Book Image

Simplifying 3D Printing with OpenSCAD

By : Colin Dow
5 (1)
Book Image

Simplifying 3D Printing with OpenSCAD

5 (1)
By: Colin Dow

Overview of this book

Want to bring your 3D designs to life with OpenSCAD, but don’t know where to start? Simplifying 3D Printing with OpenSCAD will teach you the key skills so that you can focus on your ideas, not troubleshooting your 3D printer. With the help of this book, you’ll build a solid foundation in 3D printing technology, the software used for designing your objects, and an analysis of the G-code produced by the 3D printer slicer software. You’ll also get to know your 3D printer and find out how to set up a printing job effortlessly — from configuring the parameters to build well-defined designs. Consider yourself a practical learner? Use real-world examples such as designing and printing a 3D name badge, model rocket, and laptop stand, to dive into the world of 3D printers build your skillset. By the end of this 3D printing book, you'll be ready to start designing and printing your own 3D printed products using OpenSCAD and being your ideas into reality.
Table of Contents (16 chapters)
1
Part 1: Exploring 3D Printing
5
Part 2: Learning OpenSCAD
9
Part 3: Projects
13
Part 4: The Future

Finding objects to print

Printing objects that are of no use to anyone else but us is the ultimate use of a 3D printer. For most of us, it hardly seems worth it to spend hours printing something such as an inexpensive hook for our coat that we could just buy at a store. The exception would be for remote outposts where getting such common items is a challenge.

3D Printing in Space

A 3D printer made by an American company Made In Space was first used aboard the International Space Station (ISS) in 2014 to print a ratchet. The 3D printer, named Additive Manufacturing Facility (AMF), has a build volume of 14 cm by 10 cm by 10 cm. Designed to print common filament materials such as Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS), the goal of the company is to have the printer use materials made from moon dust and Martian soil.

In this section, we will explore the various avenues where we can find objects to print. We will start with a look at 3D file formats.

Understanding 3D object...