Dado Box (for use with openscad CSG ops)

thingiverse

A repeatable Dado Box. One way to look at it is that this box can stack with itself on any surface. I use a loop like this to slice up big models in openscad: for(ix=[0:2]) { for(iy=[0:2]) { intersection() { translate([ix dadoSize, iy dadoSize, 0]) placeMyModel(); translate([ix boxSize + ix dadoSize), iy boxSize + iy boxSize, boxSize / 2]) translate([baseOffsetX, baseOffsetY, baseOffsetZ]) placeDadoBox(boxSize, dadoSize); } } } } } This will seperate a big model into many smaller models that fit together like puzzle pieces. My 2-D dado box (take off all the rotate([0, 90, 0]) shapes) works very well, is printable, and can be slid together easily... but requires a little bit of clamping and gluing to get a nice stable construction out of. The 3-D dado box however, not so much. You can't slide two neighboring pieces together without a weird diagonal slide, and the dado box itself isn't printable. I'm hoping someone wants to make a derivative of this that's printable, and I'm also hoping that if the box itself is printable, that means the items you make with it P.S. I actually am a veteran POVRay user, so I didn't need much of the tutorials to understand how OpenSCAD works... but because I have been reading the tutorials, and they are, in fact, awesome... I decided to tag it with openscadtutorial anyways. Instructions Download. Print and watch as you violate the overhang rule. Print again with support and spend an hour cleaning out the slots. Bang your head a few times against your desk when it still doesn't slide together. Come up with a geometric proof that if it was printable, it would be slideable. Re-engineer to be printable. Print, slide, bask in the joy that is knowing you have satisfied one of MerlinJim's greatest, deepest, darkest, wishes. Alternately: Wait for me to upload the 2D version Use code like the following to make printable versions of big things: for(ix=[0:2]) { for(iy=[0:2]) { intersection() { translate([ix dadoSize, iy dadoSize, 0]) placeMyModel(); translate([ix boxSize + ix dadoSize), iy boxSize + iy boxSize, boxSize / 2]) translate([baseOffsetX, baseOffsetY, baseOffsetZ]) placeDadoBox(boxSize, dadoSize); } } } } }