adding snap joints to a splitted box

[Anonymous]

hi 

I have to split this box in two halves to be able to print on my printer because like this it is too big for the printer bed. So what kind of snap joints can i use to put them together after printing? thank you

[Anonymous]

Actually I want this overlapping puzzle joint( 2:05 in the video) at the bottom of the box. How to do that? 

https://youtu.be/H2YeX2aaiqE

[jhackney1972]

The joint in the video is easy to create but the one thing you are going to have to watch out for is the tolerances to make it work.  I do not have any idea on the tolerances that  you can hold in 3D printing but it would seem to me this is going to be a very difficult joint, especially matching them up along the length of the joint.  

I would have used your model but the floor of your model is combined with the partitions so I create something I could work with easily.  Dimensions are my own, nothing I picked up anywhere.  Model is attached.

[2herds]

Only wanted to expand on the tolerances  mentioned in other reply. As heat will cause expansion and contraction and the temperature most likely will not be a constant this will be a problem.

For a test I made a plate with various size holes to try to figure some general "tolerance factor". My test only showed no real uniform value I could use, in that it was out of specification (but close showing both plus and minus values) with no uniform value but more associated to the hole size as well. Will % infill also effect the tolerance?  My point is perhaps you can make some small test samples of a snap joint and generate a "tolerance factor" to use before printing a larger body. Note: my printer is a lower end $$ import and an industrial 3D probably could be dialed in.