Dovetail Key | Blender Add-on  

Dovetail VERSION 4 is here 

NEW · LATEST UPDATE

The biggest update yet just dropped — here's what's new:

🆕 Recessed Seam
A whole new joint type! Builds a conical tab on one half and a perfectly matching pocket on the other — your parts self-align and snap together along the seam itself. Built directly on the geometry (no booleans), with full control over Depth, Offset, and Segments. Perfect for hiding the connection inside the model. 🧩

🎚️ Socket Gap Control|
Recessed Seam gets its own dedicated fit slider — independent from the dovetail clearance. Tight snap or loose easy fit, you decide. Dial it in for your printer and material. 🖨️

💥 Explode View
Pull your pieces apart with one click to inspect every joint before printing — check the tab, the pocket, and the fit from every angle. Then snap it all back together.

🐛 Freehand Cut Fixes
Strokes now stay exactly where you draw them — no more cuts leaking into geometry the blade never touched. Way more reliable on complex and already-cut models.

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Dovetail VERSION 3 is here 

NEW · LATEST UPDATE

New Ball Key joint — Added a new Ball joint shape with a secure ball-and-socket locking system, alongside the classic Dovetail key.

Key Offset control — Freely reposition the joint anywhere across the cut for better placement and print optimization.

Improved cutting engine — More reliable boolean processing for dense, high-poly, and complex meshes, with cleaner cuts and better stability.

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Dovetail Key v2.0.1 - Free-Hand Cut 

Draw a line across your model and it splits into two clean, watertight pieces — then generates interlocking dovetail keys (peg + socket) so the parts snap together for 3D printing. Freehand or straight cuts, curved surfaces supported, with a live preview to adjust size and position.

Dovetail Key — Blender Add-on

Cut any mesh and rejoin the pieces with strong, self-aligning dovetail joints — built for splitting models that are too large to 3D print in one piece. Draw a line across the exact part you want to cut, and Dovetail Key turns the two halves into an interlocking male/female joint that snaps together like puzzle pieces. It runs right in the viewport and handles dense, high-poly sculpts without crashing.

WHAT IT DOES

🔪 Draw-to-cut — Drag a straight line across only the part you want to split. Only the geometry under your stroke is cut; the rest of the model stays untouched.

🧩 One-click dovetail joint — Select both halves and get an automatic tapered peg (male) + matching socket (female) with print-ready clearance. Cutters are applied and cleaned up for you.

🎛️ Auto or Manual — Sizes itself to the cut cross-section automatically, or switch to Manual to set Scale, Height, and Flip by hand — with a live preview before you commit.

🔁 Flip — Reverses the taper and auto-swaps the male/female sides so the joint always stays correct.

🧱 Built for heavy sculpts — bmesh-based cutting (not a heavy boolean), so it stays stable on multi-million-poly meshes. Solver options: Fast / Manifold / Exact.

✨ Clean results — Smooth shading with sharp edges preserved on both pieces.

↩️ Non-destructive — Undo Last Cut and Delete All Cuts revert your model from a safe, backup-based history.

PERFECT FOR
Resin/FDM prints too big for the plate · action figures & busts · cosplay props · modular kit-bashing · keyed assemblies.

REQUIREMENTS

• Blender 4.2+ (extension with manifest). Legacy single-file version for Blender 3.0+.
• Works in Object Mode.

WHAT YOU GET

• dovetail_key-1.13.2.zip (Blender 4.2+ extension)
• Legacy Dovetail_Key.py add-on (Blender 3.0+)

SUPPORT & COMMUNITY
Discord: https://discord.gg/EC8d7nPsYj

By Milad Kambari — 3DRedbox Studio

Dovetail VERSION 4 is here
NEW · LATEST UPDATE

🆕 Recessed Seam
New joint type with a conical tab and matching pocket for precise self-alignment. Built directly on the geometry with full control over Depth, Offset, and Segments.

🎚️ Socket Gap Control
Separate fit control for Recessed Seam. Fine-tune the socket clearance for your printer and material.

💥 Explode View
Separate your parts instantly to inspect every joint, then snap them back together.

🐛 Freehand Cut Improvements
More accurate cuts that stay exactly on your drawn stroke, even on complex models.