Design like a pro with shadow lines - 3D design for 3D printing

[@Distanc3]

This is exactly the type of content that I subscribe for.

[@provehitocobalt]

KONO POWA

[@noatreiman]

same

[@tsstn]

Michael, thank you for all the great content. You are a fantastic teacher. I have wanted to tackle so many projects over the years but did not know how to find what I needed to learn. I have overcome many hurdles like that one simply watching your videos. I have learned a substantial amount from you sir. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

[@dudule1232]

can't agree more.

[@DSIVXX]

And he likes racing😁

[@AdityaMehendale]

There is a fifth advantage too - if you wish to bond the parts together - e.g. with an MS-polymer, the shadow-gap creates a uniform thickness for the sealant, thereby giving a strong and consistent bond. Great tutorial! Cheers :)

[@BABALOOEY46]

Was just thinking it would be good for bondo… are shaddow lines good for plane wings?

[@AndrewAHayes]

@@BABALOOEY46 I would have thought mitred edges would be better, shadow lines would affect the aerodynamics

[@AdityaMehendale]

@@AndrewAHayes One would sand it flat, i imagine... (the entire gap would get filled up, so there should be no "gap" visible after bonding) The strength of an elastic joint (like an MS-polymer seam) comes from the fact that it shares its load over the entire seam instead of point-loading at one "hot-spot". To enable this, the cured "glue" needs to have some compliance. a thicker joint-line has more compliance; a paper-thin glue-seam would be very stiff. (analogous to how a longer noodle has more 'give' than a shorter noodle). By having a uniformly thicknessed fill-gap, you create a uniform and consistent compliance, but if you do it correctly, there should be not much visible seam afterwards ;)

[@AdityaMehendale]

PS - this rationale does not work when your cement has a higher modulus of elasticity than your base material (e.g. bondo and PLA). It is intended for soft bonders on a hard base - e.g. silicone and bathroom-tiles .

[@JonLake]

I personally use a similar technique to embed a custom o-ring for part that requires a better seal 🤌

[@Hugatry]

This is one of those processes that at first seems too complicated or time consuming, but after trying it a few times and learning the steps, there is no going back. Makes aligning/mating two halves easier AND hides imperfections in the seam? What's not to love!

[@kingyachan]

I feel like I'm in a university level industrial design course and my tutor actually wants me to pass. You're an unbelievably good dude, thanks so much for putting this stuff together for everyone to learn!

[@fayvis]

I've been a CAD instructor for years, and I learned something today. Fantastic video, you've got yourself a subscriber!

[@treelineresearch3387]

If you use Solidworks the "Lip and Groove" tool can make these features mostly automatically based on a parameter set. I've used it on a few little enclosures and unless you're working with really manky imported polygon geometry it works quite well.

[@JeromeDemers]

Thanks didn’t know even the ribs tools looks easy.

[@LifeonWheels]

even as a designer I still find these videos helpful and giving inspiration!

[@TS_Mind_Swept]

And if you want to reduce the sliding around further, I've found 0.1 mm to be a good offset for friction fit, otherwise 0.2 mm if you want them to slide but not necessarily lock (unless the parts are really small, than it needs to be bumped up a tad)

[@Isaac________]

You're just constantly putting out this amazing content. Thank you so much!

[@DS-th7wn]

I like to tighten the shadow line tolerance up a bit but chamfer the leading edge to give it some clearance. This channel has been a great learning tool and is also entertaining. Thank you for putting this much effort in to the content.

[@AntonyHart]

Wowzers - I knew there was something not right about the design I've been working on, but didn't know the solution. My design wasn't a simple shape like this, but based on your steps I worked out what was necessary to give me case a shadow line in the right spots. This was golden! Thank you. Printing now to test fit...

[@sebapolver]

I know these examples are made with loose tolerances, but this is the correct way of designing an assembly. You can even 3d print a gasket (with a flexible material) to put it in the interface. I see a lot of people here on KZbin 3d printing parts and using glue or other questionable technics for connect parts. Thank you for teaching (tech😁) how must be do it.

