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

5 Tips to help you design better 3D Printable models. Got any more? Share them in the comments below!
Software Shown:
Autodesk Fusion 360
Autodesk Meshmixer
Windows 3D Builder
CAD for Newbies (FREE Fusion 360 tutorials) - • CAD For Newbies
Support Maker's Muse on Patreon
www.patreon.com/makersmuse?ty=h
50 3D Printing Tips and Tricks - gumroad.com/l/QWAh
3D Printing Essentials - www.amazon.com/shop/makersmuse

[@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.

[@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.

[@albertvillalobos1377]

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

[@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.

[@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.

[@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!

[@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.

[@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.

[@RyanKhoo]

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

[@jarnold2000]

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

[@dudedavid522]

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

[@CraigManning]

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

[@ryanwinget5456]

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

[@robertoneto6984]

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

[@user-qv6fs8if7o]

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

[@55ATA3]

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

[@kevinwalker2529]

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

[@Rouverius]

Thanks! Looking forward to the next one.

[@luckysolve]

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

[@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.

[@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

[@dim1723]

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

[@nickosnachos6624]

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

[@richardt6838]

Awesome tips. Cheers mate

[@olaruud9366]

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

[@ashtonsimmonds7042]

Super. Thanks for your effort and amazing channel.

[@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.

[@samanyunikam]

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

[@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!

[@jimcoogan1529]

Great tips. Thanks.

[@ConsultingjoeOnline]

Great tips. Thanks a bunch!

[@dmytrozota1904]

Cool tips. Thanks

[@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!!

[@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!

[@ein57ein]

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

[@baschz]

great tips. thanks!

[@charliedidio7421]

Great Ideas

[@cesartarrazo]

Excelet tips!!! keep going!

[@avejst]

Great tips Thanks for sharing :-)

[@samuelschwager]

Nice!

[@joenetherland712]

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

[@LouAdzima]

Great!

[@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.

[@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!

[@bluegizmo1983]

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

[@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!

[@watwsplace8614]

Thank you👍

[@MrTrollHunter]

Good tips..

[@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.

[@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.

[@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

[@KieranShort]

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

[@octimus2000]

Oh, I'm hating it

[@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.

[@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.

[@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.

[@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.

[@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)

[@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

[@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.

[@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.

[@hacklabdesign]

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

[@HenrikLaurell]

Thanks a lot for this video, very much appreciated. Even if I been doing cad for years, I managed to miss the 3MF train totally, even if I heard the name never really bothered to check it out. /Henrik

[@markusstaden]

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

[@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.

[@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?

[@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

[@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

[@beaconofwierd1883]

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

[@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...

[@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.

[@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.

[@darrenstyle4283]

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

[@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 😁

[@nova3d173]

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

[@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.

[@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.

[@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.

[@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

[@_JustBeingCasual]

@Maker's Muse, when I make a simple model I have holes that are 10mm; however printed it's 9.2 a 9.3mm; is there any way to fix that without having to modify the size of the hole itself? object size seems to be about right (outer sizes)

[@war4peace1979]

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

[@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

[@tylerfishingonthewater773]

yo man love the vids and your telling me if I download a thingverse file that has gaps and holes I could edit it in 3d builder and???????

[@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

[@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.

[@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?

[@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.

[@CSrefrig]

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?

[@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

[@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?

[@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.

[@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.

[@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.

[@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.

[@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/

[@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.

[@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.

[@lulamix445]

*Makers muse (3 years ago) how to convert .3mf to .stl file for 3d printing* 😂😂

[@armandoa2484]

Just have to know. If I save a 3mf file then won't the slicer change it to an stl anyway since the printers require stl files to print?

[@christopherlyons7613]

Slicers create .gcode files from the .stl, newer versions can do the same thing from .3mf files. So you don't need .stl at all.

[@101rotarypower]

Would love to see some projects and Tutorials how to go from a 3D scan, clean it up with mesh mixer while retaining resolution and critical geometry, and making it compatible to work with add and modify in f360 utilizing and converting to quads and brep so scams can be modified like a parametric solid. As well as if the patch environment can be utilized to work in the context of those topics. That whole topic is fuzzy and clunky and mysterious how to do it efficiently and well without sacrificing resolution and quality to move between file formats and compatibility of platforms.

[@BillieRuben]

Fusion really isn't a good option for altering scanned files. Reverse engineering is a whole can of worms.

[@ProtonOne11]

There are better tools for this than F360. But they are not free. Ansys Spaceclaim is very good for tasks like that, but you'll drop a few 1000$ for a full license...

[@101rotarypower]

@@BillieRuben Which is exactly why I really would like to see more information on the topic, slogging through the topic, and the information is scant and fractured on methods to do it at all let alone well or methodically. The method that I used was to import a scan into mesh mixer, worked with the file to clean it up. once primary work was completed there are specific file types that F360 will cope with to retain scanned geometry "well", and since my project only needed to add parametric geometry to the scan, it was a suitable environment to move into...The issue is it is so unclear and unintuitive how to best work from a scan to a parametric environment, and back. I know Angus has worked in many of those environments independently, and was hoping to inspire some interest in the topic... IMO, he is very talented at solidifying information from many different yet related disciplines into a working logical cohesive structure.

[@101rotarypower]

@@ProtonOne11 I am certain there are...I think in the context of the fundamental spirit of this channel, the hope was that it was implied How to do it within the DIY Maker tools readily avalible and commonly used and outlined here... It is possible, just very sparsely documented, and quite confusing how to stay on the path of retaining quality of scanned resolution. I am hoping this 3D scanned objects and being able to blend in parametric modeling becomes a bigger thing soon. the scanning tools are getting Very accessible, anyone with a newer iPhone has a pretty decent 3D scanner in their pocket now that is quite capable of holding ~1mm tolerances in smaller scanning volumes!