Parametric Dovetail Joint

thingiverse

This thing produces a customizable dovetail joint that can securely join two distinct pieces together when needed. The definitions of the parameters are: Pin Depth: the depth from the beginning of the chamfer to the widest part of the pin Pin Width: the width of the pin at its widest point Tail Height: the height of the tail block itself Pin Width Fraction: one minus the ratio of the narrowest part of the pin (the start of the chamfers) to the widest part; a value of 0.4 results in the narrowest part being 60% of the widest part Pin Height Fraction: the ratio of the pin's height to that of the tail block, with 0.8 indicating the pin is 80% of the tail block's height Overhang Depth: additional depth added to the narrow end of the pin and the back of the block itself Overhang Width: additional width added to the tail block on either side of the pin chamfers Fit Tolerance: the absolute value representing how much to shrink the pin's width and depth so it slides smoothly into the tail Corner Trim: the absolute value indicating how much material to remove from the edges of the pin's widest part for easy insertion without increasing fit tolerance significantly Pin Or Tail: making both the pin and the tail or either one when desired; the best course of action is to experiment with different parameter values to see how they alter the joint's characteristics; for printers running PLA material, fit tolerance and corner trim work well at standard levels, requiring no filing, whereas for ABS material, larger values are needed for a smooth slide or manual filing from the sides of the pin solves this issue.