OpenFLex - OpenForge/OpenLOCK compatible reusable tile Bases and Risers by mannolitto

Last crawled date: 3 years, 3 months ago

OpenFLex - OpenForge/OpenLOCK compatible reusable tile Bases and Risers
Separates your "valuable" painted terrain and scatter parts from the base
Reusable tile bases for different "toppings"
Reusable and stackable risers and stairs
Dynamic floors (mosaics, patterns)
Stay OpenForge 2.0 compatible
Stay OpenLOCK compatible
Stay "Whatever" compatible in the future - not yet implemented ;)
Save money and printing time
Motivation
I am a huge fan of Devon Jones' OpenForge tiles and his magnetic bases and I also like the OpenLOCK system. Both systems are justified and have their pros and cons: Magnetic tiles can be arranged very quickly and are perfect for spontaneous on-site layouts. But they do not work that well for preparing large sceneries that you want to carry or move around on the game table. On the other hand, OpenLOCK-connected tiles stick together much stronger and are perfect for preparing large rooms and sceneries. However putting together and separating them for storage after use is much more effort.
To get the best of both worlds I attach all my floor and wall tiles on OpenForge 2.0 "magnetic.openlock.topless" bases which fulfil their duties quite well.
BUT... after printing tons of such tiles - and realizing that those "cheap" 5mm spherical magnets sum up to some money when you need thousands of them ;-) ... I started thinking about how this system could be improved. I came up with the "Flexible OpenForge 2.0 Base System" in September 2020 (https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4589917). However, I was not satisified and this first draft did not fully meet my expectations and requirements, so it was time for the next chapter...
Rationale
These were my requirements for such a "system":
Make it possible to reuse universal magnetic bases for different tiles and save money (and rare earths like Neodym)
Bases are compatible to already owned (and laboriously painted!) OpenForge/OpenLOCK tiles
Printable without support
No more need to print all those "exotic" variants of (large) sized tiles like 2x4, 2x3, 3x3, 3x4, 4x4, etc. for every new floor style
No more need to print all variants of stair and riser tile combinations to get the stair shape and height just needed
Support "dynamic floors": make it possible to combine 1x1 floor pieces to build a mosaic or a patterned floor
Mix riser styles with different floor styles (e.g. have a cut stone floor on a dungeon stone riser or vice versa)
... and after a considerable number of try and error iterations and many test prints I am happy to share my new "OpenFLex universal terrain tile base and riser system".
Instructions for FLexible bases
If you are already familiar with Devon Jones' modular floor and wall system this should be straight forward for you. Having a look at the attached images should give you an idea.
For more detailed instructions follow these steps:
Print a Socket Base:
For each socket base print one "bottom" and one "cover" part of the size you want: "openflex_base.socket_bottom.plain.square..stl" and "openflex_base.socket_cover.plain.square..stl". If unsure, start with the most commonly used 2x2 size.
Put 5mm spherical magnets into the round holes of the "bottom" part. You may omit the magnets if you just want to use OpenLOCK as the only tile connection system. However, I strongly encourage you to use magnets.
Attach the "cover" part on the "bottom" part with super glue: make sure the smooth side of the cover is facing upwards and try to not soil the magnets with glue!
Print a Pluggable Terrain Tile:
Print a floor, wall or whatever tile you like from your favorite collection:
OpenForge 2.0 tiles: https://www.thingiverse.com/tag:openforge2
Printable Scenery (OpenLOCK): https://www.printablescenery.com/product/rampage-base-pack/
Fat Dragon Games (DRAGONLOCK): https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/197128/DRAGONLOCK-Ultimate-Free-Sample-Set
Rocket Pig Game (Tilescape): https://rocketpiggames.com/

For tiles other than OpenForge: Cut away the original base from the bottom of that tile with your slicer or favorite 3D tool.
OpenLOCK: drop 6 mm from bottom of tiles
DRAGONLOCK: drop 5.28 mm or 5.21 mm (depending on tile set) from bottom of tiles
Tilescape: drop 6.4 mm from bottom of tiles with integrated frame, nothing to drop for frameless tiles

Print a plug plate of the appropriate size: "openflex_base.plug.square.*.stl"
Attach your terrain tile on that plug plate with plastic glue. Do not use super glue here: see FAQs below.
Instructions for FLexible risers and stairs

