Quick Answer

A typical 12-piece SAE or metric combination wrench set fits a 6×3 Gridfinity bin (252×126 mm footprint). Lay all wrenches flat on a sheet of A3 paper (or two A4 sheets butted edge-to-edge), photograph from directly above, and trace each wrench into its own cavity using multi-tool mode. Set wall height to 12-15 mm (wrenches are thin) and tolerance to 0.4 mm. Print in PETG at 0.2 mm layer height — total time ~5-7 hours, ~$3-5 in filament. The same approach works for ratcheting, stubby, and ignition wrenches with adjusted bin sizing.

Wrench storage is the third-most-discussed Gridfinity use case after sockets and screwdrivers, and it is where the photo-to-print workflow most clearly beats the parametric alternatives. Generic socket bins are a solved problem — there are hundreds on Printables. Wrenches are not. Combination wrenches are long, thin, irregular, and slightly different in profile from brand to brand. A parametric bin generator gives you a rectangular slot for each wrench; what you want is a wrench-shaped cavity that holds the box-end up where you can grab it.

This guide covers SAE, metric, and combined sets in standard combination, ratcheting, stubby, and ignition configurations. The workflow is consistent across them — only the bin footprint and cavity depth change.

Set Sizes and Bin Dimensions

Approximate Gridfinity bin sizes for common wrench-set configurations. Measure your specific set before committing to a layout — manufacturer specs vary, especially across lower-tier brands.

Mini / ignition (6-8 pieces, ¼-⅜ in / 6-10 mm): 4×2 bin (168×84 mm). Two rows of three or four wrenches.
Stubby combo (8-10 pieces): 5×2 bin (210×84 mm). Two rows of four or five.
Standard 12-piece combo (SAE or metric): 6×3 bin (252×126 mm). Three rows of four wrenches each.
Combined SAE + metric (22-24 pieces): 8×3 bin (336×126 mm) or 6×6 (252×252 mm). The 8×3 layout fits a long drawer; 6×6 needs a square baseplate.
Ratcheting combination (12 pieces, longer than non-ratcheting): 7×3 bin (294×126 mm) to accommodate the additional ~30 mm length per wrench.
Crow's-foot (8-piece set): small enough that a 1×1 cell per wrench works without tracing.

Step 1: Lay Out the Wrenches

Smallest to largest, all heads pointing the same direction (head-up or head-down — pick one and be consistent). Leave 5 mm between wrenches. For a 12-piece set on a single sheet of paper, you will need A3 (297×420 mm) or two A4 sheets butted edge-to-edge with a small overlap.

For combined SAE + metric sets, lay them in two rows: SAE on top, metric on bottom (or vice versa). Group by drive size within each row.

Step 2: Photograph

Top-down, ~30 cm above the paper, even diffused lighting, no flash. Chrome wrenches benefit from the tissue-paper trick (drape a single sheet of facial tissue over the set) to soften reflections. Full photo guidance: photo tips for a clean Gridfinity trace.

Step 3: Trace and Tune

Drag the photo into the TracetoForge editor. Multi-tool mode — each wrench becomes its own cavity.

Sensitivity: 4-6 for shiny chrome wrenches; raise to 7-8 for matte black or anodized finishes.
Mode: Gridfinity Bin if going in a baseplate; Custom Tray if going in a Packout drawer or generic toolbox drawer (sets the tray dimensions to match).
Cavity depth: 12-15 mm. Wrenches are thin (~8-10 mm thick). Anything deeper than 15 mm wastes filament and makes the wrench harder to grab.
Tolerance: 0.4 mm. Chrome surfaces are slick — tighter tolerance and wrenches will stick. Looser and they shift in transit.

Step 4: Skip the Finger Notches

Counterintuitive, but worth saying: for most wrench bins, do not add finger notches on every cavity. The cavity walls are too short (12-15 mm) to make notches useful — and the open box-end of each wrench is the natural finger grip. Just lift by the box-end.

Exceptions: stubby wrenches and ignition wrenches are smaller and may benefit from a small notch at one end of each cavity. Use 5-6 mm notches for these.

Step 5: Pick Bin Mode and Print

For a Gridfinity baseplate destination, pick Gridfinity Bin mode and the size from the table above. For a Packout drawer (see the Gridfinity in Packout drawers guide), Gridfinity Bin still works — the baseplate sits in the drawer.

