Book Image

3D Printing Designs: The Sun Puzzle

By : Joe Larson
Book Image

3D Printing Designs: The Sun Puzzle

By: Joe Larson

Overview of this book

Jigsaw puzzles derive their name from when they were cut from wood sheets using a hand-woodworking tool called a jig saw back in the 1760s. Have you ever wondered how a model idea for a jigsaw puzzle is articulated, and how it was made with these traditional tools? Through this book, you will master the techniques of designing simple to complex puzzles models for 3D printing. We will quickly introduce you to some simple and effective principles of designing 3D printed objects using Blender. Through the course of the book, you'll explore various robust sculpting methods supported by Blender that allow you to edit objects with actions such as bends or curves, similar to drawing or building up a clay structure of different shapes and sizes. Finally, when the model is sculpted, you'll learn some methods to cut the model and carve out multiple pieces of perfectly-fitting edges of different geometries to complete the puzzle. ------------------------------------------- Note from CM - [Page count: 60] [Price: $9.99 eBook | $19.99 print]
Table of Contents (11 chapters)

Setting up sculpt


When entering sculpt mode for the first time, it's worth knowing the settings available to you and becoming acquainted with a few commonly changed defaults:

  1. In the menu bar at the bottom of the 3D View panel, click on the Object Mode dropdown and select Sculpt Mode.

  2. Once you enter Sculpt Mode, the tool shelf to the left of the 3D View panel will change. In the Tools tab, there are a number of sections. The most common settings are in the Brush, Symmetry/Lock, and Dyntopo sections. Like most things in Blender, these can be customized and rearranged, so it might be desirable to change the order of these sections to move them to the top.

    The Dyntopo, or dynamic topology, section has settings related to a relatively new feature for sculpting in Blender. Dynamic topology will increase or decrease the complexity of the model in whatever local area needs it in order to make the details we want to add. In other words, if we want a lot of detail on the top of the model where we'll...