[@AmixLiark]

EXTREMELY USEFUL

[@dalkgamler]

Very nice video. Taking useful things from a similar industrie that's doing plastics and manufacturing for years and showing us how to do it.

[@renxula]

Though, 3d printers should remember not to cargo-cult solutions from injection molding, if they aren't really needed for printing. One example is cutting large holes in order to reduce weight. We can get better results with just infill (it can be faster to print and look better).

[@Slydog43UTube]

Love the patterned bed, had to order some for myself

[@ukrainewarroom]

where did you order from? I cant find them anywhere

[@DWIT3D]

I'll definitely consider shadow lines when I design from now on. Great video Michael. Another good use for shadow lines is to incorporate a gasket of some kind if you need to make your container water tight.

[@pcfwagner]

Me too

[@shyam-ravi]

It's amazing that such helpful content is available for free!

[@peterkallend5012]

I think I've been using shadow lines instinctively for a while now. I'm having trouble getting in the mindset for countersunk screws, sacrificial bridging and modeled internal structure. Once again, great video. I'm learning stuff I need to learn that isn't always the subject of your video by simple fact that you always include such concepts as part of your design process. Thanks for your great content.

[@timg6252]

Just a possibility but the gap in the butt joint might be due to the screw pulling the material up as it starts to cut the thread. A chamfer helps but isn't always enough. I've found that extruding a hole slightly larger than the thread diameter for the first 1mm gives that material somewhere to go. I do like the look of the shadow line though.

[@johnmoore5593]

That is a good idea. Have you experienced any issues with the threads pulling out when there is less total material to cut into? I haven't had any issues with self tapped threads but I've seen a lot of discussion of captive nuts, vs heat inserts, vs self cut threads and just wondering about your experience.

[@m.a.d.h.e.a.d]

That's simply a single best advice that moved my designs on the next level in 2023! Thanks TT!

[@Enjoymentboy]

I didn't even know that this was what I had been doing but I'm glad to know that it's actually something proper. lol. But based on what I saw here there are definitely some things I can tweak to do it in a more effective manner. Thank you for this.

[@GoldenAura32]

This is amazing. I have used this before but I did not know about the feature to select all the edges at once, I was clicking each one separately. The best part of all these videos is even if you know how to do something, it may not be the most efficient. Learning a different way to accomplish the same task can make the design process so much faster and professional looking.

[@joelpotischman248]

Great lesson as always, Michael. Another huge benefit that I don't think you mentioned is how this strengthens mated parts. With your box example all the shear stress between the two sides would be on the bolts, but the shadow line spreads that force out over the entire circumference, probably greatly reducing material fatigue and failures over time.

[@conorstewart2214]

With distances like he used most of the stress will still be on the bolts, the shadow line only starts spreading out that force after it has already deformed by the horizontal gap between the parts. Yes it may help with strength but it most likely will not help much with material fatigue.

[@izzydo3494]

Love your tutorials for onshape, I've learned how to design my own things now with your help. Thank you.

[@III-zy5jf]

I work a menial job. At home, I've spent over a year making a box exactly as shown. (I cut a plus out the fillet the inner corners; make the base and lid as separate parts.) Everything I did has been inefficient. You made the same box so simply. What an amazing video.

[@Just_some_guy74]

I'm currently designing a model as we speak that this addresses and solves my questions. PERFECT timing. Thanks for all the informative content and excellent tips.

[@MaximKachurovskiy]

They do it in molds to give some tolerance. In 3D prints we usually have higher precision so I extend the outer wall 0.2mm higher than the cut and get a perfect snap between 2 parts and no line.

[@conorstewart2214]

Exactly. Understanding why they do something when using a different manufacturing method is very useful rather than just copying it and thinking it must be better because other people do it. A lot of what needs done for other manufacturing methods doesnt apply to 3D printing. Yes this concept works in 3D printing too and has some benefits but there is no need to do it the same way that it is done for injection moulding. As you say 3D printing is generally more precise and consistent so the tolerances dont need to be anywhere near as loose. With 3D printing on a decently well calibrated machine or just if you know the accuracy of your machine you should be able to get a near perfect outer surface and a pretty good friction fit.

