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8 Tips for 3D Printing with Sketchup

8 Tips for 3D Printing with Sketchup
I am new to the world of 3D printing. So in this guest article, you’ll hear from expert 3D printer/designer Marcus Ritland from Denali 3D Design. He shares some tips to help you create amazing 3D printed models by designing them in Sketchup. [Update June 2014] Marcus has written a book about 3D printing your SketchUp models! 3D Printing 3D printing is awesome – we can all agree on that. But how does one get started making awesome models for 3D printing? 1. Models must be “Solid” to be 3D printable. Solid, sometimes called “watertight” or “manifold” simply means the model is a complete enclosure. Another way to define solid: Every edge in your model must be bordered by exactly two faces. The most common errors (and the corresponding solutions) are: Stray edges (just delete them)Holes (trace an edge to fill them)Internal faces (delete them) 2. Single faces in Sketchup have no thickness, so we need to simulate wall thickness by simply placing two faces a short distance apart. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

L5 3D - A Stylish and Affordable Open Source 3D Printer by Michael Lundwall ***Update - Checkout the updates tab for more pictures and videos *** Hello Kickstarter, as a team we have built a 3D printer that has some unique features that make it affordable and easy to use without sacrificing quality and style. 3D Printing Industry - B3dge - Jakajima - 3D Printing Event DIY 3D Printing - ikedahayato - Personalize This is not just another 3D printer! Injection-Molded Plastic Parts All of the molded parts have molded-in inserts that eliminate a lot of complication and extra hardware (no nuts to tighten!). New Head Design We have taken components that we have liked from other designs and combined them to create our complete head design. X-Axis Movement A gear on rack design controls the movement in the x-axis; this means there are no belts or pulleys, simplifying the assembly as well as eliminating calibration. Y-Axis Movement Z-Axis Movement Heated Build Tray Snap-in Roller Bearings

Enabling Support Material - SoliWiki A partially completed print using support material Enabling support material allows your Solidoodle to print overhangs in excess of 45 degrees, which gives you more flexibility in the shapes and objects you can print. The tradeoff to this is that enabling support material increases the time it takes to print, uses up more plastic, and requires that you take time to remove the support material from your print after its done. Enabling Support Material in Skienforge How to enable support material in Skienforge The support material settings are found in Skienforge under the "Raft" tab, at the very bottom of the options. 1. 2. 3. Enabling Support Material in Slic3r How to enable support material in Slic3r The support material settings are found in Slic3r under 'Print Settings' and then 'Support Material'. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Please note: An additional option can be found under 'Print Setting' > 'Advanced' > 'Support Material'.

Stepper Motor, Stepper Motor Driver,CNC Router, Stepper Motor Power Supply, Stepper Motor Kit, DC Servo Motor, Stepper Motor, Stepper Motor Driver, CNC Router, Stepper Motor Power Supply, Stepper Motor Kit, DC Servo Motor 3D Printer Village | Maker Faire NYC – 9/17 – 9/18 SoliWiki Workbench Plans - 3 Easy Ways to Build a Workbench More Workbench Plans Knock-Down Workstation - For those of us who just don't have the space to set up a large workbench in the corner and leave it there, there are some other options that work surprisingly well for completing a project. This knock-down workstation provides a solid bench top for assembling just about any type of woodworking project - yet, when the work is done, you can easily take it apart and store it out of the way. I also like the way you can set it up at two different heights. Just flip the legs on their sides, put the bench back together, and you'll have a different workbench height. This is a nice feature if you do a lot different types of woodworking. Best part about this project is that you'll only need to buy one 4 x 8 sheet of plywood. The bulk (and strength) of this workstation comes from two features: 1) legs that made from two pieces of 3/4" plywood sandwiched and glued together, and 2) a reasonably heavy-duty pair of rails. Plank Top Bench Small Workbench

Thingiverse - Digital Designs for Physical Objects Introduction to 3D Printers: The Promise and Pitfalls of Desktop Manufacturing Plastic Welding Rod Manufacturer, Plastic Fabricating, Thermoplastic Welding Rod Calibration This page has been flagged as containing duplicate material that RepRapSoftwareTweakingManual also attempts to cover.These pages should be merged such that both pages do not attempt to cover the duplicate topics. ANNOUNCEMENT: If you search for the latest up-to-date guide please take a look at Triffid's Guide. Calibration is the collection of mechanical "tweaking" processes needed to get exact, quality prints. While your RepRap machine may be working as far as the electronics are concerned, calibration is necessary to have well printed parts. Without calibration, prints may not be the correct dimensions, they may not stick to the build surface, and a variety of other not-so-wanted effects can occur. A RepRap can be calibrated to be as accurate as the mechanics allow. Once you have finished the physical build of your RepRap printer, calibration is the next big hurdle. The following set of objects and notes are taken (and edited) from Coasterman who posted them to Thingiverse. Motherboard E.g

M Series 3D Printers Assembled M2 3D Printers are in stock and ready to ship. Now with Free Shipping in the US! Meet M2. Fast, Sleek and Beautiful!! M2 technical specifications include: Black Powder-Coated Rigid Steel FrameCNC Machined Black Anodized-Aluminum Axes MountsPrecision X & Y Linear RailsPrecision Ground and Polished Steel Shafting4-Start Lead Screw with Integrated NEMA 17 StepperAssembled MakerGear 1.75mm Stepper Plastruder - works with ABS and PLALow Maintenance8" x 10" x 8" Build AreaPlatform Heater Included (not shown)All-in-one open source electronics (see photo in flickr)Includes 1K Spool of 1.75mm PLA Plastic Filament Six-Month Limited Warranty** The M2 is the 3rd generation 3D printer offered by MakerGear. A desktop 3D printer is a precision machine. Keep this in mind when you are reading the specifications for a 3D printer. The plastic handle, extruder mount, spool holder and other plastic parts used on M2 are all printed in-house on production M2 machines. M2 performance specifications:

Formlabs creates low-cost 3D printer Desktop 3D printing has largely been the domain of extrusion-based machines like MakerBot's Replicator and homebrew RepRap designs. While this process's print size, speed and quality have improved over time, it still lags behind the capabilities of pricier, professional stereolithography devices, where UV light cures incredibly thin layers of resin to create objects on par with manufactured goods. Developing this type of printer at a consumer price point has thus far been an elusive goal, but a today trio of MIT grads with impressive backers announced a new machine, called the Form 1, that can potentially bring professional-grade 3D prints to the home workshop. Formlabs, the group's company, comprises David Cranor, an electrical engineer with a passion for digital media; Maxim Lobovsky, an engineer and former project lead on the Fab@Home project; and Natan Linder, who previously co-founded an R&D centre for Samsung in Israel. Source: Wired.com

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