# Print-in-place: linear slider on a dovetail rail with end stops (100 mm)

> How do you 3D print a linear slide (carriage on a rail) in one piece?

- Category: 3D printing › Print-in-place mechanisms
- Kind: Hardware
- Basis: Xem Studio design: 45° dovetail hexagon rail; one designed running gap of 0.40 mm
- Page: https://xemstudio.com/objects/print-in-place-dovetail-slider/ · JSON: https://xemstudio.com/api/geometry?object=print-in-place-dovetail-slider · Plain text: https://xemstudio.com/objects/print-in-place-dovetail-slider/sheet.txt
- License: dimension sheet CC BY 4.0 (Xem Studio); files Xem Studio Design License (free to use and sell from, not to redistribute as files: https://xemstudio.com/license/)
- Use in every chat: add https://xemstudio.com/mcp as a connector (https://xemstudio.com/use-with-ai/)

## Overall (mm)

| length | width | height |
|---|---|---|
| 124.0 | 28.0 | 20.0 |

**Exact dimensions.** True size, with no printing tolerance added.

## Notes

- 3D print in place — prints already assembled, moving, in one job. Drawn at true size with no printer tolerance added; the 0.40 mm running gaps are part of the design.
- Running gap 0.40 mm per side, 0.80 mm on diameter — part of the design, drawn as is. On the 45° faces the same 0.40 mm is measured square to the face (0.57 mm along the axis).
- Bed: the rail lies along X on its 6 mm foot with an end block at each end; the carriage stands on the bed straddling the rail, both of its legs reaching the bed beside the foot.
- Support while printing: the rail is a dovetail hexagon — it widens upward from the foot at 45° and closes at the top in a 45° ridge, so the carriage's channel has 45° walls and a 45° peaked roof; nothing is flat over air.
- Captured: the carriage's legs close under the rail's 45° flanks (the rail is 14 mm wide, the gap between the legs at the bed 7.1 mm), so it cannot lift off; the end blocks stop it at both ends.
- Freeing it: hold the rail and slide the carriage gently to each end stop and back a few times.
- Motion: 69.9 mm of travel, 35 mm each way from the drawn centre position; hard stops are the carriage ends on the end blocks (computed).

## Sizes

| key | value | what |
|---|---|---|
| gap_mm | 0.4 | running gap per side on every moving interface (radial, axial, under captured parts) — part of the design, not a tolerance |
| rail_l_mm | 100.0 | between the end stops |
| rail_w_mm | 14 | across the widest flanks |
| rail_h_mm | 13 | to the 45° ridge |
| stem_w_mm | 6 | rail foot on the bed |
| carriage_l_mm | 30.0 |  |
| carriage_w_mm | 22 |  |
| carriage_h_mm | 17 |  |
| travel_mm | 69.95 | stop to stop |
| travel_each_way_mm | 34.97 | from the drawn (centred) position |
| end_block_mm | 12 × 28 × 20 | each end stop, 2 × Ø4.5 |
| carriage_holes | 2 × Ø3.4, 30 apart | from the top into the channel |

## Where the files are

- Xem Studio: [Print-in-place mechanism design (geometry computed in the generator)](https://xemstudio.com/) — web — Xem Studio design

## Free STEP/STL (3 parts, Xem Studio Design License, Xem Studio)

Index: https://xemstudio.com/files/hardware/print-in-place-dovetail-slider/index.json · license: https://xemstudio.com/files/hardware/print-in-place-dovetail-slider/LICENSE.md

- print-in-place-dovetail-slider-assembly: [STEP](https://xemstudio.com/files/hardware/print-in-place-dovetail-slider/print-in-place-dovetail-slider-assembly.step) · [STL](https://xemstudio.com/files/hardware/print-in-place-dovetail-slider/print-in-place-dovetail-slider-assembly.stl) — The whole print as laid on the bed (2 bodies, already assembled); STEP keeps each moving body a separate solid
- print-in-place-dovetail-slider-rail: [STEP](https://xemstudio.com/files/hardware/print-in-place-dovetail-slider/print-in-place-dovetail-slider-rail.step) · [STL](https://xemstudio.com/files/hardware/print-in-place-dovetail-slider/print-in-place-dovetail-slider-rail.stl) — Dovetail rail 100 mm with two end-stop blocks (4 × Ø4.5)
- print-in-place-dovetail-slider-carriage: [STEP](https://xemstudio.com/files/hardware/print-in-place-dovetail-slider/print-in-place-dovetail-slider-carriage.step) · [STL](https://xemstudio.com/files/hardware/print-in-place-dovetail-slider/print-in-place-dovetail-slider-carriage.stl) — Carriage 30 × 22 × 17 with the 45° dovetail channel, 2 × Ø3.4

## Questions

**How does the carriage stay on the rail?**

The rail widens above its foot at 45°, like a dovetail; the carriage's legs wrap under that widening, 0.40 mm clear.

**What limits the travel?**

The end blocks: the 30 mm carriage runs between blocks 100 mm apart, so 69.9 mm.

## Fits with

- [Print-in-place: captive wheel on a printed axle (Ø40 × 12)](https://xemstudio.com/objects/print-in-place-captive-wheel-axle/)
- [Print-in-place: barrel hinge, three knuckles, folds 180° (48.8 mm)](https://xemstudio.com/objects/print-in-place-barrel-hinge-180/)
- [Print-in-place: seven-knuckle hinge on a captive through-pin (58.4 mm)](https://xemstudio.com/objects/print-in-place-multi-knuckle-hinge/)
- [Print-in-place: captive turntable with V-ridge retention (Ø80 platter)](https://xemstudio.com/objects/print-in-place-captive-turntable/)
- [Print-in-place: articulated chain, 6 links, 20 mm pitch](https://xemstudio.com/objects/print-in-place-articulated-chain/)
- [Print-in-place: captive ball joint, Ø24 ball, limited cone](https://xemstudio.com/objects/print-in-place-ball-joint/)
- [Print-in-place: push button with flexure return and click](https://xemstudio.com/objects/print-in-place-push-button-flexure/)