Modeling for 3D Printing with Tinkercad

Vicky Sommavicky@tgaw.comhttp://www.tgaw.com

This slideshow is on SlideShare at http://www.slideshare.net/VickyTGAW/modeling-for-3d-printing-with-tinkercad

3D Printing• “Layer by Layer”…Like Legos!

Source: https://youtu.be/2ujP-_cWWBU

3D Printing• “Layer by Layer”…Like Legos!

Source: https://youtu.be/He_gYshkOmI

3D Models• The Printer Needs a Model to Print• We Can Download Existing Models (More Later)

-OR-• Make Our Own!

Making Models – MANY Options • Blender

http://www.blender.org• Maya

http://www.autodesk.com/products/maya/overview• OpenSCAD

http://www.openscad.org• AutoDesk 123D

http://www.123dapp.com/

Want more options? Check out https://www.shapeways.com/creator/tools

• Sketchuphttp://www.sketchup.com/

• ZBrushhttp://pixologic.com/

• LightWave 3Dhttps://www.lightwave3d.com/

• SculptGL (Web-Based)http://stephaneginier.com/sculptgl/#

• Even iPad/iPhone Apps!

Making Models - Tinkercad

• Free• Online, Nothing to Install• “The Easiest Fiercest 3D Design

Tool Around”

http://www.tinkercad.com

Design Revisions Happen

Fails Happen

Photo Credits: http://www.pinterestfail.com

3D Printing Fails Happen

Tinkercad – Signing Inhttp://www.tinkercad.com

Signing in is straight forward

Tinkercad - Workplane• Like a piece of graph paper.

• By Default– Millimeter measurements (Can be changed)

Tinkercad – Camera Controls• Navigation Buttons (officially called “The Camera”) on the upper left hand

corner

• Right Click allows you to move the “camera”• Shift Right Click allows you to pan• Mouse Scroll Wheel lets you zoom in and out

Tinkercad – Shapes, Letters, Numbers, Etc.• Our building blocks.• To start click on the “Basic Shapes” in the dropdown

Tinkercad - ShapesYou can build a lot out of standard shapes

Tinkercad - ShapesYou can build a lot out of these standard shapes- “Bipedal Mech” by Mathew Ridge in Tinkercad!http://shpws.me/GQX5

Tinkercad – #3DBlockZoo

(Photos courtesy of Tessa Nesci)

Tinkercad - Adding Shapes• Drag and Drop to Your Workplane

Tinkercad - Adding Shapes• Shape Properties give you another way to size your objects• You can use the slidebar to change dimensions• If you double click on the number, you can type in an exact number

Tinkercad - Selecting Shapes• Left Click on a Shape to Select It• Holding the Shift Key Allows you to Select

Multiple Objects• You can also draw a box to select multiple

objects at once.

Tinkercad - ClickingYou can think of it as alphabetic order:

Left Clicks ShapesRight Clicks Workplane

Mouse Image by Wasin Waeosri

Tinkercad - “Inspector”• Additional Properties for the Object Such as Colors and Holes (More

Later)

Tinkercad - Moving Things on the Workplane

Photo Credit: Project Ignite

Moving Things – Along the Workplane• Along the Workplane (X and Y), just Left Click

and Drag and Drop

Tip: Be careful to click on the object and not one of the icons.

• The numbers and arrows show you how far you have moved it.

Moving Things – Up and Down• To move up and down off the

workplace, Left Click on the little arrow icon and drag.• As you pull it up, you’ll see a

shadow, indicating the object is not resting on the workplane.• The numbers to the right of

the object tell you exactly how far it is off the workplane

Moving Things – Up and Down• The practical application is to put objects on top of each other.

Moving Things - Nudging• You can also use the arrow keys to nudge.• How far is each press of the arrow key? It’s defined in the lower right hand

corner in the Snap Grid

• To nudge 10 units at a time, hold down the Shift key and use the arrow keys at the same time.• To nudge up and down (off the workplane), hold down the Control key as

you use the arrow keys

Tinkercad - Rotating• When an object is selected, the three little curved arrow icons (the

“Rotation Handles”) allow you to rotate your object.

Tinkercad - Rotating• A circle appears to help you rotate (The

“Protractor”)• The Inner Circle rotates at 22.5 degrees steps• The Outer Circle rotates at 1 degree steps• Holding down Shift rotates at 45 degrees steps

Tinkercad - Resizing (Scaling)• When you select and object, there are black and white dots (the

“Scaling Handles”)

Tinkercad - Resizing• White Dots scale two sizes (dimensions) at once• Black Dots scale one size • Hint: You can tell what sides you are resizing by the numbers

Tinkercad - Resizing• The White Dot (“handle”) at the top allows you to control the height

of your object

Tinkercad - Resizing – Proportional• If you want to resize everything uniformly (you love your object, you

just want it bigger all around), hold down the Shift key.

