C:\LAB\TOTERACK> build.exe /fit

Tote Rack Builder.

Tell it what bins you have. It designs a rail-style rack that fits them — with measured drawings, a cut list, and a shopping estimate. Free, runs in your browser, no account.

Open the builderBack to the Lab
Tote Rack Builder: tote size and material settings on the left, overall size, tote count and estimated cost up top, and a measured front view of a 6 by 9 rack on casters.
Six columns, nine rows of 6 qt shoeboxes, on casters. Size, tote count, and cost update as you type.

// Why it exists

Fifty-some bins and nowhere to put them.

My home office runs on Sterilite parts bins — fifty-plus of them, full of screws, connectors, filament bits and everything else. Stacking them meant unstacking them every time I needed the one on the bottom.

The DIY tote racks people build from Home Depot lumber fix that: the bin’s lip rides on a pair of rails and slides out like a drawer. The catch is the math. Every bin is a slightly different size, and a 1/8″ miss means the totes either jam or fall through.

So I wrote a tool to do the math for me, then kept going until it drew the plans, too.

// What it does

From tape measure to cut list.

  • Enter tote dimensions in inches or mm, or start from a preset: Sterilite 6, 16, 32 and 66 qt, HDX 27 gal, IKEA SAMLA
  • Size it by columns × rows, tote count, or fit it to a wall
  • Solid plywood or 1x3 / 1x4 / 2x4 ladder-frame uprights; plywood or 1x frame top and bottom
  • Kick base or casters, with a load check
  • Rail stock picker, including no-table-saw molding options and 3D-printed clips (.scad / .stl)
  • Measured front, side, top and rail drawings plus a 3D view, with SVG download
  • Cut list, sheet and board packing, hardware list
  • Editable Home Depot cost estimate, CSV export, print / PDF, and a share link
3D view of one rack module built with ladder-frame uprights and rails for each row of totes.
The 3D module view: ladder-frame uprights, one pair of rails per tote.

// Try it

Measure one bin. Get a whole rack.

Grab a tape measure, pick your tote (or type it in), and see what it builds. Nothing to install. Share the link when you want a second opinion.

Measure twice, cut once. The tool checks the math; your saw doesn’t.

Open the builder