Must Have 3D Printing Tips and Tricks! Episode 1 - Design Stage

[@unrealed]

I think "Replacing STL by 3MF" is worth it's own video. You could make a better case for potential current and future uses of the format. But most importantly, it will help the message spread better and it's pretty important that that message gets spread as much as possible. Also, from now on if you ever mention "the STL file" in a video, also mention 3MF (and maybe that 3MF is better. Gotta repeat the message so people get it)

[@cupbowlspoonforkknif]

Well at least it's the same number of syllables or else it would never catch on.

[@joepie221]

Greetings. you have presented some good points here, but I'd like to add a few. I ran the 3-D modeling lab at Sulzer Orthopedics for many years and have a lot of experience here. I hate lists, but they sometimes help. So forgive me. 1. If geometric accuracy is more important that cosmetic, position your part to allow the machine to assist you. If the layer thickness exceeds your desired accuracy for a hole or round, don't lay it down for printing. There is a very good chance your machine will print cylinders and rounds better positioned vertically. 2. Strength, Lets use a roll of dimes for this example. It can be easily displaced/cracked if standing vertically, but if it were printed horizontally, each laminate layer has much greater strength due to the cross section. 3. STL stands for 'Standard Template Library'. It simply implies that the model geometry has been broken down into triangles. A digital approach that I have to believe most printer files use. When converting any digital model to an .STL file, you are give a resolution option and can reduce the massive file size if the triangles and resolution are bigger. 4. Clearance. I like the fit gage you made. Very nice. On certain laser machines, ( may be applicable to nozzle size) beam offset and diameter are available. you can use these values to lie to your machine and have it adjust your model size accordingly. The push/pull option you show is simply a nozzle/cutter comp like G code offset for CNC, just made simple. Thanks. I enjoy your presentations and video composition.

[@albertvillalobos1377]

Angus, I appreciate your approach to 3d printing. It’s so annoying when others insist on keeping it in the realm of toys

[@roidroid]

7:31 _>"...anyway, that's gonna be the end of the mini-series!"_ Jesus, that was a short series mate

[@DarrenC_1024]

by comparing an ASCII file size to a Binary file's, yeah, I guess it's best to end the series here. If his point of comparison is ASCII size vs Binary size, that'd be a valid point, as in how to save space when saving model files.

[@welbot]

+1 for clearance parameters! Always do this, especially when I release my fusion files for others to use :) Also 3d builder! It's my final step for confirming that files are error free before release! I will say though, with the 3MF file format, you do need to be careful, especially if you repair your model in 3d builder, as it will also store the original non-printable model in the same file, and you could inadvertently end up printing that if you're not careful. To check it, you need to ungroup and or unhide stuff using the controls on the right side, and you will be able to see if there's any other parts stored in the file.

[@kendallemory8455]

I also suggest starting with a very rough pencil sketch with your dimensions drawn on. The sketch doesn't have to be accurate but it really speeds up the modeling process when you have the rough shape somewhere other than your head.

[@tdumnxy]

As someone who is new to 3D printing but ready to move on from the 'basics' tutorials, I found this tips round up very useful. More content like this please.

[@AlfredoEspinozaRhoton]

Got into 3d printing because of your channel. Every time I feel like I'm ready to learn more I see that you have a new video. This kind of content is really useful. Thanks!

[@thomasheisler]

3mf, I never heard of that before, I will have to look into it, thanks

[@Dust599]

Created by committee of rich companies... just say no.

[@0LoneTech]

The comparison was intentionally unfair; why use ascii stl instead of binary? Based on that the 3MF should have been uncompressed. Also, there are others like AMF and glTF. STL is lowest common denominator, like PNM.. or indeed ASCII.

[@SirChickon]

@@Dust599 is there copy protection embeded in this standard? If not why not user it?

[@andy-in-indy]

@@SirChickon 3MF does support DRM

[@bluegizmo1983]

DMR has no place in 3D printing.

[@dudedavid522]

You're the man, saving the world a vid at a time. Thank you.

