MS Surface Adapter brackets Allows MS Surface Pro 4 and Onward Tablets to work with a MS Model 1664 Dock

thingiverse

I'm upgrading from an older Surface Pro 3 to a new Surface Pro (5th gen) and noticed some significant dimension differences between the two tablets. I wanted to make use of a docking station, so I researched my options. Microsoft offers a New Surface Dock with a flexible wire connector and a brick-like body. These docks are pricey but good. I also found a Surface pro 3 dock model 1664 that will work with the newer surface tablets, but it requires an adapter that was previously available from Microsoft for free but has been discontinued. I purchased a third-party adapter, which is pricey in my opinion. However, this dock is no longer made, and I can buy one on eBay or other sites at a relatively low cost. The 1664 docks give you one extra USB port and one less video port, which is a reasonable compromise from my perspective. Microsoft provided a downloadable 3D printable adapter file and instruction sheets, which are available here: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4039900/surface-using-surface-pro-4-with-your-surface-pro-3-docking-station I examined the file and adapter and concluded that it's an exact duplicate of the previously available one. However, it's too long for most common 3D printers, with a length in excess of 220 mm. To make the adapter printable for most printers, I decided to reduce it to two strips that install on either side of the dock back using double-sided tape. This reduces the print to the minimal essentials needed and makes it print quickly. There are depressions on the back surface of the plates for placement of the double-sided tape, which allows them to mount flat to the dock as per the original Microsoft design. Upon further examination, I realized that people were printing the adapter horizontally, which means that the layers are parallel to the length of the adapter. This puts the weaker inter-layer boundary in the plane of highest potential stress and makes it more likely to break. Additionally, printing it angled upward would result in extensive supports or rafts being needed. To solve this problem, I decided to orient the two adapter strips so that they are printed on edge with a brim for added adhesion. This will put the weak inter-layer plane in the vertical direction in use and make them overall stronger in use. These are simply cut-downs from the original print file set to give a better print result and meet the minimal need in print time and material. I sliced them in Cura 3.6 and printed in black PLA with no supports, only a brim as described. The dimensions should be in millimeters, and they printed to fit snugly and well. You may have to scale them slightly for your printer depending on your configuration. I hope that this may be useful for some people.