You can customize this awesome cube right now!

Chances are you’ve been following along with the newest developments over on Thingiverse and have seen people uploading “Customizable” versions of their OpenSCAD designs.  ((For the latest information on how to make a customizable thing using the Customizer you’re going to want to check out the documentation for this Thingiverse app.  Since you have to authorize the App to be able to use it, there’s no way at the moment for me to provide a direct link to the documentation.))

If you’d like to give the Thingiverse Customizer a shot but aren’t sure where to begin, this tutorial is for you.  Before you get bogged down in the details, just know that I’ve created a “Customizer template” you can use as a starting point for creating your own customizable Thing.  I would suggest first playing with the settings in this template to see how Customizer changes the object.  Then, when you’ve gotten the hang of it, read through this tutorial on how to make a Customizable OpenSCAD file.  Finally, download and check out the template itself in your favorite text editor or OpenSCAD.  Add your own designs and see how you can make your own customizable Things!

• Design!
  • Create your OpenSCAD thing just as you normally would.
• Create Options
  • In order to give Thingiverse users the option to customize your designs through the Customizer App, you’ll need to create options for them.  There are three kinds of user-definable options you can include in  your OpenSCAD file: text boxes, drop down boxes, and numerical sliders.  I’ll discuss each in turn.
    1. Text Box
       1. Simple Text Box.  To add a text box, all you need to do is create a variable.  Like so:
          1. text_box = 10;
       2. Text Boxes with Explanation.  Options are very nice and well, but without an explanation they may be hard for a user to interpret.  Here’s how you would create a similar text box with an explanation:
          1. // This is the explanation text
          2. another_text_box = 10;
    2. Drop Down Box
       1. Drop Down Box of Numbers.  A drop down box can be included by simply including a “//” to comment out the space after a variable and list options like so:
          1. // This creates a drop down box of numbered options
          2. number_drop_down_box = 1; // [0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10]
       2. Drop Down Box of Text.  A drop down box can also include text as possible choices, like this:
          1. // This creates a drop down box of text options
          2. text_drop_down_box = “yes”; // [yes,no,maybe]
       3. Labeled Drop Down Box.  Sometimes it is useful to show the user text labels, but have a numerical value for each text label.  You can do so in this manner:
          1. // This creates a drop down box of text options with numerical values
          2. labeled_drop_down_box = 5; // [1:small, 5:medium, 10:large, 50:supersized]
    3. Numerical Slider
       1.  Once you’ve mastered the text box and the drop down box, the text slider is almost trivial.
          1. // This creates a slider with a minimum and maximum
          2. numerical_slider = 1; // [0:10]
    4. Notes
       1. Not every single variable you reference inside the Customizer start/end section will be included as an option.  If any of your variables use any mathematical operators or other variables in its value, it will not appear as an option.  This can be useful for including “hidden” options within the customizable section – by just multiplying a given variable by 1.¹  For example, the following will not appear as an option:
          1. // This option will not appear
          2. hidden_option = 100*1;
       2. Neither will this:
          1. // This option will also not appear
          2. // another_hidden_option = 101;
• Optional Libraries
  • Thingiverse’s Customizer allows you to include three of the most useful OpenSCAD libraries available – the MCAD library of usual mathematical and mechanical parts, Tony Buser’s pin connectors, and Write for including text.  Here’s how you include each one:
    • include <MCAD/filename.scad>
    • include <pins/pins.scad>
    • include <write/Write.scad>
• Upload to Thingiverse
  • Once you’ve finished your OpenSCAD file, you just need to share it on Thingiverse.
  • Once it has been uploaded, just tag your Thing with the word “customizer”, publish your Thing, and you’re done!
• Limitations
  • Right now there are a few limitations for Customizer.  They are:
    • Your Thingiverse entry can only include on OpenSCAD file.
    • Your OpenSCAD file can’t import any external OpenSCAD code, STL’s, or DXF files.
    • Your OpenSCAD code can only be compiled to a single STL file.

The MakerBot team is continually improving the Customizer, so check back with the documentation frequently so you can find out about the newest features!

