TheRailwire
General Discussion => 3D Printing => Topic started by: bbussey on February 15, 2022, 11:01:57 PM
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In the past month, I’ve been experimenting with various AnyCubic and Elegoo resins to gauge the results. I still have some to test, but what I’ve used to date has been educational. I always use what I learn and then push the envelope to expand possibilities beyond what has been tried. Some observations and thoughts:
- I have a bottle of Nova3D transparent clear resin, my first deviation from AnyCubic and Elegoo. It’s supposed to be the best transparent clear available, with results akin to glass. We will see, as I will use it to attempt to print rolling stock glass starting with the Budd RPO. It also should be possible to print objects that include glass features, such as vehicles and table settings, to basically do with 3D printing what Trainworx does with its truck line, injection-molding in clear plastic and painting around the glass features. Automobiles with flush glass should be achievable, as stepping can be sanded out and the model then polished to restore the sheen.
- The Elegoo ABS type resin has been interesting. The crispness of detail is just a tad under the standard AnyCubic resin results. But the flexibility of thin parts is impressive. Stirrups in the MTL style can be rendered and durable due to the flexibility of the material. It leads me to try two tests. The first would be functioning passenger car diagrams for MTL heavyweights and Kato lightweights, similar to the ALM diagrams but in one piece. I have the digital models already and have rendered them in FXD. They are passible, but not as clean due to all the needed build supports. I think I can build them vertically with minimal support. The second test will be to see how thin a rectangular part, say 3”x3”, can be rendered on edge vertically. In theory, it should be possible to print a tankcar skin with rivet detail and wrap it smoothly around a core. If that’s possible, it would simplify the hardest construction step on the acid tank and have no stepping to contend with. The dome wrapper also could be printed, theoretically.
I just upgraded my machine again tonight by adding a removable magnetic flexible build plate. It’s costing me 2mm off the Z axis but that still allows me to print passenger cars and large building walls vertically. This will make it much easier to remove printed objects and set up for the subsequent print batch. I have to let the 3M adhesive set for a couple of days, then onto AnyCubic aqua resin testing. I have plenty of stuff to do in the interim.
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May the products you make "resinate" with the model railroad community.
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line,
- The Elegoo ABS type resin has been interesting. The crispness of detail is just a tad under the standard AnyCubic resin results. But the flexibility of thin parts is impressive. Stirrups in the MTL style can be rendered and durable due to the flexibility of the material. It leads me to try two tests. The first would be functioning passenger car diagrams for MTL heavyweights and Kato lightweights, similar to the ALM diagrams but in one piece. I have the digital models already and have rendered them in FXD. They are passible, but not as clean due to all the needed build supports. I think I can build them.
I was hoping that you might try this. Please would you let me know when you are ready for orders for the Kato Budd diaphragms? Thank you.
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Kenji Toma at Toma Model Works in Japan made some simple N scale 3D couplers and built a test jig to see if they would break.
https://twitter.com/tomamodelworks/status/1490221380788690944
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Maybe replicating the Kadee whisker method makes better sense than trying to replicate the AccuMate method when it comes to the centering springs. Something to contemplate.
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Kenji Toma at sToma Model Works in Japan made some simple N scale 3D couplers and built a test jig to see if they would break.
https://twitter.com/tomamodelworks/status/1490221380788690944
I obviously cannot read the text, but that coupler does not look printed to me. The pocket and the cam obviously are.
I’m more interested in a straight line pull load test, which I will be doing soon.
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I obviously cannot read the text, but that coupler does not look printed to me. The pocket and the cam obviously are.
I’m more interested in a straight line pull load test, which I will be doing soon.
Completion of coupler's beard spring torture device. It is calculated that you will shake your head about 2,000 times a minute, but how long will you endure it?
Achieved about 500,000 times by turning over 4 hours. No change in tentacles or visual inspection. It's stronger than I expected. Round up here and start another test from tomorrow.
Following the coupler test, I checked the creep condition. 1. Fix and leave with shaking head 2. Creep after 24 hours 3. After warming with a dryer for about 10 seconds, it naturally returned to its original state (the plastic itself was not bent back by hand). It will return to its original state naturally with just the stress release force.)
https://twitter.com/tomamodelworks/status/1486626833089298433
Prototyping. Can it be used? It is a coupler that can be screwed as an alternative to "KATO N Gauge Magne Matic Coupler No.2001". We have added rail connection and central restoration functions to the current knuckle coupler.