Print settings:

Material: PETG. Chrome wrenches occasionally pull on PLA over time (slight slick residue), and PETG handles temperature better.
Layer height: 0.2 mm.
Infill: 15% gyroid.
Walls: 3 perimeters.
Supports: none.
Print time: ~5-7 hours for a 6×3 bin.
Filament: ~$3-5 in PETG.

Step 6: Field Test

Insert each wrench. Three checks:

Easy to grab? Lift by the box-end; should pop out cleanly.
Does not slip? Tilt the bin 90 degrees. Wrenches should stay seated.
Cavity is shallow enough? The wrench should sit slightly proud of the cavity rim (~2-3 mm above the surface). If it is buried, the cavity is too deep — reprint at 12 mm depth instead of 15.

Variation Notes

Ratcheting Combination Wrenches

Ratcheting heads are thicker than the wrench body — typically 14-16 mm at the head versus 8-10 mm in the middle. The cavity needs deeper at the head end. The simplest approach: use a 14 mm uniform depth across the whole cavity and accept that the wrench body sits a few mm below the rim. The alternative is per-cavity variable depth, which the editor supports but is finicky to set up across 12 wrenches.

Stubby Wrenches

Stubbies are 30-50% shorter than full-length combination. They store cleanly in a 4×2 or 5×2 bin with 12 mm depth. Some stubby sets ship with both 6-point and 12-point heads — trace whichever head you actually use; the cavity does not care.

Box-End-Only Wrenches

Impact box-end and structural wrenches are thicker (often 18-25 mm) than combination wrenches. Cavity depth: 18-20 mm. These are also longer; check that your bin footprint accommodates the full length.

Crow's-Foot Wrenches

Small enough that a 1×1 Gridfinity cell per wrench works fine without tracing. A generic 1×1 bin holds two crow's-feet of similar size with a divider, no custom geometry needed.

Adjustable / Crescent Wrenches

Trace at fully closed position. The cavity ends up shaped for the head and handle but not for the adjustable jaw at varying widths — that is fine, the wrench fits in closed.

Pipe Wrenches

The head is the meaningful shape; the handle becomes a slot of constant width. Trace the head carefully at sensitivity 6-7; the long handle traces as a near-rectangle.

Brand-Specific Tolerances

Quick observations from real prints:

Snap-on / Mac: very precise dimensions. Use 0.5 mm tolerance — 0.4 can stick.
Harbor Freight Pittsburgh / Icon: dimensional inconsistency between wrenches in the same set. Trace YOUR set — do not borrow a layout from a different unit.
Husky / Kobalt: stamped sizing markings; clean traces at sensitivity 5-6.
Wera Joker: ratcheting-head wrench. 14 mm cavity depth required at the head end.
Knipex Pliers Wrench: technically a pliers, not a wrench. See the{' '} Knipex pliers organizer guide instead.

Buy Pre-Made If You Do Not Print

TracetoForge sells precision-fit wrench-set inserts for common 12-piece SAE and metric combination sets on{' '} Amazon{' '} and{' '} Etsy. For non-standard sets, custom-trace is the only path.

FAQ

SAE and metric in one bin?

Yes — use an 8×3 (336×126 mm) or 6×6 (252×252 mm) footprint. The 8×3 fits a long drawer cleanly; 6×6 needs a square baseplate. Layout: SAE in the top half, metric in the bottom half, sorted by drive size within each.

Magnetic strip alternative?

Works for benchtop or wall storage but loses Gridfinity modularity. Magnetic strips are the right call when you reach for wrenches constantly and want them in arm's reach; Gridfinity bins are the right call for inside-a-toolbox or inside-a-drawer storage.

How long does the print take for a full combo set?

About 5-7 hours for a 12-piece 6×3 bin on a stock Bambu P1S or Prusa MK4. Multi-tool layout adds less than 10% over a single-tool bin of the same footprint — the print is mostly baseplate and walls regardless of cavity count.

Can I sort by size or by drive type?

Either works. The trace does not know or care about the labeling — it captures shape only. Lay the wrenches in your preferred order before photographing, and that order becomes the cavity layout in the printed bin.

What if I lose a wrench?

The empty cavity stays in the bin until you print a new bin. Some users print individual replacement wrenches in 1×1 generic cells as temporary placeholders. The right long-term fix is to retrace once you replace the wrench (or accept the empty cavity if you are not replacing it).

Wrench Set Gridfinity Bin from a Photo