1. Such as:  ”this_will_not_appear = 30* 1;” [↩]

A Beaker is useful for determining volume

A few days ago I started designing a new case for my new Polargraph drawing robot brain.   ((Joe Penniston via Compfight))  My goal was to design a simple to design, simple to assemble, and sturdy box-like case.  ((One of the reasons I am interested in a box-like case is to make sure it is easy to mount on a wall or inside a larger project box.))  However, I was stumped when it came to figuring out whether my new design conserved plastic better than the other Polargraph case design from Sandy Noble on Thingiverse.  After experimenting a little, these are the two easiest ways I found to figure out the volume within an STL file.  ((While particularly simple, I suppose if you had a really large beaker and a certain volume of water, you could print your STL file, submerge it, and compare the results.  However, this seems impractical for a lot of reasons.))

1. AdMesh
   1. Tony Buser was kind enough to suggest an application I had never heard of before – AdMesh.  AdMesh is a free command-line tool created by AMartin¹ which can provide all kinds of information about an STL file.  After fiddling around with the program a little bit, I found this command gave me the best results:
      • admesh –normal-directions –tolerance=0.01 –exact %1 >> stl-stats.txt
   2. While AdMesh worked pretty well overall, it had problems with some STL files and was unable to provide statistics.
2. NetFabb
   1. Alternatively, NetFabb also provides some ways to find out the volume inside an STL file.
      

      The little button circled in red

      1. NetFabb’s cloud-based STL repair service provides information about the repaired file including surface area, triangles, and volume.  Just submit your STL file for repair (even if it doesn’t really need it) and get back a link to your fixed file along with the relevant statistics.
      2. NetFabb’s “NetFabb Studio Basic” is a free downloadwhich also provides detailed statistics about STL files and basic mesh fixing tools.  Here’s how you do it:
         1. After you open NetFabb, “Control-O” will give you the option of selecting an STL file.
         2. Keep adding as many STL files as you would like.  It won’t matter that they are all overlapped.
         3. Click the third icon from the left, a little cube frame with a circled ”i” on it.
         4. A window will pop up providing information, including volume, for each of the STL’s you have imported.
      3. I found the Studio Basic version of NetFabb’s offerings to be more useful.  The statistics seemed to be more consistent than the values from the cloud service and Studio Basic also allows you to import numerous files at once so you can compare the numbers “side by side.”

Do you have a suggestion on how better to figure out the volume in an STL?  If so, let us know in the comments!

1. Sorry!  I couldn’t find your full name! [↩]

Favorite Tools – files, pliers, and putty knife

While at the local hardware store over the weekend I picked up a cheap set of files on impulse.  These have quickly been incorporated into my 3D printing toolbox.

• For years I’ve been using sandpaper and a precision screwdriver set to sand and “file” away plastic.  However, I found the above set consisting of a flat metal file, triangular file, and circular file for less than $7.  Since this particular set was originally designed for sharpening metal saw blades, they make quick and easy work of plastic.  If you haven’t picked up a set like this yet, I’d highly recommend it.
• The needle nose pliers are useful for cutting filament, handling hot plastic, clamping/fitting/or forcing small parts, and sometimes for scraping excess plastic.
• The putty knife is useful for scraping excess small pieces of plastic off a printed object, but mainly for separating printed objects from the print bed.
• Not pictured, I also use a variety of sandpaper.  While the metal files have been proving more versatile and durable than the sandpaper, the finer grades of sandpaper are indispensable for that really polished look.

What do you use to help a printed object look its best?

Voltron, victorious

As you may know, I’ve mentioned wanting to print a Voltron several times before.  I even tried to design one once.  Even after uploading a shoddy version, I kept on jabbering on about it.

Finally I’ve designed a printable Voltron of which I can be proud. It’s designed totally in OpenSCAD using just about every single OpenSCAD trick I know.  Additionally, I designed a hinge connector system that, I think, compliments Tony Buser’s Pin Connectors v2 system nicely. In fact, some of the connector pieces for this model are basically a Buser pin connector on one side and a hinge/joint connector on the other. The result is a snap-fit highly articulated/poseable model.

I wanted to share some of these design tricks with you over the next few posts.  Here’s a quick preview:

• How to sketch an object with OpenSCAD
• How to easily make regular solids – other than cubes and cylinders, like hexagons, pentagons, octagons, etc
• How to easily make symmetrical solids
• How to easily make irregular, but symmetrical solids

Stay tuned for these ideas!

