kbricks construction system

Vision of a fully 3d printable construction system

With the rise of 3d printers I got the impression that the time is right for a (toy) construction system that is specifically designed for 3d printing and that addresses some of the challenges I always had with commercial construction systems. Many of you probably remember such situations: you are building some cool new model but in the end some important bricks are missing so you cannot finish your work. And even if you can, it is still just a model and it tends to fall into pieces when you play with it.

Models that don't fall into pieces

Today, I proudly present the first version of kbricks (pronounced "kay-bricks"), a fully 3d-printable, open source construction system. With kbricks you will never run out of parts because you can simply print missing parts yourself. And thanks to stable connections your models won't fall into pieces even if you give them to a (not too young) child. I have already constructed a tractor, a forklift, a racing car, a tipper truck, a figure, and other models which I am going to publish here on Thingiverse once I have completed the documentation. All required parts are already available here and new parts will be added as needed. This video shows how to get started with kbricks.

Explore more kbricks models on YouTube and Instagram.

Stable connections thanks to orthogonal connectors

The fundamental kbricks part is a 24 mm cube that has two orthogonal notches on each surface. Using slide connectors these notches can be connected to plates or other cubes resulting in a stable connection of the two parts. There are also beams and pegs similar to the ones used in other construction systems. Furthermore, there are wheels, axles, steerings, and icing parts which make your models look nice. Thanks to Joerg Janssen's amazing Gears Library for OpenSCAD there are finally different types of gears. This video demonstrates the strength of kbricks connectors printed in PLA at 0.15mm layer height.

Assembling kbricks models

Models are assembled by connecting its parts with slide connectors and pegs. A hex key may be helpful for inserting the slide connectors.

Disassembling kbricks models

To disassemble a kbricks model, simply pull out the slide connectors using a needle-nosed pliers or push them out using a hex key. Pegs can be pushed out using an axle.

Parts needed for the quad shown in the video

• 1 x cube_basic.stl (silver, detect thin walls)
• 2 x cube_2hole.stl (silver, detect thin walls)
• 1 x cube_l.stl (yellow, detect thin walls)
• 1 x prism_60deg.stl (silver)
• 2 x plate_peg.stl (silver)
• 4 x spoke_wheel3.stl (yellow)
• 1 x steering_wheel.stl (yellow, support on build plate only)
• 6 x connector_long.stl (silver, brim)
• 12 x connector_short.stl (silver, brim)
• 4 x peg.stl (silver, brim)

All files and OpenSCAD sources are tracked on GitHub.