I can't find the post right now, but he was including dummy couplers with his kits and wanted to make a simple working coupler to include.
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Toma Model Works makes wonderful kits. I felt fortunate to buy his Baldwin conversion of the Minitrains F&C 0-4-0T&T before they sold out. Now I am waiting on some nifty Kato spoked wheels for his FUD ore wagons. I bought an extra car because I was worried I would break the brittle FUD. In view of the robust ABS that you tested, I hope that he changes his material. Thank you for sharing your experience with the ABS resin.
(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/28/3785-210222020645.jpeg) (https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=28102)
please-oh-please-oh-please-oh-please let my upload attempt be successful…
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Toma Model Works makes wonderful kits. I felt fortunate to buy his Baldwin conversion of the Minitrains F&C 0-4-0T&T before they sold out. Now I am waiting on some nifty Kato spoked wheels for his FUD ore wagons. I bought an extra car because I was worried I would break the brittle FUD. In view of the robust ABS that you tested, I hope that he changes his material. Thank you for sharing your experience with the ABS resin.
(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/28/3785-210222020645.jpeg) (https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=28102)
please-oh-please-oh-please-oh-please let my upload attempt be successful…
Are those from his Shapeways shop?
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I obviously cannot read the text,
@Lemosteam ...If you are using Chrome browser then right click anywhere in the white space of the page and scroll down to menu item "Translate to English"
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Are those from his Shapeways shop?
Yes, I bought them from his Shapeways store. The photo shows the cars I purchased.
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So Bryan’s brilliant membrane technique is creating new possibilities for truck design and printing and for Keystone Details.
Attack of the PRR class 2D-F8 class trucks, like the 2D-F12, it was used on so many PRR classes of boxcar it is almost ubiquitous.
Although I could print nearly 70 on the build plate, I chose 24 for this exercise.
(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/28/2711-210222192809.jpeg) (https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=28112)
Each truck is on its own raft, but the bloom blends them together like a snap off block.
(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/28/2711-210222192836.jpeg) (https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=28113)
Here is a horrible closeup of the supports of the side. The tiny wires support the tips of the brake shoes that hang down.
(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/28/2711-210222192856.jpeg) (https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=28114)
This is a rear view showing the center bolster support, and the six 1mm risers to support the bolster. They require some slight shaving to remove the unavoidable bloom around the pins to reduce the thickness to design intent, so that the MT pin will be proud of the truck bolster to allow the truck to pivot properly
(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/28/2711-210222192915.jpeg) (https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=28115)
Here are the trucks on a Fine N Scale chassis.
(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/28/2711-210222192937.jpeg) (https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=28116)
A drill with a 0.5mm spherical engraving bit cleans out the pocket perfectly, for a nice rolling truck. The parts are very close to design intent dimensions and function well. I am also hoping that different resin will improve detail.
This is the biggest break for me and may very well eliminate my SW truck offerings to become home prints, especially being able to print en masse. Yay. Finally a viable breakthrough.
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Sweet. If you space out the inner cones to make up for the grow the axles will pop right in with no work.
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I prefer the clean pockets, as each pocket seems to grow a little differently, depending on how muck resin settles in there. I have you to thank as well. Do you recall what brand the Yellow clear resin you used when I sent you the truck files? I was looking at them wondering if I could improve on the supports you used which led me to this idea. The yellow resin looked really clean and the detail is nice.
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John, does this mean you might be reconsidering producing your own parts for sale instead of using Shapeways? I been holding off on getting the fox trucks and SD40-2 upgrades because I ran into a lot of issues recently with another Shapeways purchase.
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Time to start expanding the horizon. New tests regarding the acid tankcar. The majority of the parts will be standard resin, with the body wrapper rendered in the ABS-type resin at 0.5mm thick to start. Might have to go thinner but I'm going to start with that. The main core parts are designed and ready to print. Going to try to get away with the dome not needing a wrapper. There is rivet and grab iron mount detail, but I'm hoping the stepping is not apparent or easily sanded without losing the detail. The dome wrapper was hard enough to handle in brass, so I'm hoping I can avoid it here altogether. I'll start this printing sometime tomorrow, it will be finished within a couple of hours. I still have to turn the wrapper below into a 3D part, and include the lower plate.
