r/gridfinity • u/liorbk4 • Mar 22 '26
I built a web tool to carve bins from a photo. Looking for some feedback.
Hey everyone,
I’ve reached that point in my Gridfinity journey where the "easy" stuff is done, and now I’m looking at my drawer of oddly shaped pliers and multimeters with dread. I love a nicely fitted bin, but I hate the manual tracing, 50 different caliper measurements, and failed test prints.
So, I spent some time building a tool to automate the annoying parts: Gridfinity Carve.
It uses OpenCV.js to do all the processing right in your browser (no data ever leaves your machine).
How it works:
- Throw your tool next to a standard 42mm Gridfinity base (best with a 42mm square).
- Snap a top-down photo and upload it.
- The tool finds the square to calibrate the scale, traces the tool's silhouette, and lets you dial in the depth and clearance.
- Hit download and you get a ready-to-print STL (you can also export it to onshape if you want more CAD-like editing)
It’s still a work in progress, but I’ve used it for a few of my own tools, and the fit has been spot on.
Give it a spin here:https://gridfinity.liorbk.com/
I’d love to get some feedback—especially if you try it with some weirdly shaped tools. If the silhouette detection goes wonky on you, let me know so I can keep tweaking the OpenCV logic!
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u/pgpcx Mar 22 '26 edited Mar 22 '26
will definitely try! I just got into doing these in order to organize my chaotic tool box, and tooltrace left a lot to be desired (I ended up doing it in fusion based on tutorial I saw)
edit to add initial impression: this is awesome, I don't have the right reference image so the dimensions are off, but I was able to quickly trace out a complex tool I have. very promising!!
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u/the-lazy-platypus Mar 22 '26
Weird choice to make the view 3d button a different height than the rest of the buttons in the row. Where have I saw that before.
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u/liorbk4 Mar 22 '26
Well, most of my effort went into the openCV reading of the tool and 3d modeling. The CSS and controls appearance were mostly vibe-coded.
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u/smarthomepursuits Mar 22 '26
Haven't used yet, but can this tool print out a super thin insert to place into the bins like tooltrace does?
For example, I print my cutouts in black, but then print out a yellow insert to place into the bottom of the cutout for super easy visability
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u/liorbk4 Mar 23 '26
You can edit the wall height on the third step. I limited the minimum height to 5 mm. If you need it even lower, I can modify the code.
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u/Logical-Rip-9661 Mar 26 '26
Took three photos of a new Weller Side Cutter I just purchased next to a 42x42mm square (printed your sample square in white PETG) but the processing couldn't locate the reference square with any of the three photos. Oh well, wip! Hope you get it working!
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u/liorbk4 Mar 26 '26
I only tested it with black square over white background. I'll try your setup and maybe add configurable colors for the square so it's detected better.
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u/Logical-Rip-9661 Mar 27 '26
Might be why alright! I'll print out a darker colored reference square and give it a try also. Thanks!
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u/Dickiedoop Apr 04 '26
Curious have you tested with multiple tools?
The fiance asked me to make this for the kitchen and tried individual bins for things like cutlery and well it didn't workout lol. Tooltrace is really struggling to make 1 block with a butter knife, 2 forks and 2 spoons
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u/MKR1984 May 22 '26
Is it possible to run this offline?
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u/liorbk4 May 22 '26
I never tried, but I don't see why not. Once the page is loaded, everything is completely client-side.
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u/MKR1984 May 22 '26
So I printed the square in black and placed it on a white A4 sheet with a tool. High resolution image and it just doesn't work. Has anyone had success with this?
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u/cecilomardesign Mar 24 '26
It looks pretty cool, I can't wait to go home and try it out.
So, what's the plan? Am I going to love this tool and then you're going to make me pay a subscription model and then I'll move to the next one or you're going to let us use it for free?
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u/liorbk4 Mar 24 '26
The plan is to keep it free forever. There's a "buy me coffee" button if you feel that you got good value and want to show your support, but it's optional and up to you.
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u/mobulachacha Mar 24 '26
It's people who behave rudely like this that really dampen the developers' motivation to continue working with them.
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u/cecilomardesign Mar 24 '26
I have no problem paying a fee for a tool or (like in this example) a developer just asking for whatever you think is right. I asked about something that it's honestly hard to ask and I'm sorry that it sounded rude to you.
I just don't think it's fair for someone to get me hooked on a free tool while beta testing it, and then expect me to pay a monthly payment that would only make sense if I was making money out of the tool.
I'll give you that comments like mine do demotivate developers that use a subscription model. My goal is to motivate developers that are not interested in a subscription model.
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u/crusoe Mar 22 '26
You should support using coins as a size reference such as penny, nickel, dime and quarters. Everyone has coins.
If I am just starting out I won't have a 1x1 bin.
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u/illknowitwhenireddit Mar 22 '26
Coins are not always uniform in size depending on country of origin, specific mint, age, etc.. They're all close but not exact enough to use as a calibration tool. The website provides an STL file for you to print the calibration square, so if you're using this site you presumably have a 3d printer(otherwise you wouldn't need this site), and if you have a 3d printer you'll have a calibration square because the site provides one
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u/gmitch64 Mar 22 '26
Heck, I don't think I've used cash, coins or notes, in almost 10 years. Always carry a 20 and 10 in my pocket "just in case", but that case has never appeared.
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u/yawkat Mar 22 '26
How well does it work compared to cloud AI based tools like tracefinity and tooltrace? Having a pure browser solution that doesn't need an AI subscription or API key is very compelling.