From nothing to a vented enclosure with a 3×3 grid lid

1. Step 1

   Open the workbench

   Head to Workbench in the top nav. The 3D viewport starts empty — features you add appear in the FEATURES tree on the left, their parameters in the Properties panel on the right. You can ignore the Get-started templates; this guide builds from nothing.

2. Step 2

   Create the chassis

   Open the Solid menu in the action bar and pick Chassis. An open box appears immediately with printable defaults. Set its size in the Properties panel:

   Width

   66 mm

   Depth

   72 mm

   Height

   30 mm

   Wall Thickness

   3.0 mm

3. Step 3

   Cut the vents

   Modify → Vents. A slot-band cutter appears through the chassis wall — the blue preview shows exactly what will be removed, and the arrow gizmo drags the band along the wall. Commit and the wall shows its run of vertical slots. Slot count, size and spacing are parameters like everything else; the defaults keep every rib printable.

4. Step 4

   Add the lid

   Solid → Lid. It matches the chassis size automatically. Placement is the toggle that matters: Beside lays both parts flat for printing, Assembled (on top) seats the plate on the rim with the lip inside, Recessed (flush inside) drops it into a ledge cut in the chassis (turn on Lid Recess = Ledge on the Chassis first). Both stacked placements keep 45° Print Relief on by default so the lid prints either way up.

5. Step 5

   Cut a cell inset into the lid

   Solid → Cell Inset. It targets Lid (top surface) by default and cuts one cell with a fit clearance so the contents drop in. The defaults that matter:

   Apply To

   Lid (top surface)

   Fit Clearance

   0.2 mm

   Inset Depth

   0.8 mm

   Pass-Through

   Slot (rounded ends) — the grab slot in each cell

6. Step 6

   Make it the 3×3

   Still in the Cell Inset properties: set Layout to Grid Array, then Grid Sizing to Manual — Rows and Columns fields appear. Set both to 3. The lid rebuilds as a 3×3 array of cells sharing the pitch rule (cell + gap; Gap X / Gap Z default 2 mm). Fit to Surface instead computes the largest grid that fills the lid for you.

   Layout

   Grid Array

   Grid Sizing

   Manual

   Rows

   3

   Columns

   3

   Gap X / Gap Z

   2 mm

7. Step 7

   Inspect each part

   In the PARTS panel (left, under the feature tree) click the eye icon on Body to hide the chassis, and use Top in the view cube to check the grid from above. Open Plan View in the Cell Inset properties for a to-scale 2D editor — drag to reposition. Show All / Fit brings everything back.

8. Step 8

   Export each part

   Every row in the PARTS panel has a download icon — it exports that body alone, named after the part: body.step and lid.step. The Export STL button in the Properties panel writes body.stl and lid.stl, one file per body, ready to slice separately.

Numbers here match the enclosure on the landing page. Every value is a parameter — change any of them and the model rebuilds.

Before you print, optimize with the layer height, flow rate, print cost, and shrinkage calculators.