Parametric Playing Cards with Optional Braille Dots

myminifactory

Have you got an SLS 3D Printer (or a ton of patience)? Then you can 3D print your very own customized deck of playing cards! An example deck is provided (without braille because it wouldn't allow me to upload a file greater than 75MB) but you can use OpenSCAD to create your own using whatever fonts or designs you desire. If you generate a deck of cards with braille, the dots will be located in the lower-left corner due to ergonomic considerations! Normal braille playing cards often don't place the dots there, which is quite puzzling (who wants to reach all the way up to the top or awkwardly hold the cards in an upside-down V - reaching towards the bottom right to read the braille upside down?). Inside the .scad file lies a number of parameters that can be modified to create your deck of cards exactly as you like. There are, however, two settings you really need to pay close attention to: card_thickness and space_between_cards. If you set card thickness below 0.3mm, there's a chance your opponent could see your suit/rank through the card. This is highly dependent on the type of material used to print the cards. The 'space_between_cards' setting should be adjusted according to your printer's tolerances. After conducting extensive research, I've determined that about 0.5mm should be well within the tolerances of the SinterIt Lisa. Since I don't have a Lisa to print with, I cannot confirm this but you should actually be able to print multiple decks at once! If you don't possess an SLS printer, then you're stuck printing each card individually, one at a time. This is definitely possible; you'll just need to be patient and generate each card you want to print using the OpenSCAD .scad file separately. I recommend printing one at a time in the exact same location on your print bed so there's no variance in the front of the card. Unless, of course, you're printing onto glass or something that is perfectly flat across its entire surface. NOTE: It can take a considerable amount of time to render a complete deck of cards. It took my modern/fast computer about an hour (I was doing other things in the background though). The preview (F5) is quite nice and fast, however! There are lines in the .scad file that are commented out, serving as examples of how to view individual cards (say, Ace of Spades). Therefore, designing your own should be quick and easy.