Hi all. I am working on a rather complex cruiser and I am trying to figure out if I should go down the rabbit hole of 3D printing. Does anyone have any suggested resources for getting started, like a good tutorial on how to convert 2D plans to 3D images? Also, what software are you guys using? Any helpful tips would be most appreciated. Thanks.
I'm using Autodesk Inventor, a lot of people are going with Fusion360 (free for hobbyist and small time money gigs). There is a lot of accessible tutorial content available for Fusion 360, which is what I would suggest starting with if you're not already comfortable with and used to another package. Parametric solid modeling is pretty straightforward once you get your brain thinking of things the right way. Draw a sketch and then perform some form of operation with that sketch. Sweeping it as a profile down a path, extruding it, revolving it around an axis, using it to cut through another solid, etc.
A friend of mine taught himself how to draw using only youtube tutorials. I took a semester of Solidworks night classes at the local community college. Just start playing with it and do some thinking about what your needs are for "printing". That same friend that taught himself how to draw found out a cnc router actually worked better for his needs than a 3d printer. No reason to print flat pieces if you can cut it out 10x faster on a router.
i had a quarter of MechE on Solid Modelling w\ Solidworks, then did nothing with it for 10 years before getting a 3d printer. The basics stuck w\ me and certainly made it faster to get in to, but you can pick up Inventor at least from just the tutorial content that ships with it. Imagine Fusion360 is the same.
I don't know, but that artist certainly could have used YouTube. Maybe he would have learned that humans only have 2 arms and 2 legs.
I started off with 123D design this program works great fast learning curve. Sense then I have started using Fusion 360 this works much better the auto save feature awesome allowing you to back up when you mess up. And trust me that happens a lot. The other tool I found useful is clear transfer paper that you can print on via ink jet printer. I used this to print out a gridded lined paper in my case 5mm x 5mm then I could over lay it on my paper prints and trace over the outlines I wanted to print. Then using a poly line or curved line tool I could easily transfer the drawing grid for grid old school but it works.