[@derekchamberlain545]

Like you I use Fusion 360 to draw all of my 3D projects. Your final tip was to use .3MF as the preferred format for transferring files to various slicing engines but as many of your fans will be aware .3MF is not easy to find as a format on Fusion 360. I found the app in the Autocad store, downloaded it but have no idea as to how to use it to save files. The Autocad site is next to useless when it comes to advice for laymen using their products and your latest video has left many of us hanging. Please help me and I am sure many others out and explain how to save .3MF files in Fusion 360 so we can all progress to the future of 3D printing!!

[@keeperofthekeys84]

Just a note on the Microsoft 3d builder tip: it is really convenient and free, but it also will crash and freeze, or just sit there and do nothing, if your model happens to be really big or have a large number of triangles. It can help to simply and remove faces in something like meshlab first, and then 3d builder becomes perfectly viable to repair models. It's actually a known bug with the program that it can't handle larger triangle counts, but for free software, it's not all that surprising, just good to know before you wait for hours for it to repair something, when actually it's just crashed.

[@AdrianMagni]

One thing it took me a while to figure out is that if you minimise the window, 3d builder will pause whatever it's doing. So if you start repairing a model and it's taking a long time you can switch windows and leave it in the background but don't minimise it!

[@droko9]

You should have compared against a binary STL instead of an ASCII one, that would have been a more accurate comparison in file size

[@jarnold2000]

The pus/pull for clearances is a great tip that I will try out!

[@GertGybels]

1:30 even harder when you are also designing for SLA and FDM. There I can see details of .1 very easely and on FDM they vanish. So I have to keep that constantly in mind when I switch between projects that have a specific purpose of print target. (Not to mention where to place a campher to aid with bridging, sagging of holes or easy support when FDM/SLA)

[@blackredroll]

Tip 2: Use clearances but as early as possible if design depends on that. Incorporate clearances in sketches and/or e.g. extrud distance/offset

[@RyanKhoo]

Awesome work Angus, great tips that haven’t really been spammed across the internet before, thanks, look forward to the next one!

[@RinksRides]

I add a clearance value to a hole dimension equal to the layer height to compensate for the radius of the layer height protruding into the hole. This becomes important when using

[@personal-assassin]

anyone else just watch video after video of this guys channel, and cant get enough

[@CaptainFalcon92]

The only thing i learn from this was that i could use 3mf. AND THIS IS A BIG THING ! So thanks 👍 Hopefully i watched to the end.

[@slhurtt]

The sectional analysis was something I knew, but forgot about. Always get in a hurry and forget to cross check the build-ability within the design phase. Thanks for the reminder! That .3MF format is going to help with an Abe Lincoln bust from the Smithsonian I was having trouble with. It has a huge number of polygons that just make it unprintable on my little machine. I dumbed down the mesh a lot but felt I lost some details in the process.

[@ytwdh]

I loved Sketchup when it was a local install with loads of user-developed plug-ins. Then they went web-based and the bugginess commenced. (Remember the long select/deselect time?) That was 2017. I am a Fusion 360 fan. Thank you, Angus.

[@nickosnachos6624]

love your channle! thanks to you and joel (from ed printing nerd) i am about to buy my first 3d printer!

[@octopus1613]

ooh, neat. I didn't know you could do those parameters in fusion 360. (I kinda jumped in the deep end with that and have been puzzling out how to do it, lol. Very useful program! Loads of features I haven't tried yet.) That looks like it'll be very useful! Thanks for the advice!

[@LindyDesignLab]

Pulling the partially designed file into your slicer to see it on the print bed is another good way to get a size reality check.

[@tristunalekzander5608]

Cura has an expansion offset that seems to work great (I used it for the first time yesterday). This is by far the better way to go, say, in CAD, you have a part with two holes, shrinking the object will solve the expansion problem, but now your holes are closer together. So it's better to make everything as precise as possible in CAD, but then tweak the expansion offset for the entire print.

[@楊學翰-m8m]

Thank you so much for the 3D builder! Installed and got it to work right away!

