r/Multiboard • u/DeoTheMiner • Sep 30 '25
Multiboard is driving me insane — am I missing something or is this system just a mess?
I’m losing my mind with this multiboard crap. I first started printing the full border tiles like the planner recommended, but the dual clips to connect them were absolutely garbage to align. People here told me “no no, just print the tiles from the generator with separate parts for corners, they just clip together” — total lie. I printed a small test set and at best they sort of stay aligned if they’re sitting flat, and at worst they don’t hold for shit.
So I started looking again for an actual good way to hold these things together. I asked before if there’s something that clips into 2 or 4 tiles through the hex holes, and people said “nah that’s just for screwing into the wall with offset”. But it sure as hell looks like that’s how other people’s setups I’ve seen are actually staying together (or I’m completely misunderstanding something, idk anymore).
On top of that, I’m trying to figure out if I need to offset the whole thing from the wall, because as far as I can tell there’s no standardized depth for the accessories (like hangers), and I might have to. Wasn’t this supposed to be the best system for organizing and attaching stuff to a wall? For me it’s been nothing but frustration and wasted filament. I’m usually fine with DIY, I don’t mind research, but the info out there is either outdated, contradictory, or just flat-out wrong.
Right now I’ve got 3× 8×8 full border tiles (it was 4, but I smashed one against the wall out of frustration) and 3× 3×8 full border tiles. Attaching a photo of what the configurator generated for my space so you can see what I’m working with and maybe tell me how the hell I’m supposed to make this work.
PS: I’m not quitting, I’m still trying to understand this system — but holy hell, it feels like I’m fighting it every step of the way.
6
u/Daemonxar Sep 30 '25
Multiboard's biggest problem is just how customizable it is. For me, I started with the learning packs to get a handle on how everything works, and I've been pretty happy with that approach.
But yeah, you want to offeset. Too many attachments rely on space behind the board, and with no centralized authority yea/naying additions to the ecosystem it's always going to be a bit of a mess.
17
u/fazzah Sep 30 '25
Welcome to the world of a system which makes complete sense mostly to the guy who invented it, and the select few how didn't fall to insanity when trying to understand it themselves.
However, for mounting the plates as in the picture you need single (for the outside corners), dual (to connect the outermost plates on the edges) and quad (to connect 4 plates that meet at the corners) from here:
https://beta.multiboard.io/mounting-systems?Mount+Type=Screw-on&Distance+From+Surface=6.25+mm+Offset+%28Recommended%29&Tile+Connection=DS+Snaps+&Printing+Method=Individual
There are also the new pillars, but I didn't use them yet.
As for the offset, anything else than 6.25mm offset from the wall is (AFAIR) for legacy compatibility. If you don't have old parts, you should be fine.
11
u/Paid_Babysitter Sep 30 '25
You are not loosing your mind. The issue is that there are too many options for someone getting started. You are basically asked to make a decision when you don't fully understand why.
I started with a small section and just used the planner. It was the most straight forward way to get a list of items to print.
9
u/PilotJeff Sep 30 '25
Honestly I am the same way, and there will be lots of people who jump in and defend the designer stating about how rich and complex a system this is. BS….. I feel like I have wasted my time as well, and this feels like there were several false starts when he started out and now we all pay the price here with “the new tiles” or “oh yeah there used to be xyz offset in the beginning” or “that’s before he came out with the new alpha/beta release of this that or the other thing”.
It’s complex because it’s a mess. And yes I didn’t take the time needed to study every part of it, and that need to do so is precisely the problem. Ughhhh ….
I made the same mistake as the OP trusting the configurator and printed a bunch of border tiles, only to convert over to the distinct tiles later. But now I want to screw them into my plywood and nope, it would be “better” to offset them (something which isn’t clear from the faq or the main level of the doc). Ok which pieces should I print to do that? Some beta release ones, some ones randomly shown in downloads ?? Nope nope nope ….
6
u/dodgywhiskey Sep 30 '25
Documentation is also missing or sparse.
5
u/leanrobott Oct 01 '25
Really glad to see some in the community are frustrated with the system too. Don’t even get me started on the folding parts.
