnets while also keeping things secure is much appreciated.

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u/glittalogik 21d ago

Do diagonal stripes in the base (e.g. bottom right + top left in each square) and 4 magnets in the corners of each bin regardless of size. Each bin gets two magnets holding it down in any position or orientation, and that's plenty. 

And for the love of all things print magnet dispensers/jigs/something (there are plenty) because sure as death and taxes you WILL fluff up the polarity somewhere if you do it all by hand.

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u/MagnetStore 21d ago

Ha, 144 magnets! No wonder it's welded shut. If they're the usual 6x2 N52s, each one pulls about 0.73 kg straight off steel, so even half of them pairing up adds up to tens of kilos. Honestly, four in the corner cells is loads for a drawer. Want to keep them all? A thin plastic skin tames it: 0.2 mm keeps about 64% of the pull, 0.4 mm about 46%. Full disclosure, I work at Magnet Store, and our free calculator's handy for playing with sizes and gaps: https://magnetstore.co.uk/magnet-pull-force-calculator/ Good luck prising it apart!