[@philippk736]

Injection moulding, when done right, has a much higher precision than 3D printing. You just have to use a manufacturer who knows what they are doing. At my company we order injection moulded parts where any error above 0.02mm is unacceptable which would never work with 3D printing. Additionally, injection moulding is much more repeatable because the environment is easier to control than for 3D printing. That's why one can easily find injection moulded parts without any shadow gaps, if one moves toward more premium products.

[@conorstewart2214]

@@philippk736 you clearly have never worked with 3D printing then. It is absolutely possible to reach that level of precision, even with FDM, if you properly calibrate the machine, and you can get even better results with resin printing.

[@sabar-q9p]

I have boxes behind me with hundreds of unique structural/functional ABS printed parts that need tight tolerances. 3d printing is very fiddly and reaching consistent accuracy across varying scales is very time consuming from my experience. Even a highly tuned small format printer like a Voron V0 will have a lot of inaccuracy if you calibrate to say, a 20mm x 20mm x 10mm object with thread cut bores 2mm deep then switch to a 140mm x 140mm x 100mm object with bolt/nut tightened friction holds 40mm deep. I print a lot of functional parts at varying scales with tight tolerances and excellent dimensional accuracy requires a lot of wasted prints. This is especially true with materials like ABS which have differential rates of expansion and contraction. You can't just throw any print in -- you have to sit there and modify everything. A "well calibrated machine" is only really calibrated for one specific type of print (say, ABS / no-supports / no-overhangs / thread cut vertical bores / 0.6mm layers / < 100mm square ). One last thing is that tight tolerances on what is basically a lap joint can be a major point of failure in 3d printing, especially for functional parts that will be exposed to stresses. ABS and PLA are both fairly brittle and different rates of expansion against thin, tight joints will fail over time.

[@REDxFROG]

​@@philippk736lol 0,02mm at which temperature? Raise it by 5 Kelvin and the smallest part would usually expand by more than 0,02. You're not talking about ABS or anything alike.

[@sierraecho884]

The shadow line is always used in car manufacturing. You can notice it the most around the glove box, the shadow line points downwards. This is usually a good practice, well done.

[@survival_man7746]

I like this type of joint, it reduce a lot the visual effect of surface imperfection. Thank you for this amazing video !

[@4thWardTechnology]

wow, I learned some new onshape techniques in addition to the shadow lines. Thank you.

[@jacobwood5579]

This the over center mechanism and the cam video are my favorites. You do a wonderful job of presenting how to use engineering and design principles in part design and manufacturing. I also really love your cad tips and tricks as someone who is self-taught. I'm always learning when watching your videos. Keep up the good work!

[@martinsmith2948]

ONCE AGAIN ABSOLETULY FANTASTIC THANK YOU SO MUCH

[@ZeeengMicro]

I have been searching for the Why and What shadow line since that day you mentioned it. Thank you for finally answering my question, I'm gonna try it on my next project.

[@erin.anderson]

This is a very cool little design trick for mated surfaces; i don't design a lot of this type of parts, but i will certainly keep this in mind the next time that i do.

[@Adnegoo]

Thats is a GREAT advice for product design for 3d print that a lot of ppl ignores. Also, theses videos using OnShape are great! I want to pivot to Fusion to Onshape for a long time, and content like this is slowly convince-me to do so. Just will wait for my overpriced-already-pay subscription to end.

[@KZ-yy9pm]

Makes perfect sense when joining 2 surfaces together you have surface area joining together. With just a flat printed surfaces there will only be the highest points touching leaving a gap. This can be minimized by sanding the 2 surfaces before joining or clamping but still not as much contact area as using a shadow line and like you also mentioned the lining up of parts becomes easier. I’ve watched your videos before but this video made me realize I need to sub, I don’t have anything against adults printing superhero busts or toys but this is the kind of content I seek. Thank you.