[@Odonnol]

I ran into the "tiny" problem just yesterday. I added blind screw mount holes to the back of a known-good safety razor bracket. Eyeballed it in CAD, printed out. Holes came out tiny, took #4 flatheads-not something everyone has lying around. Gotta re-do with bigger holes before I upload to Thingiverse.

[@KieranShort]

Cheers. The new fusion 360 UI is worthy of a mention too somewhere...

[@octimus2000]

Oh, I'm hating it

[@MMuraseofSandvich]

The best (inadvertent) investment I made when making 3D models is a pair of really good digital calipers. Thanks for pointing out that chamfers can be deceptively small, I've definitely tripped on that one.

[@JorganShow]

That rubiks cube core piece can be printed if you rotated 2 of the axes 45 degrees so it sits on three of the arms rather than 1. Then every part would print at 45 degree angles rather than 0 or 90.

[@kevinwalker2529]

Thanks for the tips! I love the idea of a series of educational videos!

[@nova3d173]

Good video. Where to download the clearance guage? A link maybe?

[@luckysolve]

This series is just what I needed, and right as i pulled my printer out of storage too!

[@ashtonsimmonds7042]

Super. Thanks for your effort and amazing channel.

[@Inventorsquare]

I take my calipers and zoom out my model to see it at its appropriate size on the screen for my reality check. I’ll start using.3mf, I never knew.

[@robertoneto6984]

Great video mate, I'm looking forward to the next episodes

[@olaruud9366]

I like these tips and tricks videos. Keep them coming.

[@markusstaden]

You can do the clearance in some slicers. In Cura it is called horizontal expansion.

[@55ATA3]

Thank you for the video, still new to 3D printing and videos like this are a great help.

[@MrVein5.0]

great tips man, i always designed in tolerances for my 3d printer (when designing stuff only i print), and design w/o if i make a part that im going to mill. but your way seems way smarter, gonna look into that!

[@tinkertv]

Very nice explanation, mate! Great work! I see someone made the "how to work parametric in fusion" video before me, lol! I am happy to see it, congrats :) Thanks for your work, keep up!

[@ScottVanKirk]

Windows 3D builder is an unsung hero of my production workflow, especially when modelling in Blender. I've yet to have Fusion create a non-manifold part

[@Arterexius]

Can confirm on making sure you have something to measure with next to you when doing CAD. It helps a ton. I always keep a measuring tape close and a caliper in the drawer. I'm planning to get a digital caliper soon, to make it easier to perfectly replicate existing parts and hopefully get rid of a lot of the trial and error phase

[@dim1723]

Wow thanks I'm Impressed glad I watched it. I never new about the new file format.

[@bluegizmo1983]

Excellent tips! I've fallen victim to the smaller than you think issue several times lol.

[@ryanwinget5456]

Just getting started and this is a HUGE help. Thank you!

[@medyk3D]

Is it possible to use a ruler in cross-sectional analysis? I was trying to measure an internal dimenssion in cross section and couldn't find any way to do so

[@darrenstyle4283]

3D Builder is also great for lowering the triangle count on an .STL if you want to load an .STL into Fusion 360.

[@war4peace1979]

I've been looking for the clearance gauge model and couldn't find it. Could you please link up an URL to it?

[@TheAuxLux]

For me the game changer was finding offline way to generate STL files in Fusion 360 :D Instead of exporting it, and waiting long minutes to process online. I right-click on body and use "Save As STL" :D I wish I knew this way earlier...

[@michaelclermont]

Hello and thanks! By curiosity, where could I find the clearance gauge STL?

[@Jolumbo86]

Me too! I’m reading through all the comments hoping it’ll be posted. I didn’t have any luck searching for “clearance guage” either.

[@Rouverius]

Thanks! Looking forward to the next one.

[@101rotarypower]

Please do a more advanced tips series? Would love to see more tips and tricks that can help people like the parameters function, and how to leverage more advanced features for people that use f360 regularly, but perhaps are not leveraging it to its abilities.

