3D printed "dry fit" dominos (DF-500)

[fritter63]

Stumbled on these and have been printing them for use in the shop. Basically just a little undersized so they're easy to remove after doing a dry fit on your joinery.

Printing them in green so they're easily spotted when it's time to switch to the real thing. There are several models out there if you search yeggi.com. I haven't seen any for the DF-700 yet but I'll be modeling those myself and will make them available.

Festool Reduced Size Dominos for Dry Fit (4mm, 5mm, 6mm, 8mm, 10mm) by paulengel | Download free STL model | Printables.com

Slightly reduced sized Dominos to use in dry fits for ease of insertion and removal. (4mm, 5mm, and 6mm redesigned) | Download free 3D printable STL models

www.printables.com

About 6 hours to print a full plate of the 5mm

 

[Vondawg]

I’ll be keeping an eye out for those @fritter63 !

 

[gimp]

I also like the strategy of gently sanding / shaving the flutes of a handful of normal dominoes. But maybe if you need a full plate of them, it's not your favorite way to go?

 

[Neil Lickfold]

I also like the strategy of gently sanding / shaving the flutes of a handful of normal dominoes. But maybe if you need a full plate of them, it's not your favorite way to go?

My test ones, have a red pen mark down the middle on both sides. I used a chainsaw file to make the groove that gets the red marker.

 

[ChuckM]

I wrote down the size on the dry-assembly tenons with a green marker.

Every size has some of those test tenons in my case, but the 8x40/50 and 4x dominoes, which are the most used ones, have more test tenons than others (the 10x the least). The 8x40s can be used as 8x50s in dry fitting if I run out of the latter.

 

[fritter63]

I have done the shaved/sanded approach. With the printed ones, the size is more consistent, and the cost was $1 for a full sheet of them (filament cost).

 

[gimp]

Nice - I guess I should print some, it'll be fun.

 

[ChuckM]

I have done the shaved/sanded approach. With the printed ones, the size is more consistent, and the cost was $1 for a full sheet of them (filament cost).

Plus electricity cost, plus labor (even if at minimum wage)....

Just teasing you.

Is it hard to change the file to make other sizes of tenons?

 

[smorgasbord]

Is it hard to change the file to make other sizes of tenons?

I messaged the original creator since he said he'd share his Fusion360 files. I do dabble in Fusion360.

Here are screenshots of the parameters for the 5mm and 6mm versions:




Those may look daunting to non-Fusion users, but using parameters like this is pretty straightforward. I am happy to see he has different parameters for reducing thickness and length to adjust the fit, but doesn't have a separate parameter for Width reduction, but maybe that can be accomplished by playing with BitTravel.

And if you change the Fusion file, you'll have to regenerate the STL files, which you then have to re-layout and re-slice for your printer.

One aspect I think may be a problem is that domino fit tolerances are pretty tight - too large and they don't go in or get stuck, and too small and you don't get the alignment test you're looking for. There are all sorts of printer quality things affecting 3D print quality, and a variation in thickness of 0.1mm isn't unlikely for some. So, you may end up needing to tweak the original file anyway.

 

[Jim_in_PA]

The file I used off MakerWorld had the sizes printed right on the output for convenience. I do find them pretty snug...tighter than I would like for a dry-fit.

 

[fritter63]

I messaged the original creator since he said he'd share his Fusion360 files. I do dabble in Fusion360.

Here are screenshots of the parameters for the 5mm and 6mm versions:
View attachment 376093

View attachment 376094

Those may look daunting to non-Fusion users, but using parameters like this is pretty straightforward. I am happy to see he has different parameters for reducing thickness and length to adjust the fit, but doesn't have a separate parameter for Width reduction, but maybe that can be accomplished by playing with BitTravel.

And if you change the Fusion file, you'll have to regenerate the STL files, which you then have to re-layout and re-slice for your printer.

One aspect I think may be a problem is that domino fit tolerances are pretty tight - too large and they don't go in or get stuck, and too small and you don't get the alignment test you're looking for. There are all sorts of printer quality things affecting 3D print quality, and a variation in thickness of 0.1mm isn't unlikely for some. So, you may end up needing to tweak the original file anyway.

Good find! Didn't notice he was willing to do that (or was it in the files tab?).

Would you mind attaching the exported Fusion file here? I had started my own file for the DF700 dominos but would be better if I can just tweak his parameters for STL generation.

Was the thickness reduction set to 0? That's odd, would have expected it set to .1 or something like that. Perhaps he's counting on the width reduction (similar to Sedges technique of just shaving the points of the sides).

 

[fritter63]

ok, so I finally got out to test the fit on the 4 and 5mm prints. I had tested a single print of the 6mm before.

I would have to say they're a LITTLE snugger than I'd expected, but they are still MUCH easier to remove with pliers than the regular (non shaved) dominos. So I'm happy with how they work. And will give you a good snug fit.

 

[gimp]

Aren't all the sizes already included in the `files` tab of the initial link?

 

[ChuckM]

I messaged the original creator since he said he'd share his Fusion360 files. I do dabble in Fusion360.

Here are screenshots of the parameters for the 5mm and 6mm versions:
View attachment 376093

View attachment 376094

Those may look daunting to non-Fusion users, but using parameters like this is pretty straightforward. I am happy to see he has different parameters for reducing thickness and length to adjust the fit, but doesn't have a separate parameter for Width reduction, but maybe that can be accomplished by playing with BitTravel.

And if you change the Fusion file, you'll have to regenerate the STL files, which you then have to re-layout and re-slice for your printer.

One aspect I think may be a problem is that domino fit tolerances are pretty tight - too large and they don't go in or get stuck, and too small and you don't get the alignment test you're looking for. There are all sorts of printer quality things affecting 3D print quality, and a variation in thickness of 0.1mm isn't unlikely for some. So, you may end up needing to tweak the original file anyway.

Thanks. That sounds technical to me as I don't know much about 3D printers. But it seems the process is not hard to overcome for those who have had experience using their printers.

 

[fritter63]

Aren't all the sizes already included in the `files` tab of the initial link?

View attachment 376103

Only the DF500 sizes, not DF700.

 

[gimp]

Ah yeah that makes sense.

I printed a 6x40 today. Works perfectly. Gonna print a few plates of these in different sizes. Fun!

 

[timwors]

This is a great idea, thank you for sharing. It seems a bit surprising that Festool don't already make a set of these that have been precision made in various sizes, e.g. could be quite simple to achieve at scale using extruded aluminium. It would make a great accessory to their Domino range.