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Subject: "3d Printing and design."     Previous Topic | Next Topic
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McFortner
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521 posts		 Nov-07-20, 04:14 PM (EST)
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"3d Printing and design."
 
   I just got my Ender 3 printer in this week, and I'm wondering if anybody has suggestions on software for the slicer and 3d design programs? I'm using the slicer that came with the printer, but it likes to go overboard with supports when selected. And I'd love to get designing my own items, but I can't afford a professional program so a free 3d design program would be nice.

Michael

Michael C. Fortner
"Maxim 37: There is no such thing as "overkill".
There is only "open fire" and "I need to reload".


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  Subject     Author     Message Date     ID  
  RE: 3d Printing and design. Pasha Nov-07-20 1
     RE: 3d Printing and design. Mephronmoderator Nov-07-20 2
         RE: 3d Printing and design. McFortner Nov-09-20 3
     RE: 3d Printing and design. McFortner Nov-09-20 4
         RE: 3d Printing and design. StClair Nov-09-20 5
  RE: 3d Printing and design. ratinoxteam Nov-09-20 6
  RE: 3d Printing and design. Croaker Nov-13-20 7

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Pasha
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999 posts		 Nov-07-20, 05:00 PM (EST)
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1. "RE: 3d Printing and design."
In response to message #0
 
   >I just got my Ender 3 printer in this week, and I'm wondering if
>anybody has suggestions on software for the slicer and 3d design
>programs? I'm using the slicer that came with the printer, but it
>likes to go overboard with supports when selected. And I'd love to

I use Cura as my slicer. It's quick, free (beer *and* speech), supports STL and 3MF, and has enough dials that you can change stuff like support density/angle etc

>get designing my own items, but I can't afford a professional program
>so a free 3d design program would be nice.

What sort of stuff do you want to design? I use OpenSCAD () which is free and open source, but is basically a programming language that compiles to STL or 3MF (if you're my ageish, think LOGO, but with a z axis as well)

I also use Fusion 360 from Autodesk, which is free as long as you're making less than a hundred grand a year from your designs.

--
-Pasha ("So, what do you print on it?" "...mostly parts for more 3d printers")
"Don't change the subject"
"Too slow, already did."


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Mephronmoderator
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1828 posts		 Nov-07-20, 09:53 PM (EST)
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2. "RE: 3d Printing and design."
In response to message #1
 
   What Pasha said.

You can also start with something like TinkerCAD - very simple and 100% web based - to get started.

I recommend also getting accounts at Thingiverse and MyMiniFactory for things to download. You might want to try looking at things other people have made and work from there just to see how it works out. Thingiverse also has a lot of other files, so you can provably find the printer definitions for your Ender there.

-
Geoff Depew - Darth Mephron
Haberdasher to Androids, Dark Lord of Sith Tech Support.
"And Remember! Google is your Friend!!"


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McFortner
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521 posts		 Nov-09-20, 00:51 AM (EST)
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3. "RE: 3d Printing and design."
In response to message #2
 
   LAST EDITED ON Nov-09-20 AT 00:51 AM (EST)
 
Thanks for the advice and suggestions Pasha and Geoff. I've wanted a 3d printer for a good couple of years now, and the price on the Ender 3 just hit $200 on Amazon, which my disability budget can afford. An online friend who's husband runs a 3d printing service recommended some upgrades to get for it, such as the metal extruder frame kit, the Capricorn Premium XS Bowden Tubing, and a glass bed for it that I ordered at the same time.

Now I'm getting requests from my son for BattleTech miniatures. He even asked me to print up an Atlas at just under 4 inches high to serve as a GPU support in his computer. Once we get it painted up it should look pretty awesome (well, Atlas actually....) The arms broke just above the elbows in the print, but he rescaled some lower Warhammer arms for it and now it's even more badass. We just have to get some putty to fill in the gap where they join and it'll be ready to paint.

For me, I want a few 'mechs myself, even if I haven't played tabletop since 1988, and I'll be printing out some camera accessories as well as some pinhole cameras. And who knows what else I'll end up doing once I learn the design side?

Michael

Michael C. Fortner
"Maxim 37: There is no such thing as "overkill".
There is only "open fire" and "I need to reload".


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McFortner
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521 posts		 Nov-09-20, 00:56 AM (EST)
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4. "RE: 3d Printing and design."
In response to message #1
 
  
>-Pasha ("So, what do you print on it?" "...mostly parts for more 3d
>printers")

Oh, yeah, I've been doing that this week. I like how I can print additions and upgrades instead of buying them. There are a lot of talented people out there coming up with improvements to the printer. Lots of interesting toys, I mean tools, to make for it!

Michael

Michael C. Fortner
"Maxim 37: There is no such thing as "overkill".
There is only "open fire" and "I need to reload".


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StClair
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763 posts		 Nov-09-20, 04:04 PM (EST)
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5. "RE: 3d Printing and design."
In response to message #4
 
   Eventually they'll get smart and capable enough to eliminate the middleman and take over the self-improvement and replication process.


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ratinoxteam
Member since Jun-6-05
223 posts		 Nov-09-20, 04:32 PM (EST)
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6. "RE: 3d Printing and design."
In response to message #0
 
   PrusaSlicer (formerly Slic3r Prusa Edition) for my slicer. I tried Cura for a while but I found that certain basic (for my needs) settings were obtusely hidden and that the gcode it produced is about 10-15% slower to print than gcode produced by Slic3r PE with ostensibly the same settings (layer height, infill, etc).

Tinkercad for modeling. I haven't designed a lot of stuff but the odds and ends I have made were easily enough managed in Tinkercad.

Thingiverse for the few things that I've felt were worth making available to the world.

--
Rat
That and five bucks will get you a small coffee at Starbucks


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Croaker
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576 posts		 Nov-13-20, 07:14 PM (EST)
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7. "RE: 3d Printing and design."
In response to message #0
 
   >I just got my Ender 3 printer in this week, and I'm wondering if
>anybody has suggestions on software for the slicer and 3d design
>programs? I'm using the slicer that came with the printer, but it
>likes to go overboard with supports when selected. And I'd love to
>get designing my own items, but I can't afford a professional program
>so a free 3d design program would be nice.
>


Which program you'll want to use depends a lot on which design paradigm you'll be working with. If you want a very organic result (human figures, etc) you'll want a different program than if you're doing, say, battlemechs or starships.

I do primarily starships, myself; I've got several hundred models up for sale through Amarillo Design Bureau's Shapeways store (Starfleet Battles). The program I use is called SketchUp, it was originally designed for architecture but I quite like it. It works with a very mathematical design process, you tell it you want a line /this/ long in /this/ direction and it does it. You can use this kind of process to draw faces and then extrude them into objects, then continue detailing and refining them from there.

The Pro license for SketchUp is fairly expensive (about $900 US) but there is a 'Free' version available as well. It used to be very good, I still use the last version before they went over to the web-based system. Unfortunately the web-based system does not allow the use of the large number of plugins that I use to simplify things like handling curved surfaces.

--
Croaker
RCW #mc2
"When in doubt, shoot something. Preferably the enemy."


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