3D Printing
Please refer to our slideshow, Intro to FDM 3D Printing, as a refresher when 3D printing.
3D Design
We recommend beginning with Tinkercad, a free web-based platform accessible from nearly all computers with a low barrier of entry. For more advanced 3D modeling, Blender is free and open-source, and remains a top choice for modeling and more organic-looking sculpting. Autodesk Fusion is our recommendation for designing 3D-printed parts from an engineering perspective; we have free licenses available for members of the Bates community.
How do we make design decisions for 3D-printed parts? Does 100% infill give your part ultimate strength? Design for 3D-Printing from Rahix’ Blog is essential reading on this subject.