Dado Joint

По русски

Plugin AVC_DadoJoint for AutoCAD and BricsCAD.

Formation of dado joinery between a 2 contacting solids. Automatic creation dadoes, grooves, rabbet, pockets, cutouts.

With this plugin, you can quickly make the connection of parts type “dado joint” or “rabbet joint”. Such joints are widely used in the furniture and woodworking industries, the production of frames, walls and exhibition stands. The program itself will find solids that come into contact (touch) with each other and will extend one body (makes tenon) and create dado/rabbet in another.

Also the program can:

  • Make curved dadoes/rabbet.

  • Make dadoes with a gap for soft compound parts.

  • Make the right set of dadoes. Simply select the entire assembly and call the command DadoJoint.

  • Ignore suspicious small contact of solids. This optional.

  • Shot command name DDJ for keyboard entry.

  • Saves your settings between runs AutoCAD.

The program is especially useful for assemblies built by the method cut-off parts from the workpiece (see examples and description of AVC_Slice plugin).

There are a number of limitations:

  • The program will only works 3d solids.

  • The planes of contact should be flat. Solid face must be based on Region, not Surface. Solids that you have imported from other programs, usually based on Surface. Their contacts are not likely to be found.

  • The program is optimized for the dadoes, which can be produced on a CNC 2D+ milling. Any angled edges are ignored, dado and tenon is always done exactly perpendicular to the contact plane.


Read about downloading and installing the program here.

To run the plugin, you will have to register account and top up your account balance by making a donation or receiving bonuses.

Then you can activate one of the licenses:

Dado Joint command (DDJ)

Select 2 or more solid and call the command DadoJoint (DDJ). When selecting multiple of solids, the program will check the contacts of each of the solid faces with faces of the other solids. It may take a long time. So do not choose just too many solids. Any objects, except Solids will be discarded. If nothing is selected before calling the command - program will ask you to choose the parts.

Next the program asks you to specify the depth of the dado. Enter a number greater than 0, or just press Enter. Note that the console at this point displays the 2 options:

Gap - the distance at which it is necessary to push the dado in all directions, to provide clearance. Default = 0.

MinArea - minimum area of contact between two solids, which is regarded as the place of manufacture of the dado. Default 16x16mm or 3/4x3/4 inch. You can assign a zero, and all contacts will be counted.

Then everything happens automatically. The program finds the contact plane. Small contacts discarded. Discarded as contacts whose areas of faces of both parts are the same, because In this case, it is not clear how to make a dado. The contact surface extrudes to the solid. This solid is added to the part with a smaller face area. And the same solid is subtracted from the workpiece with a large face. If necessary, the solid increase in the value of the gap before the subtraction.

If a lot of contacts, the order of subtraction will be random, and perhaps one of the other dadoes will spoil. Check the resulting dadoes and rework again if necessary, one by one.

Extruding always made strictly perpendicular to the contact plane. This means that on the faces of parts that come to the contact plane at an angle kink appears. This not a bug, so conceived. In most cases this will make a dado that can be cut without using a cutter tilt. In exceptional cases, you have to tweak the shape of the tongue and dado by hand.

If you need a different algorithm extrusion - I am ready to consider your offers.

Follow the messages on the command line. There may be program messages.

Known Issues

  • Possible imposition of dadoes and tenons to each other. As a result, they will get the wrong joint. It is recommended to check the results of the work program and to alter the joint again one by one, deliberately choosing the order.

  • Kink appears on the faces of parts that come to the contact plane at an angle (non perpendicular). This not a bug, so conceived. In most cases this will make a dado that can be cut without using a cutter tilt.