Print a riser or stair of the size, height and style you want:
openflex_riser.cut_stone...stl
openflex_riser.dungeon_stone...stl
openflex_riser.tudor...stl


Print a plug plate of the appropriate size: "openflex_base.plug.square.*.stl"

Attach your riser/stair tile on that plug plate with plastic glue. Do not use super glue here: see FAQs below.
Printing Notes
I am currently test-printing all those tiles using the following settings on a "Prusa Mini" which gives me perfect results:
slicer: SuperSlicer (Slic3r)
filament: PLA
nozzle: 0.4 mm
layer height: 0.10 or 0.15 mm
infill: 10%
supports: none
If you are impatient (like me) you may also get some good (but faster) results with a 0.6 mmm nozzle and 0.15 mm layers.
FAQs

Yet another tile lock system?!
Well, no. The rationale here is quite the opposite of a new tile lock system. I wanted to have a "system" that gives me the freedom to keep and use my painted terrain parts regardless of what the future brings... And as long as the idea of having square inches is not revised in the future (just kidding) I am feeling quite content now.


"OpenFLex" ?
Yes, the plug clip is flexible and the bases are for flexible use... And can you guess what the uppercase F and L letters stand for? :-)


That one size or style I just need is missing!
Yes, well. I am creating all of this in my spare time... However, just buy me a coffee (or beer) and drop me a note and I will do my best... ;-)

The plug clips look fragile and I already managed to break one: I do not want to throw away painted tiles because of a broken clip!
Yes, and since these clips get printed upright they are not as robust as they should be, I know... Here is my advice:
To be on the safe side: do NOT use super glue to attach those plug bases, use plastic glue instead. Its much easier then to remove any broken plug base plate and replace it by a new one. I am currently using "Army Painter Plastic Glue" which gives me good results here.
Cheap Amazon PLA with 0.15 mm layers works quite nice for me but your mileage may vary. If your plug clips break immediately on squeezing them, please try to print them with smaller layer height or change the filament brand/material or tamper with your printer settings.

Warning and Disclaimer
Please understand that this system is still in an early state. I will try my best to keep the basic measurements of the plug plate and the socket, but I cannot guarantee that potential future improvements will always be fully backwards compatible. However, I am currently test printing tons of OpenFLex tiles that I plan to use in "production" myself. Therefore I encourage you to do the same and print as many OpenFLex bases as you need and help me to collect more experience to move this system into a more stable state. ;-)
Please feel free to comment and provide me constructive suggestions and ideas.
Looking forward to your feedback!
Credits
OpenFLex is based on and remixed from:https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2740279https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1508410https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3393468https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1758162
License
Creative Commons - Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Version History
2020-11-04 v1.4.0
added some more base sockets: 2x3, 2x4, 3x1, 3x2, 3x3, 3x4, 4x1, 4x2, 4x3, 4x4
2020-10-26 v1.3.0
added bases with one or two dungeon stone sides instead of plain openlock holes (convenient to have nicer sides, especially when building multi-level scenes: "openflex_base..dungeon_stone.square.2x2.magnetic.openlock_2_side" and "openflex_base..dungeon_stone.square.2x2.magnetic.openlock_3_side"
2020-10-25 v1.2.0
added 1x1 and 2x1 bases with openlock priority: "openflex_base..plain.square.1x1.openlock" and "openflex_base..plain.square.2x1.openlock.magnetic"
added 3x2 base: "openflex_base.*.plain.square.3x2.magnetic.openlock"
2020-10-24 v1.1.0
added 1/3 inch high "stair" risers for providing more height options: "openflex_riser.dungeon_stone.1x1-0.3in_stair", "openflex_riser.dungeon_stone.2x1-0.3in_stair" and "openflex_riser.dungeon_stone.2x2-0.3in_stair"
added 3x1 base and 4x1 base with magnetic priority: "openflex_base..plain.square.4x1.magnetic.openlock" and "openflex_base..plain.square.3x1.magnetic.openlock"
changed and improved file naming (removed obsolete "inch" and added riser heights for better ordering)
2020-10-15 v1.0.1
added 3x3 base for Tilescape users
2020-10-14 v1.0.0
first public version