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)

Putting it all together


We're nearing the end now. The puzzle blank has been built and been shrunk a little bit so that it works in the real world. Now to shape it like the sun model and make three more. Fortunately, this is going to be very easy:

  1. Select the puzzle blank.

  2. From the Modifier tab, click on the Add Modifier button.

  3. Choose the Boolean modifier:

  4. Be sure that the Operation option is set to Intersect.

  5. Click on the Object dropdown and select the Icosphere object:

    After a moment, the puzzle piece should effectively disappear. Where did it go? It's still there, but it's now shaped exactly like the part of the sun face it covered.

  6. In the menu at the bottom of the 3D View, click on just the second layer button to see the piece by itself:

See? There it is—perfectly printable flat bottom and everything. Now, to make the other three pieces, continue with the following steps:

  1. Click on the eye button in the Boolean modifier to temporarily disable it:

  2. Duplicate (Shift + D) the puzzle piece and Rotate...