Tab-slot Joint

The Tab-Slot Joint program (TabSlot command) helps to model one of the typical connections of parts. A row of evenly spaced rectangular tenons (tabs, studs) is created on one part, and slots (dodoes) are cut on the counterpart part. Such a connection is used in furniture, POS and building products, boxes, stairs. The connection allows you to connect two parts from any flat sheets: steel, wooden board, MDF, chipboard, plastic, cardboard, sandwich panels and composite materials. Usually, after joining, the parts are fixed with glue or welding.

Program features

• The program itself finds the joints of the parts and determines which part is joined by the end, and which by the plane.

• The program can process many seams at once, can find all seams in an assembly block. One part can be processed from all sides at once.

• The program always divides the seam into equal steps. The maximum allowable step length is configurable, but the step length cannot be set exactly.

• You can limit the minimum number of seam division steps and you can force the program to divide the seam into an odd number of steps.

• You can adjust the depth of the slots and thus the height of the tenons. You can customize the program to cut slots through parts of any thickness. Or tuck the depth of the slots to leave the specified thickness.

• The program can widen the slots in all directions to allow the tenon to fit freely. It is also possible to make a backlashfor additional clearance along the depth of the slot.

• You can choose what the program will do in the first step - leave the thrust pad (do nothing), or make a tab-slot. This way you can control how the ends of the seam will look.

• It is possible to set a fixed length of tab.

• It is possible to create stop pads of a given length at the edges of the joint.

• You can also use the program to joint parts end-to-end. But the direction of extrusion of the tenons in this case is unpredictable.

• The program is configured in a convenient settings dialog.

• You can create up to 9 styles of program settings for different occasions and quickly switch between them from the command line.

Read about downloading and installing the program here.

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

Then you can activate one of the licenses:

• Annual license - 10 EUR.

• Unlimited license - 50 EUR. Free updates for 1 year.

• The trial period is 20 days.

You can pre-configure the program. To do this, open the A>V>C> Options Palette (AvcOptions) on the Tab-Slot Joint tab.

Create a model of your product from 3d solids. Parts must be in contact with each other with flat surfaces, without gaps and overlaps. It is convenient to model boxes (_box), and then peel the walls of the required thickness from them with the Multi-Slice (MSL) command.

You can select details before calling the TabSlot command. You must select at least two solids or a assembly-block with solids inside. Machining parts is a complex and lengthy process. To prevent AutoCAD from freezing, the program refuses to work with more than 20 solids in one call. If you do not need to make a connection at all joints of the assembly, then you can try to filter out unnecessary parts using the filter settings. In more complex cases, you will have to select the parts to be joined in pairs and run the TabSlot command for each pair separately. If blocks are selected, the program will add all the solids from them to the processing list. As well as solids from nested blocks. But scaled blocks will be ignored.

Call the TabSlot command. If nothing has been selected yet, then the program asks for a selection of parts. On the command line you will see the options:

• SwitchStyle - quickly switch between program styles

• Tune - open the settings dialog. 

Next, the program will begin to sort through all the details and look for joints between them. A measurement procedure will be called for each part. Some details may be ignored if filters are configured. Joints that are too small will be ignored (see the Minimum area setting). The program will write on the command line how many matching joints were found.

Next, the program will begin to process joint by joint. At each seam, the longest linear edge will be found and divided into even steps along it. By default, the first section (step) is skipped. There will remain a stop pad, and in the second step the program will make a tab-slot. And so on through one step to the end of the joint. You can switch the program so that it make tenon on the first step and stop pad on the second. But if the joint is divided into an even number of steps, then the ends of the joint will in any case be different - at one end there is a tab-slot, at the other there is an stop pad. Therefore, the program has the option of dividing the seam always into an odd number of steps.

If a fixed Tab Length is specified, the program will only select the length of the spaces between the joints. If Start Pads are set, their size will be subtracted from the joint length before calculating the number and length of the step.

Of the two joined parts, the one that is joined at the end (surface of a smaller area) will be selected and rectangular tenon will be attached to it. Slotes will be cut into the second part (joining large surface). If the parts are joined by the same surfaces (end-to-end joint), then you can not control in any way which way the tenon will be directed from the original joint.

The depth of the slots can be set in the settings, or can be calculated individually for each joint. Set the Depth to 0 to have the software take the thickness of the part as the depth of the slots. In most cases, this will result in through milling of the part. An exception is the case when it was not on the main plane of the part, but on the end (for example, a end-to-end joint). Then you will again get blind slot to a depth equal to the thickness of the part.

You can also set a negative depth. The program will then calculate the depth of the slot as PartThickness - |Depth|. And then you will get the same thickness of the part wall remaining behind the slot, regardless of the thickness of the part.

After work, the program will display the number of joints made on the command line.

Watch the command line - there may be messages about the reasons for filtering objects and error messages.

Program settings

Program restrictions

• The program works only with solid models. Doesn't work in 2d, doesn't work with meshes.

• The parts to be joined must be created from flat sheets. The program does not work on bent skins (But the DadoDoint program does)

• Parts must fit together without gaps or overlaps. The seam region must be rectangular. At a non-rectangular joint, the program will also work, but the result will not please you.

• The program is similar to the DadoDoint (DDJ) program, but cannot replace it.

• The tab and slot are always extruded strictly perpendicular to the joint plane, even if the parts are joined at an angle other than 90 degrees.

• The program can only make rectangular tenons and slots. The program is not intended for modeling 'Zigzag' or 'Dovetail' connections or the like.

• Too small joint division leads to a large number of tenons, and the solid becomes too complex. AutoCAD will be slow and glitchy, and A>V>C> programs are configured to ignore solids with more than 200 faces. Avoid overly complex details.

• Like all other modeling commands, the TabSlot command erases all data about the coloring and materials of solid surfaces. Assign cover and edge banding materials only after modeling is complete.

• The program does not search for contacts at the junction of two blocks. If you have all the parts packed in separate blocks, then you must first execute the Unpack command.

• The program does not control that the slots can break a part that is too small into pieces.