Print-in-Place Duct Blast Gate / Damper

Description

In development — not yet available to order. Mechanism design in progress. A print-in-place gate has to seal when shut, slide freely when open, and keep doing both after a few hundred cycles — that is the part we are still working on.

Overview

A sliding gate that sits inline in a duct run and lets you shut it, open it, or balance flow between branches — produced as a single working assembly with no fasteners and nothing to put together.

What it fits

Planned to sit inline in standard 6-inch and 8-inch duct runs, using the same collars as the rest of the line.

How it is used

Three jobs, all of them things people currently improvise: shutting off an idle machine’s duct so it does not backdraft cold air into the building; balancing a split run so one branch does not take all the flow; and switching a heat output between two destinations as the seasons change.

Why it helps

Right now, everyone with a split duct run or a seasonal heat setup is solving this with a piece of cardboard and some tape. A proper gate makes the exhaust system controllable instead of fixed, which is what turns a mining heater from a thing that is always on into a thing you actually manage.

• Shuts off idle machines to stop winter backdraft
• Balances flow between branches of a split run
• Switches heat between destinations as seasons change
• Designed as a single working piece — nothing to assemble

Specifications

Open source — print it yourself, or buy it finished

Every shroud D-Central designs is released as an open file. The geometry for this part is free to download from our 3D models download center: use it, modify it, remix it, run it in your own shop, sell what you make from it. There is no licence to buy and no design gated behind a purchase. Shared knowledge is the whole reason this industry has open hardware at all, and we are not going to be the ones who stop passing it on.

This part is not finished yet, so there is no file to download and nothing to buy. When it is done, both arrive at the same time — the file free, the finished part for sale. If the open-source work is worth something to you in the meantime, you can back it directly through D-Central’s fund page.

Works with

• 8″ to Dual 6″ Y-Splitter
• 6″ to Dual 4″ Y-Splitter
• 6″ Window Exhaust Port
• 8″ Window Exhaust Port

See the full D-Central shroud and ducting system for the compatibility matrix and sizing guide.

Frequently asked questions