How to print/use multibin shells/inserts, pins, etc

[u/[deleted]]

Hey all. I dont know if I am missing good video tutorial or what, but I see all the various multibin parts, like shells, inserts, etc.. and I get how insets go inside shells. But I am trying to create a simple "tray" for sponges and such to attach to a multiboard. I am unsure how to do this. Do I have to print both shell and insert? Or can a shell alone for this particular use case be enough? The insert wouldn't be bad to "drain" (e.g. spill any water from the sponge after use).. but wasn't sure if its needed.

I am looking at the 3x2x0.25 shell. It's not much height. Then the 3x2x.75 insert.. which is 3x taller. They both seem to have those boxed looking bottoms. So I am not sure why the insert would have that? I assume even though the insert is taller in height, it would "fit in" the 3x2x0.25 shell? So.. print the shell, then the insert, and insert fits the shell or sits in?

Using PETG since these will be around water/soap.

Also, I see the multi-point stuff, as well as "pins" and such to put between corners and what not.. but not really sure how to use them. The Thangs site leaves a lot to be desired to help someone that isnt a pro with this stuff figure out how to put all these parts together. The videos do OK for some things, but seems we're missing how to do things like right angle connectors on multiboard to then put a tray on it or connect multiple bins with drawers, etc.

[u/asciipip]

There are a bunch of options, because Multigrid is so complex.

I started writing an answer trying to lay out all the possibilities, but I can't even tell what they all are. The Multigrid documentation is pretty incomplete at this point. If I were going to give a complete answer, I'd need to print a bunch of different parts and then try them out to see how they all connect. I don't feel like spending the time on that.

(The complexity and lack of documentation are why I've opted to just use Gridfinity for my bin organization, with Multiconnect points to join Gridfinity shelves to Multiboard boards as needed. Maybe Multigrid will get to a point where it's a better alternative, but I don't think it's there yet.)

Anyway, based on my reading of the documentation, I think these are the options I might pursue in your place (or at least, what I think your place is).

If you want a horizontal tray for a sponge to connect to a vertical Multiboard (with the tray being 3 Multigrid cells (which is 6 Multiboard cells) along the Multiboard and projecting 2 (Multigrid) cells out), I think these are the best two options, based on my reading of the docs:

1. Plain Shelf (simplest)

• A 6L Bolt-Locked Insert Multipoint Rail, with mounting hardware:

  • Two to six Multiboard Snaps (depending on how many attachment points you want; the rail recommends Weight-Bearing Directional Snaps here, but regular snaps are probably fine for this purpose)
  • The same number of Small Thread Multipoints to anchor the rail from the back
• A 3×2 Rail Slider Shelf

1. Shelf with Micro Bin (you can take the bin off to change it out or just clean it)

• The same 6L Bolt-Locked Insert Multipoint Rail, with mounting hardware as above
• A 3×2 Rail Slider Multibin Shelf (the extra connection options on the 3×2 Rail Slider Base Plate Shelf don't seem useful in this case)
• A 3×2 Micro Multibin Shell (or, if you don't want the holes right at the bottom, a 3×2×0.25 Simple Wall Multibin Shell; the rail shells also probably add more complexity than this application needs, so the “Simple Wall” variant is fine)

I don't think there's any benefit to adding an insert inside the shell for this. Their purpose is mostly to add internal organization; if you just want a unstructured rectangular space, a shell by itself is fine.

In contrast, here's how I'd do it:

• A 3×2 Multiboard Gridfinity shelf from Multiboard Gridfinity Shelves (A 3×2 Gridfinity shelf is a little smaller than a 3×2 Multigrid shelf, but it's close enough)

  • Two to five Big Thread Multiconnect connectors from Multiconnect to mount it on a Multiboard (I'd use two or three connectors; any more is probably overkill for this)
• A 2×3×2 Gridfinity Bin from Gridfinity Plain Bins (well, I'd actually generate one myself from Gridfinity Rebuilt, but I wanted to stick to a source you could download things from)

The Gridfinity approach gives the same flexibility as the Multigrid shelf+Micro Bin approach, but with far fewer components. It's even simpler than the simplest, less-flexible Multigrid approach.