Joinery - Not just for lasercutters any more

The Make Blog recent posted about CNC panel joinery techniques.  However, there’s no reason these really amazing assembly techniques should be relegated to just CNC cutting machines.  Any of these techniques could be easily applied to 3D printing to create objects that can be assembled without any tools or hardware.  Some of my favorite things to 3D print of all time are multi-part pieces that can be hand assembled.  There’s the dinosaur, the spider, the 27-to-1 gear ratio crank, and Tony Buser’s Toy Robot Toolkit.

Of course, having a 3D printer at your disposal means you don’t need to use joinery to create a 90 degree angle or a corner like those pictured above.  Even so, there’s no reason why one couldn’t use those same techniques to connect larger, more complex, 3D parts.  I would love to see an OpenSCAD library of joinery – little cutouts and tabs that could just be dropped into a design to make it snap-slide-slot together.

Worthless Dice by blarbles

Now, don’t get me wrong – I love me my OpenSCAD.  While it’s an amazing and powerful tool for 3D modeling, the text editor is not as full featured as one would want.  Thankfully, Thingiverse citizen justblair has put together a short tutorial on how to use the text editor of your choice with OpenSCAD for the best of both worlds – a full featured text editor and an awesome 3D modeling program.

Justblair recommends my personal pick for a text editor, the free, open source, and very feature rich Notepad++.  (I prefer the PortableApps.com version). ¹  The process basically involves changing a few settings so that OpenSCAD will immediately re-compile the current objects from a file being edited, whenever that file is saved.

The process is really easy and very worthwhile.  Being able to find/replace and perform regex searches make designing in OpenSCAD so much easier.

Untitled by Justblair

This thing brought to you by

1. See a pattern? [↩]

In this OpenSCAD tutorial series we’ve covered the basics of the OpenSCAD interface, how to make 2D forms, how to make some basic 3D forms, how to position those forms in 3D space, the different ways to combine forms, how to create mashups of one or more existing STL’s and OpenSCAD forms, how to use modules to reuse your code to make your life easier, how to extrude flat 2D forms into 3D forms, and how to fix design problems.  Although I described a few of the last tutorials as “intermediate” levels, that’s really only because you learned the basics so quickly from the first few tutorials.

Today I’d like to show you how easy it is to make some neat organic looking forms with OpenSCAD.  The secret behind doing so are two functions, “hull” and “minkowski.”  Let’s learn a little bit about what each of these functions do and try out some code.  More, after the break!

Read the rest of this entry »

Autodesk 123d is one of many freely-available apps that new MakerBot users might consider learning.  And unlike some other programs we love, it looks like Autodesk wants it to be easy to print your models on a MakerBot.  In fact, they want it so much that they’ve just posted the above video on their youtube channel.

It’s a bit long (over 9 minutes) but put it on your list for when you’re woodshedding your 3d-modeling chops.  While it’s specifically aimed at the Thing-O-Matic, most of what they’re saying should transfer to the Replicator.  Just model for a larger build area!

123d is a bit different from other modeling programs, and might be a bit counter-intuitive if you’re used to one of the others.  However, their youtube channel has a number of tutorials and there are some neat things about the project (like an iPad app and a photo-to-model program.)

If you’re looking to pick up some 3d modeling skills while you’re waiting for your Replicator, this is one of many great programs to learn!

One of the most interesting challenges faced in 3D printing is creating facsimiles of real-world objects, things that have not been designed according to design rules that make them easier to print. Animal skulls, and in particular dinosaur skulls, are a great example: full of complex organic shapes, extreme overhangs and bridges, and thin shells. I’ve been learning a lot about printing these, and thought I could share what I have learned.

Three reptilian skulls

I was inspired by the dinosaur skull posted on Thingiverse and set out to look for more. The Digimorph project at the University of Texas has some dinosaurs, but the STL files are not posted.  However, Artect, a company that makes 3D scanners, has posted a very nice high-resolution STL file of a Tarbosaurus skull, on their 3D model download page. It’s the first model listed on the page.  I sliced it in Netfabb, and have posted the sliced files on Thingiverse.

Keep reading for some tips on how to print this object, and other complex organic shapes!

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Annelise made an awesome  video that showcases fun things she’s done with sugru in the last few days- we can’t wait to see what our users come up with!