[@richardt6838]

Awesome tips. Cheers mate

[@ein57ein]

LOVE it! but how do I export to 3mf? Tinkercad doesnt give the option and I havent been able to figure it out on Fusion 360

[@DarrenC_1024]

Now all we need is waiting for Fusion 360 to make 3MF file the default Save As file format... Else I'll just keep using STL (Binary). Or perhaps, ConFusion 360. Have you been trying to update your subscription for the new ConFusion 360 licensing?

[@spikekent]

Great tips Angus, on the Rubics cube core, a sacrificial layer will help to print the bottom bridge with the hole. I'm guessing you will be covering that later in the series. As far as I can find, there isn't a way to export from Fusion 360 into .3mf or have I missed something? It would be great if Autodesk adds the option.

[@CraigManning]

Great, thanks! Looking forward to the rest of the series.

[@gaellafond6367]

6:42 "PrusaSlicer" They got rid of the "3" in the name.

[@MakersMuse]

But I only just got used to typing it! haha oh well.

[@christopherlyons7613]

Thanks, looking forward to the other videos in the series. Would be nice to see a video focusing specifically on the use of .3mf files. These files have the ability to carry more info about your model but how can you use those features and how do they help you? Can new slicers use that info or is that something that will come later?

[@samanyunikam]

Nice tips👌🏽......keep creating quality content

[@ConsultingjoeOnline]

Great tips. Thanks a bunch!

[@NiyaKouya]

Sorry for nitpicking, but @1:19 6,977mm is NOT 6mm... That's not how rounding works :P

[@ifell3]

Learnt the first few the hard way exactly how you described it! 3d builder I stumbled across when looking for a free fixer. Will need to check out the different file, need to stop using SketchUp.

[@howardjones543]

The STL filesize thing is a little bit dishonest... A quick look through my 3d models folder didn't find a single ASCII STL file - they're all the (much more compact) binary format. Obviously the other benefits (colour data, compression etc) are still real.

[@hanelyp1]

Some of the software I use to produce geometry only produces ASCII STL. But the software I use to verify the results (meshlab) can produce ASCII or binary STL, and I favor the latter.

[@ein57ein]

Great tips.. I definitely learned a couple of things there

[@chloemcholoe3280]

Me: Changes a paramter in fusion 360 *Model freaks out and starts looking very weird* ;-;

[@LindyDesignLab]

Gotta fully define those sketches. And sometimes it still breaks.

[@chloemcholoe3280]

@@LindyDesignLab lol yeah. what I learnt recently is to move osme of the variations more towards the end of the design rather than beginning. also hey it's you! \0/

[@LindyDesignLab]

Good point.

[@additivealex4566]

Try soldiworks, if you did it wrong everything just dissappears 😅. I think I'm putting excessive wear on my ctrl+Z.

[@additivealex4566]

@@LindyDesignLab "and sometimes it still breaks" the frustratingly sad reality of CAD packages.

[@timojissink4715]

Most of it was nothing new to me, untill I saw the 3MF to STL comparison. That could actually be a game changer for me 😁

[@KristofNachtergaele]

an extra window in fusion that shows what you are seeing in the viewport, but at it's actual size, that pops up in a corner when you are zoomed in more than a certain percentage, could solve the first issue

[@JeffDM]

It would have been nice if you mention the size of the binary STL for the same file, since that's an option in a lot of software. Unfortunately my CAD doesn't export 3MF yet and file size really isn't a huge problem for me.

[@dougingraham5807]

I have been trying to find a way to get rid of the STL issue where the generated triangles are too large in Fusion 360. I was hoping that 3MF would do this. Unfortunately the sliced models from 3MF files made by the plugin are quite a bit worse for surface deviation than STL files generated using custom and pulling the surface deviation slider all the way to the left. You can see the issue if you make a vertical cylinder of about 150 mm diameter. There will be visible facets if you zoom in with the previewer. I am afraid I am going to have to write a program to generate gcode directly to get a smooth face. The Fusion 360 3MF plugin is not ready for prime time. I am pretty sure your clearance parts will suffer when sliced from a 3MF. I've only looked at this using Ideamaker so it could be different using other slicers. One other thing. 3MF models imported into your slicer show up at 1/10 the designed size. I had to scale to 1000% to get back to designed size. Very strange issue.