• If you want to grow out from the center while resizing, hold down the Alt Key

Tinkercad – Copying Items• You can use Copy and Paste Icons

• You can also do Ctrl-C and Ctrl-V• Holding down the Alt key while you

Left Click and Drag will also make a copy of the object.

• You can select multiple objects at once and copy and paste those too.

Tinkercad - Fixing Mistakes• Undo/Redo

Like Word, Excel or most programs, you have the ability to Undo and Redo steps.• Delete

Just click on the object and click the Delete button

Tinkercad - Holes• Any Shape, Letter, Number, etc Can Be Turned Into a Hole• Holes allow you to subtract an object from another• Click on the Inspector and select Hole

Tinkercad - Holes• Practical Applications:• Actual Holes• To Change Shapes• Or to Engrave!

Tinkercad - Grouping• Grouping makes multiple objects into one and applies any holes• Select your objects and hit Group Icon (or Ctrl-G). You can always

Ungroup.

Tinkercad – Download for 3D Printing

• Click on Export button• In most cases, you’ll pick .STL as the format

Design Time!

3D Printing – “Slicing”• We used Tinkercad to make .STL files.• Next we used a Slicer Software to “slice” our model into layer by layer

instructions for the printer (called Gcode)

3D Printing Concepts and Vocabulary Words

Filament – Our “thread” for our final product

Filament Drive – Moves the Filament to the Hot End

Hot End – Melts that Filament so we can “draw” with it.

3D Printing – Start Up and the Skirt• Makes sure the filament is

flowing• Like squirting mustard before

putting it on your sandwich

Photo by Josh Reichlin

3D Printing – The All Important First Layer• You want your print to stick• People have employed a variety of

tools to make that happen:

• Heated Bed• Painters Tape• Glue Stick• Hairspray• Even Superglue• Rafts

3D Printing – The All Important First Layer• Why?

• Your print may fall off or move

• Precise Measurements – A curled edge may throw things off

• Your Nozzle could even knock the print

3D Printing – Infill• Prints Aren’t Usually Solid• Saves Time and Material

Design Considerations – Thin Walls• Your object needs to be sturdy enough to support itself… and be

moved.

Design Considerations – Thin Walls• The 3D Printing service companies

publish guidelines on Wall Thickness

• Varies for My Home Printing:• Walls Supporting Lot of Weight– 2mm• Normal Walls 1.0 – 1.5mm• Detailing (such as Embossed Letters) –

0.5mm

Design Considerations - Bridging• With the right speeds and temperatures,

we can print over gaps!• Just small distances - I tend to stick to

20mm-30mm gaps

Find/Test Your Printer’s Capabilities With “Ultimate Extruder Calibration Test”http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:9804

Design Considerations - Bridging• Bridging Can Be Exploited for Moving Parts

Design Considerations - Overhangs• Overhangs – Supported underneath by one side• Works when there is good overlap with previous

layer

• Most printers can handle angles of 45 degrees or higher Photo Courtesy of Joel Telling, The 3D Printing Nerd

Design Considerations - Supports• Overhangs too flat, bridges too far, object starts in mid-air?• Supports are temporary structures that help the print

Design Considerations–OrientationYou aren’t necessarily going to print your object right side up.

Design Considerations–OrientationPrinting Heart Upside Down Doesn’t Require Supports

Design Considerations– Splitting Up Into Parts

You don’t necessarily have to print it all at once

Design Considerations – Using Other Parts• No need to recreate the wheel.

Getting Models - Thingiversehttp://www.thingiverse.com

Getting Models - Smithsonianhttp://3d.si.edu/

Getting Models – So MANY ResourcesIncluding PinShape, YouMagine, Yeggi

Need A Listing? Check out http://3dprintingforbeginners.com/3d-model-repositories/

Advanced Tinkercad – Importing Models• You found and downloaded a model you like.• In Tinkercad, click on Import, browse to the file and hit Import again.

Advanced Tinkercad – Importing Models• It’ll bring the new object into Tinkercad and you can manipulate, add

additional objects or engrave just as a normal object to make it your own

Advanced Tinkercad – Ruler• Adds keyboard control to be more exact with the measurements• Drag the Ruler icon to your Workplane.• It’ll display the dimensions of your object. Click on a measurement and

you can enter in exact numbers.

Advanced Tinkercad – Workplane Tool• Drag the Workplane icon allows you to move the Workplane

(our graph paper)• Helps save some layout and rotation time

Advanced Tinkercad - Align• A quick way to line your objects.• Click on Adjust (in the top tool bar) and choose Align…• Click where you want to align everything (Top, Middle, Bottom, Right,

Left)

Tinkercad – Resources to Learn More• In Tinkercad, click Learn to access all their tutorials

Tinkercad - Resources to Learn More• AutoDesk’s Project Ignite Site - FULL of Tinkercad classes and tutorials• The same login as Tinkercad• https://projectignite.autodesk.com

Printing Models – MANY Options

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Vicky Sommavicky@tgaw.com