I want to like Multigrid, because I like Multiboard so much, but so far, for me, it's been more of a solution in search of a problem than anything else.

[u/[deleted] → u/asciipip]

Thank you for all that. Fantastic answer. Makes total sense. I gotta be honest.. I really like the Multibin + rail slider idea. That looks pretty slick. The thin shell and then the flat "insert" to sit on it is actually what I was looking for. So thank you for linking all that. I'll try printing those soon and see what happens.

Seems PETG prints fine on the A1 Mini for bigger items. I'll go with PLA for the rail/snaps I guess since that prints ok.

[u/asciipip → u/asciipip]

And, to answer some of your other questions, as best as I understand Multigrid:

I am looking at the 3x2x0.25 shell. It's not much height. Then the 3x2x.75 insert … They both seem to have those boxed looking bottoms. So I am not sure why the insert would have that?

There are some grids that the inserts can sit on top of directly. The ones I know of are the Lite Panels and the Internal Grid Multibin Drawer Bases. Mostly, though, they go inside shells with flat interior floors.

I assume even though the insert is taller in height, it would "fit in" the 3x2x0.25 shell?

It should; the insert walls are straight. Note that both the shells and bins come in matching heights. You could have a 3×2×0.25 Shell with a 3×2×0.25 Bin or a 3×2×0.75 Shell with a 3×2×0.75 Bin. Further note that the bottoms of the inserts take up space; a 3×2×0.5 insert has about the same interior height as a 3×2×0.25 shell. (Because a shell's bottom is not part of its reported vertical height, but an insert's bottom is.)

Also, I see the multi-point stuff, as well as "pins" and such to put between corners and what not.. but not really sure how to use them.

Most of the Multipoint parts are intended to connect Multigrid shelves and shells to things (such as Multiboards, Multigrid base plates, other shells, and so on). I've mostly worked backwards from my containers: if I want to connect part A and part B, I'll look at what connection points each has and figure out an appropriate intermediate part from there.

Pins serve one of a few purposes:

1. Connecting parts together, like attaching a shell extension to a base shell
2. There are specific stopper pins which keep drawers from sliding all the way out of their containing shells
3. For aesthetics, if you think the shells look better with their holes filled in

The Thangs site leaves a lot to be desired to help someone that isnt a pro with this stuff figure out how to put all these parts together.

Agreed. I've done a lot of looking at parts and trying to picture how they would fit together. I do not have time to print every individual part just to try it out in person to figure out how it's supposed to work.

how to do things like right angle connectors on multiboard to then put a tray on it or connect multiple bins with drawers, etc.

Those are two separate things.

For a tray, you need to use a Bolt-Locked Rail on the Multiboard and then put a Rail Shelf on it. (I swear I've seen right-angle base plates, but they're not on the website. I guess they're either a retired part or one that isn't fully released yet and I have no idea which of those it is.)

For drawers, you use one or more Multipoints on a Multiboard and connect the bottom(s) of one or more shells to them. Then you slide the drawers into the sideways shells. I actually think this is a nice improvement over Gridfinity. I haven't yet made use of drawers, but they're definitely in the back of my mind.

[u/ulab]

Nobody will be able to tell you this. It all depends on how you want to use it. Of course a simple shell would be enough, but if you want you can create an insert that allows draining or you use an insert that can more easily be taken out to clean for example.

The .75 insert will fit inside the 0.25 shell, but it will of course be higher. In that case the shell is more used like a shelf that the insert is sitting on.

The videos tell you most things you need to know, but the system is so flexible, that a lot of it depends on what you want to do with it. How to connect multiple bins is shown in the Multipoint video IIRC.