Gridfinity for IKEA Alex Drawers
This page sizes a Gridfinity planner and a split baseplate to your IKEA Alex drawer. For the 5-drawer unit, the ready-sized layout uses a 295 by 522 mm drawer and fits a 7 by 12 grid.
What Gridfinity grid fits an IKEA Alex drawer?
A measured 5-drawer Alex fits a 7 by 12 Gridfinity grid. That is 294 by 504 mm, based on Gridfinity's 42 mm grid.
| Alex unit | Inside size | Grid | Spare |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5-drawer 36x70 cm | 295 to 297 mm wide, 522 to 525 mm deep | 7 by 12, or 294 by 504 mm | 1 to 3 mm across the width, 18 to 21 mm across the depth |
| 9-drawer 36x116 cm | 423 mm deep, with 7 units fitting across | 7 by 10, or 294 by 420 mm | About 3 mm across the depth |
| Wide 67x66 cm | Width: measure yours. 420 mm deep | 10 units deep; use the calculator for the width | Depends on your measured width |
IKEA lists the 5-drawer unit's inside depth as 52 cm. Measured drawers run slightly larger at 522 to 525 mm deep. The 9-drawer and wide Alex are listed with 42 cm inside depth.
The 9-drawer has a different drawer shape from the other Alex units. Its 423 mm inside length fits almost exactly 10 Gridfinity units. The wide 67 cm unit is 10 units deep, but you need to measure its width because no reliable inside width is published.
Measure your drawer before printing
Measure your own drawer before printing because Alex units vary by a millimeter or two. A 7 unit grid is 294 mm wide, leaving only 1 to 3 mm in measured 5-drawer interiors. That small margin makes your actual measurement important.
Measure the clear inside width and depth where the baseplate will sit. If the drawer measures under 294 mm wide, 7 units will not fit. Use a 6 unit grid, which is 252 mm wide, and leave the rest as padding. You can also turn on half-grid mode and use 6.5 units, which is 273 mm wide.
The ready link uses 295 by 522 mm, the smallest measured 5-drawer size, because the grid has to fit the tightest drawer. It opens a new 7 by 12 layout already sized for the Alex. For a first-time visitor, it sizes the empty starting layout. If you already have layouts, it keeps them and adds the Alex layout.
Make a baseplate that fits your printer
The baseplate generator turns the leftover space into edge padding and automatically splits the plate for your print bed. For the 295 by 522 mm Alex size, the 294 by 504 mm grid leaves 0.5 mm on each side and 9 mm at the front and back when the padding is centered.
Use the padding anchor if you want the spare depth in one strip. You can move the bins to the back, the front, either side, or the center of the drawer.
With a 256 mm print bed, this baseplate splits into 6 pieces and prints in 5 build-plate loads. The split follows the bed size set in the tool, so enter your own printer's bed size before exporting.
For the smaller Alex drawer shape, plan the 9-drawer Alex or make the 9-drawer baseplate. That setup gives you a 7 by 10 grid. On a 256 mm print bed, its baseplate splits into 4 pieces and prints in 3 build-plate loads.
Choose bin heights that clear the drawer
Measure the drawer's inside height before choosing your tallest bin. For a plain baseplate, subtract about 5 mm from the drawer's inside height, then divide the result by Gridfinity's 7 mm height unit.
Magnet holes in the baseplate raise bins by about 2.5 mm. That extra height can cost one full height unit, so include it when checking clearance.
The drawer calculator does the plain-baseplate calculation for you.
Plan the rest of your drawer
Start with the named drawer sizes hub if you are organizing more than one drawer type. For any drawer that does not match a ready size, enter its measurements in the drawer calculator.
In the planner, drag bins onto the grid, stack layers, color-code bins by category, and get a print list from the finished layout. The tool is free and needs no account.
Use the bin generator to create the bins in your browser and export them as STL, STEP, or 3MF. For ideas on arranging hand tools, continue with the Gridfinity tool drawer guide.