5. Beginners
TinkerCAD - Web Based tool that allows imported files and
direct connectability with Thingiverse
Sketchup - (Windows or MAC) Very good at making simple
things that might need some complex interlacing of simple
shapes or large areas
EMachineShop - Diagram based tool for doing 2D to 3D
models or tracing, very simple to start for people who draw
6. Advanced
Blender - (all platforms) Python based, Open Source full 3D
modeling suite, used in some professional animation
studios
FreeCAD - AutoCAD-like modeling suite for engineers, Open
Source
OpenSCAD - 3D for Programmers and Mathematicians
8. OpenSCAD
Like TinkerCAD, you make
complex objects from simple
ones.
Programming!
Make modules and combine
them for fantastic shapes.
Scaling before rendering
IDE for 3D objects with rendering
directly in the IDE
Easy to pick up for those used to
C or basic object oriented coding
9. Materials (Plastics and otherwise)
ABS plastic (220-260C)
pros
Inexpensive ($10/kg)
Lots of colors and availability
Heat Tolerant for Texas summers
Decently high strength
Prints faster and easy to post-process
cons
Print quality is OK, but not high precision
Print adhesion is not great, needs heated bed
Tends to warp unless fully enclosed
Requires more expensive printers ($700+)
10. Materials (Plastics and otherwise)
PLA plastic (180-220C)
pros
Inexpensive ($15/kg)
Lots of colors and availability
Great print quality
Works with cheap printers (no heated bed)
Even FLEXIBLE or High Strength filament
Generally food safe and requires no ventilation
cons
Tends to be brittle compared to ABS unless using nicer filament
More expensive than ABS
Harder to finish than ABS (Have fun sanding!)
11. Materials (Fancy)
Nylon plastic (280-310C)
Super Strong and takes a lot of abuse
Great print quality
Capable of more interesting shapes and gears
Requires all-metal hot end
Prints slow
Required Heated Bed
Powder deposit plastics
Super cool patterns available from heat (laywood)
Extremely lightweight (wood) or heavy (metal)
Expensive
Wood is Porous and floats
Often print quality is ugly
Prone to Jams
Metal filaments polish and look like metal
12. Materials (Flexible)
NinjaFlex / FilaFlex (280-310C)
Super Strong and takes a lot of abuse
Poor adhesion
Very Flexible
Requires all-metal hot end
Needs heated bed
Prints slow
Expensive
Flexible PLA (210-250C)
Cheaper than NinjaFlex
Not as flexible as NinjaFlex
Various Flexibilities
Among most expensive filaments
Available in more colors and Clear!
Can be printed on a “Normal” printer
13. Tools (Slicers)
CURA
pros
Free
Easy to Use
Pretty and simple
Reliable
cons
Print quality is not always 100%
doesn’t alert you to bad STL files
Not great options for infill algorithms
Really, not a lot of super advanced options available
14. Tools (Slicers)
KISSlicer
pros
Free and Open Source
Very configurable
Decently easy to use
Reliable
Great print quality
cons
Not as easy to use or set up
Learning Curve for settings
not as easy to arrange
no real STL manipulation
16. MISTAKES
Does not print
Object has no density
Bad Infill Settings
Net Meshes are not connected
Corrupted GCode
Sometimes fixable with NetFAB
Stability issues
Too Thin
Not enough support
Lack of Brims or Rafts used for printing
Bad Rotation
Item Shifts or Pops off
17. Post-processing
1: Chemical smoothing
Examples : Acetone on ABS plastic
MEK or Paint Stripper on PLA
2: Painting
Examples : Acrylic Paint, Krylon Fusion
3: Paint-on smoothers
Examples : XTC-3D by Smooth-on (Epoxies which work on all materials)
18. Other Types of Printers
(High Accuracy)
DLP / Laser Resin
(Fine precision Plastic)
Laser SLA Powder
(Plastic, Colors, Metals)
Laser SLA Multi-Material
(Flexible and Solids)