3D Printing Designs: Fun and Functional Projects by Joe Larson

Key FeaturesFrom the author who brought you the first practical look at 3D printing with 3D Printing BlueprintsGet a comprehensive coverage of the prototyping techniques you need to know to start printing your own 3D designsRekindle your mathematical genius to design personalized objects for complex puzzlesBook Description3D printing has revolutionized the way that global industries conceptualize and design products for mass consumption. Considered as the next “trillion-dollar” business, every industry is in the race to equip its personnel with techniques to prototype and simplify complex manufacturing process. This book will take you through some simple to complex and effective principles of designing 3D printed objects using Blender.There is a comprehensive coverage of projects such as a 3D print-ready octopus pencil holder, which will teach you how to add basic geometric shapes, and use techniques such as extruding and subdividing to transform these shapes into complex meshes. Furthermore, youll learn to use various techniques to derive measurements for an object, model these objects using Blender, organize the parts into layers, and later combine them to create the desired object with the help of a 3D printable SD card holder ring design project. The final project will help you master the techniques of designing simple to complex puzzles models for 3D printing.Through the course of the book, well explore various robust sculpting methods supported by Blender to create objects. Youll move, rotate, and scale the object, and manipulate the view. Youll edit objects with actions such as bends or curves, similar to drawing or building up a clay structure of different shapes and sizes. By the end of the book, you will have gained thorough practical hands-on experience to be able to create a real-world 3D printable object of your choice.What you will learnGet to know about the different types of 3D printers and their limitationsSee how Y, H, and T shapes illustrate different ideas of successful 3D design for home 3D printersSet up and configure Blender to model a file for 3D printingUnderstand material characteristics, printing specifications, tolerances, and design tipsWork through the techniques of editing complex meshes, smoothing, combining shapes, and exporting them into STL files for printingBreak down complex geometries into multiple simple shapes and model them in layers using BlenderDesign, manipulate, and export 3D models for 3D printing with BlenderMaster the art of creating meshes, scaling, subdivision, and adding detail with the Boolean modifier as well as sculpting a custom shapeCut a model into small pieces and understand how to design complex interlocking joints that form a part of a jigsaw puzzleAbout the AuthorJoe Larson, known online as the 3D Printing Professor, is one part artist, one part mathematician, one part teacher, and one part technologist. It all started in his youth, doing BASIC programming and low-resolution digital art on a Commodore 64. As technology progressed, so did Joes dabbling, eventually taking him to 3D modeling while in high school and college, and he momentarily pursued a degree in computer animation. He abandoned that and instead became a math teacher, and then moved to software development for 10 years before returning to education, teaching technology in college.When Joe first heard about 3D printing, it took root in his mind, and he went back to dust off his 3D modeling skills. In 2012, he won a Makerbot Replicator 3D printer in the Tinkercad/Makerbot Chess Challenge, with a chess set that assembles into a robot. Since then, his designs on Thingiverse have been featured on Thingiverse, Gizmodo, Shapeways, Makezine, and other places. He currently produces weekly videos about design for 3D printing on his YouTube channel, http://www.youtube.com/user/mrjoesays.Table of Contents3D Printing BasicsBeginning BlenderThe Octopus Pencil HolderMeasuring BasicsAn SD Card Holder RingSculpting the Face of the SunCutting a 3D Jigsaw Puzzle