Book Image

3D Printing Blueprints

By : Joe Larson
Book Image

3D Printing Blueprints

By: Joe Larson

Overview of this book

A new industrial age is here. Machines designed to build useful and interesting objects have moved from the factory to the home. Whether you have a 3D printer or not, learning how to design your first 3D models is the best way to become part of the 3D printing movement. 3D Printing Blueprints will teach you, step by step, the tools and techniques of using Blender, a free 3D modelling program, to build 3D models for printing with simple and fun hands-on projects.3D Printing Blueprints uses engaging and fun projects that teach Blender modeling for 3D printing through hands-on lessons. First you'll learn basic modeling and make a small simple object. Then each new project brings with it new tools and techniques as well as teaching the rules of 3D printing design. Eventually you'll be building objects designed to repair or replace everyday objects. Finally you'll be able to even tackle other people's models and fix them to be 3D printable. Through the course of doing the blueprints you will custom build one-of-a-kind objects that you can call your own. Starting from a custom vase formed from a picture, lessons will progress to a multi-part modular robot toy. Then simple machines will be designed with custom gears and functions. Eventually you'll learn how to download models from the Internet and make custom objects. Finally you'll be able to build models with near real life specifications and make a print that can be used for small object repair. 3D Printing Blueprints will teach you everything you need to know about building custom 3D models to print successfully on modern home 3D printers.
Table of Contents (17 chapters)
3D Printing Blueprints
Credits
About the Author
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Index

Getting a profile


Before opening Blender, the first thing to do is get a side profile image of a face. With a camera you can take an image of yourself or someone you know. Alternately, searching online for side profile picture can turn up something usable. A good picture will be as side-on as possible and will have a clear outline of the face. Save the image to the local disk and make note of its location. If no other image can be found, the following image can be acquired at http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:90754. Locate the following image, right-click on it and choose Save Image As… (or Save As… depending on the browser) and save the image in a directory, where it can be found later:

Now, just like last time, open up Blender and clear the scene. Start a new project, Select All objects (A) and Delete (X). In the menu bar, navigate to File | Save As... and navigate to the MakerbotBlueprints directory we created in the first project, then create a new directory for this project and in that...