[@mortendamgaard1977]

Thanks for the tips. Danke für die Tipps Tak for tippet. Only to thank you in one language isn't enough 😆 Almost everyone in Denmark that are in to 3d printing knows the name Angus And Maker's Muse.

[@terkokrieger2721]

The way that I found to export .3mf files from fusion 360 is not practical. How do you do it?

[@moshikb]

Looking for the same answer...

[@OldCurmudgeon3DP]

It's not even an option I can locate in my version.

[@terkokrieger2721]

@@OldCurmudgeon3DP there is a old add in that you can install but it only works poorly

[@ProtonOne11]

for now, it's probably better to let fusion 360 spit out the STL, then open that in 3D Builder and convert it to 3MF

[@OldCurmudgeon3DP]

@@terkokrieger2721 that's what I've been hearing.

[@MrGoofy42]

Did you compare ascii/UTF-8 3mf files to the asci stm files? I am just wondering because the windows 3mf example files do not look very ascii but binary. So the compare would not have been fair

[@jimcoogan1529]

Great tips. Thanks.

[@troy1572]

Would Binary STL files be bigger than 3MF files though?

[@hanelyp1]

Binary STL is much smaller than typical ASCII STL. So it needs to be included for a fair comparison. On the other hand, STL stores each vertex repeated for each face, so an indexed vertex format might save substantial file space.

[@cesartarrazo]

Excelet tips!!! keep going!

[@dmytrozota1904]

Cool tips. Thanks

[@danon-theautisticmaker8112]

Very awesome! I'm looking into 3MF files right now. :-) I have a file that I've been wanting to modify & work with but the file is WAY to big. I'm going ot try & make it into a 3MF file & see what happens. *fingers crossed! Looking forward to the rest of the series. =-) **Addition - How do you, or is there a way (with using any of the free software plz) to convert an STL file to a 3MF file? Tried finding & doing it with Fusion 360, however with no luck at all. Help?

[@brynyard]

Well, an obj and stl is a very simple txt file with one line for each point and vertex index, its very trivial to parse and can easily be done sequentially without loading the entire file. A 3MF file on the other hand, is a zipped XML file that can have a dynamic structure for both vertex format and position format, so not only do you have to load the entire file first to decompress it (to a significantly larger file than both obj and stl), but you have to parse the xml structure (did I mention it is dynamic?). So from a software developers standpoint it is just a complete nightmare in comparison, the only reason a loader would be able to run faster on a 3mf file would be because the obj loader is really bad. Why they've created this format is beyond my comprehension, it is utterly useless for large files, and there's lots of better formats if you need the extensibility. I suspect this happened: xkcd.com/927/

[@belladonnaRoot]

*cringes at press-pull* As an engineer, I've had several issues caused by past people press-pulling a feature, and then modeling over it later, or not using a sensible value. I'm not saying it can't be done, or that it always causes issues; just that it can create an unintended pitfall for your future self. It's probably more of an issue in AutoCAD and older CAD systems, but I'd say that best-practice probably is to factor in the clearance other ways. My preferred method (if your CAD supports it) is to set the main extrusion at say "10mm - Clearance", or pattern it at "10mm + Clearance" spacing. I've found that my printer undersizes interior holes but prints outer surfaces accurately. So a washer would have an accurate +-.05mm OD (minus whatever first layer artifacts), but a 0.3mm undersized ID.

[@partsdave8943]

What about Binary STL size? They are usually small also.

[@akaHarvesteR]

It's smaller, but in the end it's just an STL file that you can't read in a text editor. It doesn't store any additional data.

[@beaconofwierd1883]

The X-Y clerance can be adjusted in most slicers, usually called "Hoirizontal expansion" or something like that

[@Blamm83]

Are the tolerances on your gauge also doubled? So is the 0.15 really a 0.3 gap or not?