[@RomanoPRODUCTION]

thank you Michael for bringing this technical, it is so practical. I would have needed that for printing molds to make plaster parts.

[@gonegliding2966]

Thanks Michael. I used this technique to improve water resistance for the parts I 3D printed for the bike. Seems to work great.

[@BennyTygohome]

That is brilliant and something i wouldn't have thought of doing. I was a little lost in the technical slicing steps of the video, tangents and geometry etc, but i think when i begin attempting this myself it will make more sense to me as I'm doing it. THANK YOU

[@fredshorrock377]

Thanks for this video. I ran into this a lot with mating surfaces in my design. I will most definitely give it a try

[@mariusbecker467]

Things I see everyday not realising… Thank you! Great content.

[@nerddub]

excellent tip, I make quite a few multi-part designs this is going in the toolbox for sure!

[@Joshplv]

Great video, some CAD software might have built-in commands for making lips and grooves, but this demonstrates how this can be done if this is not available and also nicely demonstrates why this can be important when trying to design something that might need to be reproducible or manufacturable.

[@DerrickJolicoeur]

Just made my first design with shadow lines! Printing it now : )

[@drewmakesstuff]

I have used a similar method before in some of my designs, but I like your way of doing it much better.

[@AaronFlaming]

This is fantastic! Keep it up.

[@john-michaelcenters171]

Thank you! I will be adding these toy parts in the future!

[@andrevanrossum8408]

This is very nice. I am certainly going to use this technique. Thank you very much!!

[@ScottyHyndman]

This is my favourite kind of content. Thanks! :)

[@citratune7830]

Wow. Loved this. Learned about offset and use tools with this!

[@climbon3157]

This is such a good way for understanding how to make an oring seal. Thank you!

[@BABALOOEY46]

Glad you are getting some views for this high quality demonstration. 👍🏻

[@don.3s]

I studied product design but this is one of those less "important" design rules you forget (unlike draft/wall and rib thickness/...) Thanks for reminding me 👍👍

[@aL3891_]

great stuff man, love onshape/cad content

[@AmixLiark]

The offset technique is op! Tysm for this video!

[@ElyDooo]

This is awesome! Definitely gonna use this technique in my projects from now on, and modify past projects too for fun

[@AndreasLenze]

Great idea! Now, to brush up on my OnShape skills...!

[@professorsanjivkumargupta5595]

Somehow I was looking for this and had given up thinking that it may be too difficult. Thanks.

[@rickstaggs2376]

That's why they use something very similar on electrical Junction boxes. Thanks TT I honestly didn't even think of adding those!

[@flamewave000]

I just designed a case like this, but I also added a gasket that I'm going to print out in soft TPU. Trying to make it dust proof because the box will be living in a extremely dusty environment. The shadow line concept works really well for that.

[@Tomasitoke]

In addition to shadow lines I sometimes add a 0.5 or 1mm TPU gasket in-between the two surfaces, glued to one of them.

[@ryanonroy]

Been in product design for a while, and never referred to it as a "shadow line" before, probably a UK/Aus different between North America. On this side of the pond, we call that feature a "reveal" edge. Great video!

[@jasonransom]

Great content. Definitely looking forward to trying the shadow line technique in my next project.

[@dworkin7110]

Great video. Never even considered this idea.

[@wcbessinger]

Definitely going to try this Mike, thanks!

[@atltvhead2840]

Great tutorial! Love the offset extrude trick!

[@Bot_Brad]

You are really smart. I learn a lot from you

[@Jimmy___]

Thank you, I will try this. I would be interested in ways to quickly add connectors in OnShape for parts that require more than shadow lines. You can add them easily in OrcaSlicer/others but you have to redo everything if you change the CAD design. The biggest obstacle is that it takes SO long compared to adding the connectors in the slicer.

[@inventorbrothers7053]

I'm definitely going to be using this! Thanks so much!

