Gridfinity Refined Extra-Minimal baseplate + Spacer REMIX (Fusion360/STEP)

gridfinity refined baseplate — now extra, extra minimal!  kinda!

I ran out of space in my hardware drawer, so I needed to make baseplates.  I like Gridfinity Refined, but I really didn't want my new baseplates to have magnet slots.  editing the original model(s) was kind of a hassle, because there were a lot of features I wouldn't need at all, but would still have to work around, so I recreated the baseplates from scratch.

after that, I wanted to make spacers, but the spacer model file created multiple bodies instead of just one, so I recreated that from scratch, too.

this model

I designed this model to:

• be as easy to use as possible for people who don't know Fusion well
• be easy to edit for people who do
• be as simple as possible, and
• include everything you need for a Gridfinity Refined baseplate setup

there are 4 components in this model file:

1. a “reinforced” baseplate—with a solid first layer (0.2mm) because I thought it would be faster to print than triangular braces
2. a regular baseplate—identical, but for the first layer
3. a spacer, to take up extra space and stop the baseplate from sliding around, without needing to glue it down
4. a connector, to connect baseplates together

how to use

if there's a baseplate in the size you need in the STEP directory, use one of those.  they should import into any modern slicer (afaik), so I didn't include STL files.  if that's all you need, then you're done.

otherwise,

1. open the .f3d file in Fusion 360
2. click the “eye” icon next to the component you need, to make it visible, and make sure that the other components are not visible
3. select “Change Parameters” under the “Modify” menu—this pops up the parameters window
   1. “basePlateRows” and “basePlateColumns” are the parameters to change to resize the baseplate.  the numbers represent the number of 42mm gridfinity units in each direction
   2. “spacerLength” is the number of 42mm gridfinity units long that you want the spacer to be and “spacerWidth” is the space it needs to take up, to lock your baseplate into place.
4. right-click the component, choose “save as mesh”, and choose the file type you like to use.

how to print

printing should be pretty easy—whatever settings you normally use are probably fine.  I used 5% infill and 3 walls.  there are two things to be careful about:

• if you're printing one of the “reinforced” baseplates, be sure to turn on “Only one wall on first layer” (which is under “Quality” in Orca) or the equivalent.  this gets you a nice, smooth first layer, and (in my case) shaved 12ish minutes off the print time.
• if you're printing a very thin spacer (e.g., 4mm), you'll probably want to turn on a “Mouse Ear” brim (under “Other” in Orca).  I had one fail because it peeled up during printing.

otherwise

if you have trouble, send me a question.  if there's any interest, I'll try to add some screenshots of the Fusion stuff.  I really don't know if anyone who doesn't know anything about Fusion will download this, but if you're having trouble, please let me know.

I tested the baseplates up to 5x5 and 1x52 (accidentally).  I found an error—which I'm pretty sure wasn't my fault—and corrected it, but if you find problems in the models, please let me know; I'll fix it.

if you're a Fusion pro and have suggestions for my models, please let me know!