[@MakersMuse]

For the clearance gauge the overall gap of the 0.15mm is 0.3 because surface to surface is 0.15 and it's on both sides. Because the example had adjacent clearances patterned it was doubled, but normally I do surface to surface offsets of different parts I want to fit together. Sorry for the confusion!

[@Blamm83]

@@MakersMuse ah surface to surface then I know what to use in my designs after testing with your gauge. Great job on that btw

[@Jolumbo86]

@@MakersMuse can you tell us where to find the stl or 3MF for that clearance gauge you have?

[@CS-PROD-i3s]

Hello Angus, I'm going to be traveling to Sydney for the first time, leaving in 10 days. It will be my first trip outside the United States. Are there any 3d printing or Maker events scheduled during the week of the 20th - 27th?

[@benjaminshields9421]

I never see any love for analog calipers. I absolutely love mine, which is accurate to the thousandth. Most digital calipers I see are only to the hundredth.

[@spikekent]

How do you generate 3mf files when designing in Fusion 360? It looks like F360 doesn't have this option yet, I don't know if AutoDesk are planning on adding it, I've tweeted the question but, so far, no reply.

[@w00tse]

That might be a very stupid question but I'm not an engineer. Several of your videos go into designing parts so they don't need supports when printed - but why is that important? In the example you've shown in this video, the part would have been lighter and smaller without the additional supports you've designed in. Or are you talking about "structural" supports instead of "printing" supports? So the model is more stable?

[@avejst]

Great tips Thanks for sharing :-)

[@youtubemakesmedothis7280]

My Win10 came with something called "Print 3D" that required 3D Builder to function. I had to download 3D builder and ignore five nag-screens to create a Microsoft account before being able to download it. It seems to only allow me to order prints at a cost. Do I really need this? Right now, it's taking at least an hour to "repair" a model that I have printed many times with no problem; the issue appears to be a brim that 3DB has created around the base of the model.

[@chloemcholoe3280]

I sometimes wonder how things would be if your slicer had a "tolerance" option. the models would be designed as if perfect and everyone would put their own tolerances in the slicer. but it'd be hard for the slicer to figure where it needs the tolerance unless we'd make a new format or something

[@OzAndyify]

I've wanted that too. If the slicer can identify islands via the normals then it should be able to add a tolerance. My slicer has a "thin walls" option that will print a wall that is too small for the extruder, sacrificing accuracy for completeness.

[@billcampbell6857]

Angus, how is the Fusion 360 Licencing change going to affect you - if at all?

[@MakersMuse]

yep, most likely. My case is weird, I'll email them.

[@octimus2000]

What happened?

[@hacklabdesign]

Great tips ! I’m buying the Photon S, stay tuned for my video on 3D scanning to SLA . Thnx for producing great content.

[@TangoDeltaDelta]

What's a good mesh repair tool for Linux? Thanks for the tip on 3mf file format.

[@dastiieto7651]

Hey Angus... Can Fusion 360 directly Export constructs to your recomment 3mf File format?

[@defaultdan7923]

I just some reaffirmation, I don’t care if this goes unnoticed, should I start with an anycubic I3 mega

[@architect9817]

what type of filament do you use

[@kurisutofusan]

What’s the use of clearance?

[@kwakeham]

3MF until recently wouldn't reload (if you hit the reload from disk) in Prusaslicer. It only took 4 years of complaints and lame duck answers of why they couldn't re-read the same filename!

[@aaronramly1705]

TIPS FOR BETTER PRINT - print everything in vase mode in s3d. it will be 3x more accurate than with normal printing. you can even see the polygon on the printed model. try a calibration cube in vase mode vs regular print with infill. the printer itself act differently. it will be quieter than normal. no more shaking,no ghosting & ringing. the corner will be sharper. no matter your resolution the top layer must be 0.5mm height. if u are printing 0.12,top layer must be 5. dont believe me. TRY IT ! note on some print, u may need to readjust extrusion multiplier higher than normal.