Parametric Adjustable Box

This is a box whose dimensions can be parametrically altered to be (theoretically) any size you wish. 

I highly recommend you check out the video below to explain in depth how this works, but I’ve included written instructions below.

In order to make your own custom-sized box, you need to download Fusion 360 here: https://www.autodesk.com/products/fusion-360/overview?term=1-YEAR&tab=subscription .

It has a trial version and a free license for hobbyists, which is what I use. Once you’ve downloaded the .3mf file from here, you can open it up there.

You should see the model, and on the top, you should look at the top bar and click on the dropdown menu on Modify, then click “change parameters” (second one down with the fx symbol next to it).

You should see the “length,” “width,” and “height” parameters. You can enter in different values under “expression” to change their value. 

NOTE: these are the dimensions of the inside of the box. The original purpose of this box was to be used as a protective container for a book, so it was made for people to measure the dimensions of the book and enter them in to create a custom carrying case. As such, if you want to enter in the outside dimensions (eg, if you want the box to fit inside something) make sure you subtract the values by ten mm to compensate.

It should be pretty obvious which one’s which due to their current values, but just to be clear:

If you were to place the box with the lid on top so the slits are facing you:

The Height is up and down,

The Length is right to left, and

The Width is forward to back.

Feel free to tinker around with it to see what you can do!

The only limitation I know of is if you make it too small (less than about one centimeter). The mechanism kind of breaks down at that point, but I can’t imagine people would want a box that small anyway, so I’m not worried about it. If this happens, you might have to close and reopen the model, since I ran into a bug where it continuously listed errors even after I returned the dimensions to a proper size.

There may be some combination that makes it so that the tabs don’t grab onto the box firmly enough or they’re stretched too far and they break, but as you can see in my pictures, I was able to make a range of sizes without issue.

I encourage you to try this out for yourself, but if for some reason you can’t use Fusion, just comment what dimensions you want and I’ll upload a model for you.

Finally, if you direct your eyes to the license, this does allow for non-commercial remixing with credit. So if you want to use it in your own designs or just upload your specific boxes, just mark it as a remix and you’re good to go!

Lemme know if you have any questions~

Happy Printing!

Instructional Video: 

For your entertainment: