Categories
Learning Center

3D Printing Blueprints

3D Printing Blueprints

3D Printing BlueprintsAuthor:  Joe Larson

Amazon Review: 4.4 out of 5

Price: $ 44.99

ISBN No: 978-1849697088

Purchase: Click Here

Excerpt:

Using the free open-source Blender software, anyone can design models for 3D printing. Fantastic fun and a great experience whether or not you have a 3D printer, this book is a crash course in the new technology.

Overview

  • Design 3D models that will print successfully using Blender, a free 3D modelling program
  • Customize, edit, repair, and then share your creations on Makerbot’s Thingiverse website
  • Easy-to-follow guide on 3D printing; learn to create a new model at the end of each chapter

In Detail

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.

What you will learn from this book

  • Use the rules of Y, H, and T to guide your designs
  • Build 3D objects from simple shapes
  • Edit shapes using modifiers and directly modify their geometry
  • Build objects to real-life specifications
  • Make interconnecting parts
  • Build machines that will perform simple tasks
  • Learn about sculpting tools that will allow for the creation of organic shapes
  • Reproduce the shape of real-life objects in the virtual space accurately
  • Repair downloaded 3D models that may not be ready to print
  • Edit the settings on your 3D printer to make cool print effects

Approach

“3D Printing Blueprints” is not about how to just make a ball or a cup. It includes fun-to-make and engaging projects. Readers don’t need to be 3D printing experts, as there are examples related to stuff people would enjoy making.

Who this book is written for

“3D Printing Blueprints” is for anyone with an interest in the 3D printing revolution and the slightest bit of computer skills. Whether you own a 3D printer or not you can design for them. All it takes is Blender, a free 3D modeling tool. Couple this book with a little creativity and someday you’ll be able to hold something you designed on the computer in your hands.

Categories
Learning Center

Blender 3D Printing Essentials

Blender 3D Printing Essentials

Blender 3D Printing EssentialsAuthor: Gordon Fisher

Amazon Review: 4.4 out of 5

Price: $ 31.49

ISBN No: 978-1783284597

Purchase: Click Here

Excerpt:

Learn 3D printing using the free open-source Blender software. This book gives you both an overview and practical instructions, enabling you to learn how to scale, build, color, and detail a model for a 3D printer.

Overview

  • Design beautiful, colourful, and practical objects in Blender to print or export
  • Master Blender’s special 3D printing tools to maximize print quality and minimize cost
  • Consider requirements unique to 3D printing such as structural integrity and stability

In Detail

Like computing, 3D printing has been around for decades but it was expensive and was only used for making complex prototypes. Now, prices have dropped and third-party printing services such as Shapeways have become available, making the technology available to everyone.

Blender is an open source modeling and animation program popular in the 3D printing community. 3D printing demands more of a modeler than animation or virtual reality. The model maker must engineer their model to work in the real world. They must keep in mind the particular needs of the materials and printers that they are planning to use to print their model.

This practical guide gives Blender users all the information they need to design high-quality 3D printed objects. With a solid exploration of the 3D modeling process, design considerations for 3D printing, plus step-by-step exercises, you will soon be comfortable making 3D objects for real-world enjoyment.

Starting with an overview of 3D printing, this guide moves onto to precision measurement, fixing problems in a 3D model, and how to make it light and strong enough for real-world use.

You will learn how to scale, build, and detail a model for a 3D printer. You will learn to color and decorate it, as well as making parts precisely in the size you want them, so that multi-part objects fit together smoothly. You will also learn tips on saving money when you have printed your model.

With the help of this guide, you will be able to complete your project and learn how to export the file so it is ready for a variety of 3D printers.

What you will learn from this book

  • Understand how a 3D printer makes a 3D object
  • Get an introduction to different types of 3D printers
  • Explore the materials that can be used in a 3D printer
  • Get to grips with precision modeling techniques in Blender
  • Use Blender’s Ruler/Protractor tool
  • Unwrap a texture to fit a model
  • Make a model watertight and manifold
  • Design an object hollow using the Solidify modifier
  • Export to STL and X3D files for printing

Approach

This book adopts a practical approach, with the use of step-by-step instructions to help guide readers. There are lots of screenshots covering each and every step needed to design a high-quality model in Blender for 3D printing.

Who this book is written for

If you are a Blender user or someone who wants to use Blender to make 3D objects suitable for 3D printing, this book is ideal for you. You should already be comfortable with basic modeling in Blender – including using modifiers – although advanced skills are not required. All of the models that you will need are explored in-depth. This book does not assume that you will use any specific printer and teaches the general principles common to building models for most printers. It also gives you tips on discovering the requirements of the specific printer you will be using.

Categories
Learning Center

Design and Modeling for 3D Printing

Design and Modeling for 3D Printing

Design and Modeling for 3D PrintingAuthor:  Matthew Griffin

Amazon Review: NA

Price: $ 26.67

ISBN No: 978-1449359171

Purchase: Click Here

Excerpt:

If you’ve got—or are thinking of getting—access to an inexpensive 3D printer such as the ones from MakerBot and PrintrBot, there will come a time (soon!) when you’ll graduate from printing other peoples’ designs. There’s no doubt that you can have plenty of fun downloading and printing designs from Thingiverse, but sooner or later, the urge to design will take over.

Whether you use a web-based modeler optimized for 3D printing (such as TinkerCAD) or a professional CAD tool, designing for 3D printing demands expertise in everything from structural engineering to material science. You need know the limits of your medium, whether you’re using a $25,000 Z Corp printer, a $2,000 MakerBot, or a $500 PrintrBot.

This book uses practical examples and interviews with leading makers to teach you the core principles and techniques you need to take on the challenges in design for 3D printing. This book arms those of you entering this passionate, fast-moving field with the problem-solving concepts needed to design and print almost anything you can imagine.

Categories
Learning Center

Printing in Plastic: Build Your Own 3D Printer

Printing in Plastic: Build Your Own 3D Printer

Printing in Plastic: Build Your Own 3D PrinterAuthor: Patrick Hood-Daniel, James Floyd Kelly

Amazon Review: 3.5 out of 5

Price: $ 26.48

ISBN No: 978-1430234432

Purchase: Click Here

Excerpt:

Printing in Plastic: Build Your Own 3D Printer is your gateway into the exciting world of personal fabrication. The “printer” that you’ll build from this book is a personal fabricator capable of creating small parts and other objects from drops of molten plastic. Design a part using a modeling tool such as Google SketchUp. Then, watch while the fabricator head sweeps back and forth and upwards, depositing plastic in all the right places. You can build anything from a replacement tab to hold a bookshelf in place, to a small art project, to a bashguard for your bicycle. If you can conceive it and design it, you can build it, and you’ll have fun doing it!

Printing in Plastic is aimed at creative people comfortable using power tools such as a table saw, circular saw, and drill press. Authors James Kelly and Patrick Hood-Daniel lead you through building a personal fabrication machine based upon a set of blueprints downloaded from their website. Example projects get you started in designing and fabricating your own parts. Bring your handyman skills, and apply patience during the build process. You too can be the proud owner of a personal fabricator—a three-dimensional printer.

  • Leads you through building a personal fabrication machine capable of creating small parts and objects from plastic
  • Provides example projects to get you started on the road to designing and fabricating your own parts
  • Provides an excellent parent/child, or small group project

What you’ll learn

  • How to assemble your own 3D printer
  • The ins and outs of design software
  • How to design and produce three-dimensional parts made from plastic
  • How to replace small plastic parts in household objects
  • How to create art objects

Who this book is for

Printing in Plastic is aimed at creative people comfortable using power tools, such as a table saw, circular saw, drill press, and so forth. The book is aimed at those who want to create and fabricate tangible objects from plastic. Crafters, carpenters, electronics hobbyists, and others comfortable working with their hands will find the instructions easy to follow and the projects rewarding.

Categories
Learning Center

3D Printing for Artists, Designers and Makers: Technology Crossing Art and Industry

3D Printing for Artists, Designers and Makers: Technology Crossing Art and Industry

3D Printing for Artists, Designers and Makers: Technology Crossing Art and IndustryAuthor: Steve Hoskins , Stephen Hoskins

Amazon Review: 4 out of 5

Price: $ 29.92

ISBN No: 978-1408173794

Purchase: Click Here

Excerpt:

Rapidly gaining popular attention, 3D printing is viewed as the next life changing technology. This book explains how the creative industries are directly interfacing with this new technology and how it is changing the practices of many artists and designers across the globe. A selection of case studies of leading practitioners in their respective disciplines reveals this fascinating process in action.

The book also introduces the groundbreaking research by Stephen Hoskins and his 3D team at the Centre for Fine Print Research, world leaders in the development of techniques for 3D printing in ceramics, and includes a history of 3D printing, from its origins in aerospace to its current, diverse applications in bio-medics and Formula One racing, through to furniture design and jewellery.

A fascinating investigation into how the applied arts continue to adapt to new technologies, this book is for academics and 3D print users from both the arts and science backgrounds, as well as artists, designers, those in creative industries and anyone who has an interest in new technological developments.

Categories
Learning Center

The Book on 3D Printing

The Book on 3D Printing

The Book on 3D PrintingAuthor:  Isaac Budmen , Anthony Rotolo

Amazon Review: 4.3 out of 5

Price: $ 9.39

ISBN No: 978-1489529442

Excerpt: 

You have heard about 3D Printing in the news and all over the Internet. The guys on the Big Bang Theory got a 3D printer, and even President Obama mentioned 3D Printing in the State of the Union address. By now you might be wondering: What the heck is 3D Printing? And why is everyone so excited about it? If you have been searching for answers, you already know that information about 3D Printing can be hard to find and often difficult to understand.