(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/28/1534-220222000002-281092133.png)
(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/28/1534-220222000002-28109668.png)
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I print steam loco boilers at 23 degrees and haven't had any stepping. Make sure the dia of the tank circle has a high number of segments.
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Bryan, have you thought about printing a bending jig for the auto rack that has been stuck in development hell for the last few years? It seems to me a printed multi-process bending jig might be the way to go. It would take a lot of resin, but you'd only need to make one or two and the process should be pretty smooth if mounted in a vise.
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We've thought about using a jig in the past. Would have to come up with a foolproof design so that we don't lose any wrappers in the process. We've lost our 28" wheels source in the form of FVM, and I think we lost our printer also, not sure on that. Our deco backup was MTL, but that was pre-fire and pre-pandemic. They don't have the capacity to do it now. It's a shame because they printed the first GTW wrapper attempt and it was exquisite. I should build one of the printed wrappers just for the hell of it, as I have all of the components to assemble it.
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We've thought about using a jig in the past. Would have to come up with a foolproof design so that we don't lose any wrappers in the process. We've lost our 28" wheels source in the form of FVM, and I think we lost our printer also, not sure on that. Our deco backup was MTL, but that was pre-fire and pre-pandemic. They don't have the capacity to do it now. It's a shame because they printed the first GTW wrapper attempt and it was exquisite. I should build one of the printed wrappers just for the hell of it, as I have all of the components to assemble it.
Hopefully you guys can get a printer, I was really looking forward to these.
As for wheels, I see NWSL makes 28" wheels, but no photo, so I have no idea how they look compared to the FVM ones.
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As for wheels, I see NWSL makes 28" wheels, but no photo, so I have no idea how they look compared to the FVM ones.
The NWSL makes nice wheelsets, but compare their price to FVM! Yikes!
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Bryan, you should try out ESM wheelsets :trollface:
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We won’t have our own 28” wheels until we rerun the well cars, which tentatively is scheduled for winter 2023/24. It really can’t be justified until then unfortunately.
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First attempt at the new acid tank core. I don’t think the rivets are visible but I have to prime to confirm. The grab iron holes on the non-platform dome appear to be missing, but again, have to prime. Some other cheats I added for FXD have to come out and some new cheats for SLA are needed. But overall, a very good start. The body core and end caps definitely can be used as is. The dome hatch detail is strong. The only question at the moment is if the rivets and grab iron holes need beefing up.
Anxious to try the wrapper. Probably sometime this weekend.
(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/28/1534-220222151826-281241213.jpeg)
The magnetic spring steel build plate is awesome btw. With just a slight flex of the plate, the suction is relieved and the pieces easily slide off. For this build, I did not include the reverse draft on the raft because I don't need it anymore to get the parts off the plate.
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We've thought about using a jig in the past. Would have to come up with a foolproof design so that we don't lose any wrappers in the process. We've lost our 28" wheels source in the form of FVM, and I think we lost our printer also, not sure on that. Our deco backup was MTL, but that was pre-fire and pre-pandemic. They don't have the capacity to do it now. It's a shame because they printed the first GTW wrapper attempt and it was exquisite. I should build one of the printed wrappers just for the hell of it, as I have all of the components to assemble it.
A 3d printed jig could actually be made to fit the individual contours of the etching. plastic wrap over the painted surfaces should protect the paint while in the jig. Have you contacted Kadee for painting quotes? They have similar equipment to MTL if I'm not mistaken.
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I don't believe that Kadee does. The MTL test was done with the same printer they use for the 4C projects they produce now such as the weathered rolling stock.
The folding jig is the least of the issues for that project at the moment. To start – no printer, no wheels. Can't do anything until those points are rectified at minimum.
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I discovered belatedly that the Thrall circus flatcars had ratchet brakes, after I had constructed my three models with brakewheels. At first, I was going to let it go, since the bodies are painted and detailed already. But then I remembered I have a digital ratchet brake for the upcoming G26 variations, which is based on the ratchet brake used on the BLMA 52’ gondola model. So I prepped them and printed a tray full. They are tiny but they did render.
