Glue-free name light signs

The story

Big signs are wider than any print bed, so they print in sections. Instead of glue, the sections slide together on dovetail rails and lock with bowtie keys, and the LED strip runs through a hidden tunnel.

The fit was dialled in with test prints: 0.2 mm clearance on the rails and 0.15 mm on the bowties came out perfect.

Fail log

What went wrong while designing it, and what fixed it.

1. Failed: The top rail sat 3 mm from the LED tunnel: too thin to print cleanly.

   Fixed: Moved the rail up 2 mm and gave the groove a sloped roof that prints without supports.