[@3dmedicvince449]

Great information, and I couldn't help but notice that build plate and how it transfers the pattern to the print.

[@Alluvian567]

I like it, great video I will definitely be considering this next time I make mating surfaces like this.

[@hangman4011]

Another big benefit is you could feasibly add a gasket for an even better seal/compression seal on the edges.

[@spencereaston8292]

In woodworking we use a reveal. If you try to line up your trim piece flush at the edge to be trimmed it will end up looking bad due to the normal undulations in the wood. But if you offset the trim piece 3-6 mils, to the eye, all of that disappears.

[@RandleBond]

really helpful. same amazing new understanding for me in how to use onshape in this video

[@rmfberry261]

i didnt know those slight overlaps wer called shadow lines and i can see the benifits.. i would definitely choose tighter toleranes but the example tollerences you chose were very easy to see . i will definitely be using them on my keyboard cae.

[@iklink]

I think it's a great idea. with some sanding it would be even more perfect

[@GarageStudiosDesign]

Great channel, new to 3D and your info is easy to understand.

[@kennethbeal]

Thank you! Just fixed my printer, an Ender3 V2 Neo which had the "white dust/powder" issue in the thermistor causing temperature reading to vary too much and it would halt and screech. Looking to get into the design part, this will be very helpful, thanks again!

[@MrApache64AH]

Great video, with a great effect, thanks, keep them coming!!

[@thegenrl]

that bed that puts the simulated forged carbon on the part is A++

[@dotintegral]

Thanks for the vid. Now I'm excited to try out the shadow line in my next project!

[@KyleAndersonSkates]

I literally know nothing about 3D modeling or printing but this was a super interesting video!

[@KMack948]

You can move the offset to the opposite direction by just setting a negative dimension and it'll flip sides and show the new positive dimension.

[@artursmihelsons415]

Great tips and video! Definitely I will use them in next project.. 👍

[@808GT]

You are an excellent educator

[@wktodd]

Old design adage: if you can't hide it, emphasize it.

[@Golfboy-ze3le]

Awesome video! I will be giving it a try!

[@UnoriginalElephant]

I wish I had done something like this when I was printing a TUSH yesterday! I'll have to try this next time, but with tighter tolerances 😊

[@LiveWire937]

Important to note that this is not an airtight nor watertight seal by any means; for that you're going to want to add a gasket. The gap between the mating surfaces will be just as rough as the one without a shadow line, it's just been hidden around a corner, so you can't see it anymore. Your light gap test @7:04 is equal to turning a lamp on in one room, going down the hall and into another room, then stating the two rooms are "actually sealed" from each other based on the fact that you can't see the lamp anymore.

[@artemyevtushenko8722]

Video I didn’t know I needed.

[@xxportalxx.]

You can also elongate the inner seam and add detents, with a matching indent on the bottom half of the box, so that your box can snap together.

[@hojustraper]

Thanks Michael for sharing! Nice to learn about shadow lines! Would be nice to learn more about onshape designing tutorials. Thanks!

[@johnvodopija]

Thank you for the excellent tutorial. Cheers 👍😎🇦🇺

[@cjmerobot1204]

Nice build plate!

[@freescape08]

You talk about the shadow line like that's the important feature, and the mating lips are secondary, but it's really the other way around. The inside and outside lips overlap from a side perspective, so there is less opportunity for ingress, and more stability of the mating edge. However the shadow line is purely aesthetic, it hides the fact that a draft angle is present between the two halves. As far as I can recall from my classes, and a tour of an injection molding facility nearby, that's it. And it makes sense, it's just a break between surfaces.

[@slacksthegreat]

Definitely will use shadow lines.

[@KoreyMacGill]

So cool ! Thanks again!

[@upshift7571]

i'm usjng this immediately. thanks!

[@AndrewAHayes]

I am about to start on a handheld videogame design and had thought along the lines of mitred edges for the two halves of the case but having seen this I think shadow lines would be better.

[@bowieinc]

Yes. I will use this. Thank you.