(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/28/1534-250222083443-28154465.jpeg)
This is to check how they looked on the model. The Ajax brakebox and brakewheel were subsequently removed, as was the fulcrum and bottom two links on the ratchet brake. The ratchets were epoxied in place. The area will be hand-painted tonight.
(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/28/1534-250222083316-281482001.jpeg)
The parts were so small that I put them in capsules to cure them. I didn’t want to leave them on the runner in case it would be more difficult to remove them. Pre-curing, they easily snapped off.
(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/28/1534-250222083316-281482219.jpeg)
Prior to that, I had put them in a paper towel and blue-taped the edges to seal before putting in the sonic cleaner. I had snapped off maybe ten pieces from their runners while removing them from the printing plate. The sonic cleaner dislodged the blue tape! Fortunately the paper towel stayed folded over so all of the loose parts were still inside.
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Nicely done on that chain! I printed some ho scale turnbuckles recently. It was pretty satisfying. Much like your results are.
I’d love to see the cad of the chain. That’s geeky goodness to me.
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Would be interesting to see that printed vertically with the box at the boiled plate. You might achieve holes in the chain if they are there in CAD, and you would not need supports under the chain.
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RE the magnetic build plate that has come up in this thread and in another one...I asked about these awhile back and the response was ummm not so great:
https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=51437.msg698247#msg698247
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If I were making static models I might consider see-through links, but only briefly. It’s N scale and these will be operating models, no reason to get crazy. This is the new ESM G26 ratchet brake slightly modified at the fulcrum, and is a variant of the current G26 Ajax brakebox and similar to the BLMA ACF gondola ratchet brake. No one’s ever complained about either of those models. Also, they build in under 15 minutes as they are. The supports are on the ratchet box and the fulcrum, no supports on the chain. Looks great as is, both to the naked eye and in close-up photos.
The last flex build plate thread had a number of people singing its praises.
https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=53633.0
It appears they’ve improved in a year’s time.
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Nicely done on that chain! I printed some ho scale turnbuckles recently. It was pretty satisfying. Much like your results are.
I’d love to see the cad of the chain. That’s geeky goodness to me.
I did some turnbuckles and queen posts for the HOn30 Maine Two-foot equipment last summer. It took a fair bit of tweaking to get them so that the turnbuckles were "cored" for the truss rods, but I got there eventually. Also did stirrup steps, car body bolsters and stake pockets.
I did try doing the ratchet and pawl, but just couldn't get the teeth on the ratchet to print. Precision scale makes excellent injection molded styrene parts (as well as brass parts made from those), so it's not so much of a big deal.
Another good use for your 3D printers... Custom NBW's. Any size and shape you could want.
Jeff
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The NWSL makes nice wheelsets, but compare their price to FVM! Yikes!
True, but NWSL wheels are available. But I get it, def one of those would increase the cost of the car
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ESM wheels are available and have added detail to the back of the wheels.
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ESM wheels are available and have added detail to the back of the wheels.
True, but they don't do a 28" wheel yet
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And won’t be until the well cars are rerun in 2023.
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Took a break tweaking the New Haven P-S baggage-lounge to try the latest design of the FGE ex-PRR R7. This is the first attempt using the membrane base. I also wanted the complex ends printing face-up but didn't want to deal with separate ends due to the complex sides. So I merged the roof into the body to have a consistent tubular cross section and then cut the car in half at the side of the door rods.
(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/28/1534-040322013518-282651867.jpeg)
(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/28/1534-040322013517-28187137.jpeg)
(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/28/1534-040322013517-281872451.jpeg)
The halves are just placed together in the third photo and are not glued as of yet. The prints rendered perfectly from what I can see. The cross cut is staggered because the rods are not centered on the door. The top stagger will be hidden from view by the roofwalk, the bottom one is inside of the centersill and cannot be seen.
I printed three and cleaned up one to the point where the parts mount flush. They still need to be cured, which I will do after the mating faces of the other two cars are made true. The car weight will have to be cemented/epoxied to one end, and can be used as an alignment guide to join the two halves.
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Mark 4 did their PRR boxcar the same way.
