Connectors & splitting¶
In Export, PrintHaus can adapt oversized exterior-wall parts, base and floor slabs, roofs and interior walls to the known print bed. This applies outside monolith mode. Parts that already fit remain unsplit.
When does splitting happen?¶
The split pattern depends on the part shape, print orientation and bed size. A separate connector is not produced at every seam.
- The bed size comes from your printer choice, or from the manual bed size, in the Export step.
- The cuts are routed around openings (windows, doors) and wall junctions — never straight through a detail like that.
- Flat plates (base slab, floor slab, roof) can be split into a grid in both directions. Split interior walls have integrated joints, without additional separate dowels.
Connectors¶
The connection type depends on the part and the actual seam. Separate dowels are produced only at suitable exterior-wall and plate seams with enough material. There are three kinds:
| Kind | Where | How |
|---|---|---|
| Tongue & groove (integrated) | Wall ↔ roof and roof face ↔ roof face | formed directly into the parts — the tongue slots into the groove, no loose piece |
| Dovetail / miter (integrated) | Outer-wall corners, inner-wall joints and the dividing wall to an extension | the parts are miter-cut and interlock with a positive fit |
| Plug-in dowel (separate) | at suitable seams in exterior walls and plates | a separate little dovetail piece you push into both halves |
- At the individual-part scales 1:10–1:99, integrated connections join the parts: tongue/groove at the roof seams (ridge, hip, valley) and where the roof rests on the walls; dovetail/miter at the outer-wall corners and inner-wall joints.
- The separate plug-in dowels only appear when a part has to be split because of the bed size.
Where the dowels sit in the export
The separate plug-in dowels are output together with their parent part and carry its color — so you'll find them in the same file, or on the same plate, as the wall or plate they belong to.
Wall corners and roof seams¶
For BM component prints, the tongue at a right-angle exterior corner has slightly widened flanks, forming a shallow dovetail. The existing horizontal and vertical head limits remain unchanged; the groove follows the new shape.
At ridges, hips and valleys, the roof tongue has parallel flanks and points into the middle plane of the adjacent roof face. Only the groove is enlarged by 0.15 mm at print scale at every contact face and at both ends. The groove ends remain closed to hide the joint at the verge; insertion is transverse to the seam. At ridges and hips, the head is flush with its own roof underside. At valleys, the shape is mirrored towards the roof upper side. These joints are generated automatically, with no additional selection.
Dividing wall between main building and extension¶
Where an extension meets the main building or another extension, the shared wall belongs to only one of the two bodies. At a normal T connection, the incoming extension wall carries the tenon. The matching groove is in the standing receiving wall; the extension wall slides in from below.
This assignment follows the actual T connection, not which body owns the shared wall. Wall ownership is explained under Extensions.
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Normal T connection: The tenon reaches from below the base plate up to at most 2.50 m. The groove remains open downwards through the standing receiving wall and, in shell construction, that wall's attached foundation foot. The independent bottom slab, tenon height and existing upper groove limit remain unchanged. A groove open at the top through the entire wall height is not a general rule for this connection.
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Only at scales up to 1:99. From 1:100 on printing is monolithic — there the wall is one piece anyway and there is nothing to connect.
- Profile shape and dimensions: The normal T connection uses the shape and profile dimensions of the existing straight interior-wall-to-exterior-wall joint. Scale handling and fit clearance follow that same reference. Its own profile geometry, including the matching groove, is used; this is not merely a smaller chimney connector.
Exterior-corner variant: At an adjacent right-angle convex exterior-wall corner, the corner-facing outer tip of the tenon head is beveled parallel to the exterior corner profile. The groove follows this bevel with the existing normal fit clearance. The original interior-wall-to-exterior-wall joint and T connections without such a corner remain unchanged.
Wall ↔ ceiling¶
Where a wall stands on a floor slab or the base plate, the connection is formed in — you don't have to plug anything. Which of the two designs applies is decided by the wall's position:
| Position of the wall | Connection |
|---|---|
| The outer wall is also the edge of the slab (the normal case, including at the overhang) | Plinth tenon: the wall has a continuous profile along its underside, the plate beneath it the matching groove. |
| The wall stands in the middle of the slab — the slab continues beyond its outer face (typically after a setback) | Wedge joint: a 45° wedge on the wall's underside engages a pocket in the slab. The wedge is half as tall as the slab is thick and sits centered on the wall axis. |
If a wall runs lengthwise over a wall of the floor below, the plinth tenon stays — there the wall below carries the load.
The play of the wedge joint is 0.2 mm per flank when printed and stays the same at every scale; the wedge shape itself grows with the model.
Individual parts or monolith?¶
Choose construction BM, HM or MM in the print-export settings. BM and HM are available up to 1:99; from 1:100, MM is used. Automatic bed splitting applies outside monolith mode.
An independent extension roof remains a separate printed part even in monolith mode and does not merge with the main roof.
Monolith bodies are not split
In MM, storey and roof bodies are not split to fit the print bed. Choose a scale at which these bodies fit your bed.
Technical terms
Tongue, groove, dovetail, ridge, eaves & co. are explained in the Glossary.
Landings and terraces in the component model¶
The landing and terrace dovetail extends 2.00 mm into the printed building. Its neck is 1.00 mm wide and flares inwards to a 2.00 mm head. The matching groove provides 0.15 mm clearance perpendicular to the flanks and continues through the affected walls, foundation and floor or storey slabs. Insert the component from below. The reference profiles for balconies and interior walls remain unchanged.
Interior-wall connection to an exterior wall¶
The connection is calculated on the bounded room-side face of the assigned exterior wall, taking the selected print scale into account. Another wall face on the same extended line does not replace that wall segment. If the calculated connection point lies outside the assigned face, calculation stops with a message; PrintHaus does not move the saved wall automatically.