The Book on 3D Printing was written with you in mind; the Everyday Inventors — designers, teachers, parents, and kids — who will soon change the world with this astonishing technology. But before you can do that, you have to know how to use it! This book will take you on a tour of the growing 3D Printing industry and explain everything you need to know to start designing and printing your own creations. (No experience or fancy degree required!)

Categories
Learning Center

Practical 3D Printers: The Science and Art of 3D Printing

Practical 3D Printers: The Science and Art of 3D Printing

Practical 3D Printers: The Science and Art of 3D Printing Author: Brian Evans

Amazon Review: 4.4 out of 5

Price: $ 23.41

ISBN No: 978-1430243922

Purchase: Click Here

Excerpt:

Desktop or DIY 3D printers are devices you can either buy preassembled as a kit, or build from a collection of parts to design and print physical objects including replacement household parts, custom toys, and even art, science, or engineering projects. Maybe you have one, or maybe you’re thinking about buying or building one.

Practical 3D Printers takes you beyond how to build a 3D printer, to calibrating, customizing, and creating amazing models, including 3D printed text, a warship model, a robot platform, windup toys, and arcade-inspired alien invaders. You’ll learn about the different types of personal 3D printers and how they work; from the MakerBot to the RepRap printers like the Huxley and Mendel, as well as the whiteAnt CNC featured in the Apress book Printing in Plastic.

You’ll discover how easy it is to find and design 3D models using web-based 3D modeling, and even how to create a 3D model from a 2D image. After learning the basics, this book will walk you through building multi-part models with a steampunk warship project, working with meshes to build your own action heroes, and creating an autonomous robot chassis. Finally, you’ll find even more bonus projects to build, including wind-up walkers, faceted vases for the home, and a handful of useful upgrades to modify and improve your 3D printer.

What you’ll learn

  • The various types of 3D printers, what they have in common, and what sets each one apart
  • The printer toolchain, including controllers and printer interfaces
  • The art of calibrating your printer
  • How to find and create 3D models to print, including using Google Sketchup
  • How to create multipart models and meshes
  • How to upgrade both the mechanical and electronic parts in your printer

Who this book is for

Electronics enthusiasts, tinkerers, artists, and everyone who wants to use their 3D printer to do more than make more 3D printers.

Categories
Learning Center

3D Printing: The Next Industrial Revolution

3D Printing: The Next Industrial Revolution

3D Printing - The next industrial revolution Author:  Christopher Barnatt

Amazon Review: 4.3 out of 5

Price: $13.49

ISBN No: 978-1484181768

Purchase: Click Here

 Excerpt: 

3D Printing is about to transform our lives. While traditional laser and inkjet printers only make marks on paper, 3D printers build up solid objects in a great many very thin layers. Already pioneers are 3D printing production tools, prototypes, jewelry, sunglasses, works of art, toys and vehicle parts. But this is just the beginning, with digital manufacturing destined to change how we create, transport and store a great many things.

Within a decade, some products may be downloaded from the Internet for printout in store or even at home. Already DIY enthusiasts are building their own 3D printers, while consumer models for the rest of us are just starting to arrive. Meanwhile doctors are learning how to 3D print kidneys and other replacement human organs.

3D Printing: The Next Industrial Revolution explores the practicalities and potential of 3D printing today, as well as trying to realistically foresee the impact of 3D printing on the world of tomorrow. The book is written for a wide audience, including 3D printing enthusiasts, entrepreneurs, designers, investors, students, and indeed anybody who wants to be more informed about the next round of radical technological change.

Particular features of the book include an extensive chapter that details every current 3D printing technology, as well as an industry overview covering 3D printer manufacturers, software providers, and bureau services. These chapters are then supported by an extensive 3D printing glossary (of over 100 terms) and a 3D printing directory.

Other key content includes a chapter on developments in digital manufacturing. This features interviews with a range of pioneering individuals and organizations who are already in the business of 3D printing final products or parts thereof. There are also chapters dedicated to 3D printing and sustainability, bioprinting, and personal fabrication.

 

Categories
Learning Center

3D Printing for Development in the Global South

3D Printing for Development in the Global South

3D Printing for Development in the Global SouthAuthor:  Thomas Birtchnell , William Hoyle

Price: $ 63.17

ISBN No: 978-3899555165

Purchase: Click Here

Excerpt: 

Will 3D printers become as commonplace as mobile phones in the megacities or the backwaters of the Global South? Thomas Birtchnell and William Hoyle assess the development potential of this new technique for producing three-dimensional objects, which resembles the way a paper printer produces pages of text. Will 3D printing for development become a key strategy for community action against enduring material poverty? Birtchnell and Hoyle consider this question through a centrepiece case study on the UK charity techfortrade’s 3D4D Challenge.