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Took a break tweaking the New Haven P-S baggage-lounge to try the latest design of the FGE ex-PRR R7. This is the first attempt using the membrane base. I also wanted the complex ends printing face-up but didn't want to deal with separate ends due to the complex sides. So I merged the roof into the body to have a consistent tubular cross section and then cut the car in half at the side of the door rods.
(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/28/1534-040322013518-282651867.jpeg)
(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/28/1534-040322013517-28187137.jpeg)
(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/28/1534-040322013517-281872451.jpeg)
The halves are just placed together in the third photo and are not glued as of yet. The prints rendered perfectly from what I can see. The cross cut is staggered because the rods are not centered on the door. The top stagger will be hidden from view by the roofwalk, the bottom one is inside of the centersill and cannot be seen.
I printed three and cleaned up one to the point where the parts mount flush. They still need to be cured, which I will do after the mating faces of the other two cars are made true. The car weight will have to be cemented/epoxied to one end, and can be used as an alignment guide to join the two halves.
This is brilliant!
I wish I had 1/10th the talent you have.
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This is brilliant!
I wish I had 1/10th the talent you have.
No kidding right ?
Randy
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I was a long-time employee for a manufacturer of plastic lab products and health aids who designed the bulk of their products in house. The director of the engineering department taught me SolidWorks in 2002. I learned how to use CorelDraw in the mid-1980s. Been using both continuously for solid model design and graphic design respectively. I drew most of the G26 gondola in CorelDraw long before learning SolidWorks. It took some time to perfect the solid model version after importing the Corel vector drawings. Bottom line is that it has been decades of skill-building with both tools. I also had the advantage of starting to work with both tools shortly after they were introduced to the market. Started with version 3 of CorelDraw and the 5th release of SolidWorks. Both products have advanced tremendously since they were introduced.
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I have more time than money for sure, why haven't I taken it upon myself to learn at least fundemental skills to make my interurban parts?
Internet porn....
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Modelers here have used less sophisticated CAD utilities to create extraordinary models in a short learning curve. Sketch-Up is very powerful and not cost-prohibitive.
The key is training yourself to see things in basic geometric shapes. Rectangles, circles and triangles. That’s what I was taught eons ago regarding basic drawing, whether objects or portraits. In the case of 3D, it’s cubes, globes and pyramids. Solid modeling basically is a collection of extrusions and cut extrusions of 2D shapes from various planes. X (top), Y (side) and Z (front) planes always with additional planes added as needed. Once you understand the concept, designing comes easily. Your just transcribing measured dimensions to digital form.
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I can't agree enough with what Bryan has to say here, and wish only to add one little thing: dive in. Don't look at something and think that you can't do it. There may be a learning curve but you'll get there, and there are plenty of resources out there.
Modelers here have used less sophisticated CAD utilities to create extraordinary models in a short learning curve. Sketch-Up is very powerful and not cost-prohibitive.
The key is training yourself to see things in basic geometric shapes.
I started with basic shapes: 35' containers, the best part of a decade ago. They are in the bottom left of the image below, and consisted mostly of cubes of various sizes... the tugboat was a project last year. There's no way I'd have been able to consider something like that when I started.
(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/28/5350-050322115413.jpeg) (https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=28283)
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Modelers here have used less sophisticated CAD utilities to create extraordinary models in a short learning curve. Sketch-Up is very powerful and not cost-prohibitive.
The key is training yourself to see things in basic geometric shapes. Rectangles, circles and triangles. That’s what I was taught eons ago regarding basic drawing, whether objects or portraits. In the case of 3D, it’s cubes, globes and pyramids. Solid modeling basically is a collection of extrusions and cut extrusions of 2D shapes from various planes. X (top), Y (side) and Z (front) planes always with additional planes added as needed. Once you understand the concept, designing comes easily. Your just transcribing measured dimensions to digital form.
This is very helpful Bryan, but to the beginner it is still not very intuitive. I guess visualizing what shapes to use, and how to manipulate them is something that has to be learned by experience. I learned that especially with the simpler CAD programs (like TinkerCAD), you have to learn to make "tool objects' which you then use to "subtract" or remove areas from object you are designing in order to produce the specific shape you are designing.