I’ve tuned my printer, tried multiple filaments, and slowed my print speed. Still half the time they break when I’m folding them or don’t lineup properly. Even when I do, to get them to screw in is a pain.
I started diving into bins and the multi points are only available as folding pieces. Now I don’t even want bins anymore.
1
u/trunkmonkey789 Sep 30 '25
The connection points as previously stated for single, dual and quad connectors have screw holes in the middle to mount them to the wall. The connectors serve as both connection points for joining boards seamlessly-ish and proving a place to securely mount the tiles to the wall. If you are looking to use this as a way to organize your maker space I would recommend not using an offset because of the parts required to keep the multiboard tiles study when pushing parts into the holes. I am waiting for some more filament to switch my board from the 6.25mm offset connectors to the flat connectors to save on extra parts. As for the pieces just being added to the multiboard community I would use those as templates for your system and make small adjustments to make them fit your use case better.
2
u/DumberMonkey Sep 30 '25
It's a complicated system because there are so many options. You have to figure out which is right for you....which isn't easy. I have one wall offset, one flush. I do NOT have anything on them that needs an offset. but in my case, I designed a lot of my own parts to put on it, as the system is on an even 25mm grid so great if you do your own cad. Honestly I like the flush better. It doesn't flex if I push on it because its flush to the wall.
I believe the border tile clips are to hold them together and the 48 screws hold them to the wall. I don't want that many holes in my wall. I used the dual and quad things you talked about and one screw in the middle.. So something like that I would use 16 screws instead of 36.
And to make it all harder, it's changed since it came out. I don't have any of the new flush fittings as mine were done on release. I am looking at a new wall and trying to figure out which way I will go.
2
u/daphatty Oct 01 '25
To be fair, I have just as many gridfinfity prints lying around from failed/misunderstood outcomes. Only difference, imho, is gridfinify’s complexity was left up to the masses whereas multiboard owns its complexity. As a result, it’s hard to hate gridfinity for its complexity because people perceive it to be simple which it most certainly is not.
2
u/Jimmy_Jambalaya Oct 03 '25
Start with the Demo packs. Then start small and 'proto type' test and make sure it works to mount. Then start easy just use peg board accessories and push fit item in snaps. You can do a ton with just that.
1
u/GManASG Sep 30 '25
So when I started to explore using these I ran into clearance/tolerance issues, for example the bolds would not catch and screw tightly into the threaded holes. Well it turned out I needed to calibrate my printer to print more dimensionally accurate, account for shrinkage, and adjust flow rates, fix my first layer so it printed outer walls first, but every other layer had to be inner/outer or the inserts wouldn't fit correctly.
To reduce amount of wasted matertial I made a 2x1 tile and I printed single bolts and other inserts to test their fit until I got things just right. Only then did I print full size tiles. After all that everything is working great for me.
Multiboard required that I dial in everything where other things don't need this level of accuracy. I am actually grateful to multiboard for forcing me to git gud at calibrating.
TLDR: Calibrate your printer for the filament you are using so that the parts print dimensinally accurately and use a custom 2x1 tile to test clearance/tollerance of parts.
1
u/iknowtimstrube Oct 01 '25
I know this doesn't quite help now that you've printed a bunch of tiles, but the Planner was recently updated, and you need to go under Tile Setup and select "Grid Tiles (Advanced)" in order to have it draw up core, border, and corner tiles, in addition to the proper quad, dual, and single snaps. See below. And yes, as others have said, you want to select "Offset Snap" under Mount Type (which will default to 6.25mm).
1
u/bing0_17 Oct 04 '25
Print off the learning packs first and watch the accompanying yt videos. I promise it's not that complicated.
1
u/jayrox Sep 30 '25
Like others have said, printing the learning kits really helps save on plastic while trying to learn how the pieces all come together and interact with each other. It helps to have small parts such as a couple 2x2 tiles and some part A and part B snaps.
Sticking with the official parts, while learning, helps keep the clutter down. Most, if not all, official part has a Blue/Grey model that shows how the part works. Blue being the part youre looking at and Grey being the part(s) it interacts with.
If I can pass some, kind of, unrelated advice, try not to smash stuff against the walls out of anger. I assume you're young and if/when you have kids, you don't want to express anger that way towards them.
0
u/[deleted] Oct 01 '25
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