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I'd been considering a split down the middle print strategy, but hadn't jumped on it due to concerns with how the joint would look. Im impressed how clean it is on the side, I'm assuming you did a little touch up sanding to flatten both surfaces and make the match?
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Let me add that doing a few of the beginner tutorials for the program you're trying to learn, following them through from start to finish, helps a LOT to grasping the concepts. Sometimes it takes doing the same tutorial several times over but eventually it clicks. What starts as confusion begins to make sense as you see how the program works with the information you've input. If you could graph the learning curve it would be a very slightly rising slope line for quite a distance and then will turn a tight radius 90 heading vertical. There's an aha moment and the rest becomes fun. :)
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This is very helpful Bryan, but to the beginner it is still not very intuitive. I guess visualizing what shapes to use, and how to manipulate them is something that has to be learned by experience. I learned that especially with the simpler CAD programs (like TinkerCAD), you have to learn to make "tool objects' which you then use to "subtract" or remove areas from object you are designing in order to produce the specific shape you are designing.
I guess I wasn’t clear enough. By “seeing objects as geometric shapes” I mean that you shouldn’t look at the entire object as a whole as that is too daunting for anyone no matter how experienced. Break it down visually into a collection of geometric shapes (or more accurately, multiple collections of geometric shapes grouped together) and concentrate on each of those. Think of it as a large Lego project. My wife built the Lego two-foot tall Empire State Building last year and was having trouble starting (1,800 parts) until she started visualizing each sub-assembly instead of the entire building. Once she did that, she breezed through assembly. She later added the lighting which required some strategic disassembly and reassembly to install.
(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/28/1534-060322092235-282791463.jpeg)
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That is a beautiful model, and love the lighting!
I do understand that the object we are designgin needs to be broken down into simpler shapes which make up the object.
What I was trying to say in my post was that the more basic CAD programs have very basic tools for creating complex shapes. I've been following 3D printing posts here and on another forum and as I understand in programs such as TinkerCAD and even SketchUp, you need to start with some simple shape and in order to make it into what you need, you have to create other objects which you will then use to"take away" from the original simple object in order to arrive at the desired shape. You use those secondary shapes to "chisel" or "trim" off parts of the original object (like sculptor who takes a piece of granite and chisels away all the unwanted rock, creating a scuplture).
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That's essentially true. You start with your base part which will be an extrusion of a sketch on the starting plane of your choice. Then you will continue to add extrusions from additional sketches, or "chip away" at the part with cut-extrusions based on additional sketches. The general process is the same regardless of the CAD program you are using. Some of the more advanced programs will include "shortcuts" to achieve desired features, but the end result usually can be achieved in all CAD programs but with additional effort.
I'll start another thread later tonight with a screenshots of a project starting, which will help clarify the process.
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This is something I started tinkering with today .. so far I used triangle shape, and square shape from tinkercad .. lots of work yet to do .. but it illustrates the point of geometric shapes
(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/28/3-060322164355.jpeg)
(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/28/3-060322174910.jpeg)
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I'm a huge fan of Fusion 360 since it can be had for free if you aren't using it to design prints you are going to make money off of. If you are it is probably still worth looking into buying it. At this point I would probably buy it if I had to since I'm so addicted to it.
Lots of online tutorials also and fairly easy to use in my mind. Within a month I was turning out projects worthy (for me) to print and use or save to use later. I've got a lot of them up on thingiverse.com ( https://www.thingiverse.com/sumner/designs ). I'm not where some of these guys are designing loco's and cars but still making useful stuff. I got as much satisfaction out of some of my first simple projects as I do with some of my later designs.
Don't think you need to start with a simple CAD program, just use the simple stuff with a better CAD program and move to the more advanced features over time. Download it (free) use it for a bit and make up your mind. I use to use Sketch-up and still do for 2 dimensional drawings but use Fusion for all my 3D printer stuff.
You do need to renew it each year but that only takes a few minutes and as long as you aren't using it commercially it remains free. Here is a link to the renewal but think it has a link if you are downloading it for the first time....
https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/fusion-360/learn-explore/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/How-to-renew-your-hobbyist-enthusiast-license-for-Fusion-360.html
Sumner
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Thanks guys. A basics tutorial will be most welcome Bryan.