Tutorial 2 – Intro to Blender 1. Open the Blender Software

a. The default profile will look something like this:

2. To start off we will configure a new start up profile. This will save time for future modeling. a. Press the A key to unselect the cube and press it once more to select everything. b. Press the Delete key

i. A small window will pop up asking if you are sure you want to delete everything. Left click or press Enter.

c. Next we want to set the scale of the grid to be similar to that of the build plate on the

MakerBot. Although the exact size of objects will be set in MakerWare, this will make it easier when importing STLs into MakerWare later.

i. In the 3D toolbar click View (lower left corner) and select Top.

ii. Click on the Grease Pencil Tab located to the left of the window and select Ruler/Protractor.

iii. Left Click and hold while dragging to measure the width of the grid. 1. It should have a value of somewhere around 16.

**Note: Blender does not have units associated with it, however, when importing to MakerWare these values are interpreted as millimeters

iv. The build plate of the MakerBot Replicator 2X is 240mm x 160mm so scaling the grid

by a factor of ten should be sufficient. 1. In the 3D toolbar click View > Properties. A new toolbar will appear. 2. Expand the Display tab, type in 10 next to Scale and press Enter.

a. You may have to zoom out to see the full grid.

v. Next we’ll adjust a few settings that will make the software easier to use. 1. Click File > User Preferences.

a. Click the Input tab and under Select With: click Left

b. Next select the Add-ons tab make sure Import-Export: STL format

is selected, as well as Mesh: 3D print toolbox

c. Click Save User Settings and close the window. 2. Finally click File > Save Startup File

a. Now the current set up will appear anytime the software is opened. **Note: to restore the start up to the original settings, simply click File > Load Factory Settings

3. Now that the User Preferences are set, we will move on to some common modeling functions. a. Boolean Modifier: This function can be extremely useful. Some of the more common uses

are for providing a flat surface that an object can print on, and for breaking up objects that are too large to print. There are three variations of the Boolean modifier:

1. Union - merges two objects into one. 2. Difference – Creates an object based on the differences between two

objects. 3. Intersect - forms an object based on where two others intersect.

ii. The latter two are a little less intuitive and have examples that follow. Difference:

i. In the 3D toolbar click Add > Mesh > Monkey. 1. Scale it to a workable size by pressing the S key, dragging the cursor away

from the object, and then Left Clicking. **Note: if you drag the cursor too small, the object will mirror and then upscale. This can be both useful and wasteful if it has not been caught before printing an object not intended to be mirrored.

2. In the Properties toolbar under Rotation: type 90d in the Y box. 3. Unselect by pressing the A key and then in the 3D toolbar click Add >

Mesh > Plane 4. Scale the plane large enough to bisect each half of the monkey.

5. Select the monkey and then click the modifier icon and Add Modifier > Boolean in the far right toolbar

a. Modifier icon:

6. Select Difference and Plane

7. Click on the eye icon next to “Plane” and then select apply. a. If working properly only half of the monkey will remain however,

occasionally the program will experience issues (below is one such example).

b. Because of the way the monkey is modeled, the bottom eye is not recognized in the Boolean modifier. The desired result can be achieved by using a cube rather than a plane, but this is a good opportunity to learn another useful feature.

8. In the 3D toolbar change Object Mode to Edit Mode and then change the

display to Wireframe.

a. Press the A key to unselect all b. Select the lower object by pressing the B key and boxing the object

(Hold Left Button and drag cursor).

c. Press the Delete Key and select Vertices.

d. Return to Solid Display and Object mode

9. Using a similar process the other half of the monkey can be made in which both sides could be printed and glued together, thus eliminating the need for support material.

Intersect:

iii. For this example we are going to import an STL file. 1. Press Control + N and then Enter (or File > New > Load New Start-Up File) 2. Click File > Import > STL (.stl) and locate 613_Transfer_Tower.STL

a. It will most likely be much too large to see. 3. In the 3D toolbar click Object > Transform > Geometry to Origin

a. The object still may not be in the view frame.

4. Press the S key and move the cursor towards the origin and Left Click.

a. This will need to be repeated until the object is small enough to be seen in the view frame.

5. Next click Object >Transform > Geometry to Center of Mass

a. This tends to make it easier to rotate the object. 6. In the 3D toolbar locate the Manipulate Icons and click the image that

looks like an arc. This will allow you to rotate the object.

**Note: The arrow allows you to translate in the corresponding axis and the icon to the right of the arc allows you to scale in the corresponding axis.

a. Clicking and dragging one of the colored arcs allows you to rotate along the corresponding axis.

iv. Once the object is imported, scaled, and properly oriented, unselect the structure

and click Add > Mesh > Cube 1. Using the manipulating icons create a box that encompasses the middle of

the structure. 2. It may be useful to use the measuring tool and manually type in the

dimensions for each axis (in the Properties toolbar under Transform).

v. Next select the 613 structure. Click Add Modifier > Boolean and select Intersect and Cube

vi. Click the eye icon next to “Cube” and Apply.

vii. The object should now look something like this:

viii. By rotating the object and translating in the z- direction the structure can now be

printed without support material.

4. Thickening Walls is something that is often necessary for 3D printing, especially when

significantly altering the scale of an object. Despite being capable of printing to a resolution of .1mm, wall thicknesses are recommended to be above 1 mm to avoid extremely fragile objects. There are many ways to thicken walls in Blender; however, two common methods are the Solidify Modifier and Extrude.

a. The Solidify Modifier: i. Press Control +N and then Enter

ii. Click Add > Mesh > UV Sphere iii. Change Object Mode to Edit Mode and Solid Display to Wireframe

iv. In the 3D toolbar click View > Front v. Press the A key to unselect all and then the B key and select the region shown:

vi. Press the Delete Key and click Vertices.

vii. Next return to Object Mode and Solid Display. We now have a model to

demonstrate the solidify modifier on. The object should look something like this:

viii. Select the modifier icon

Click Add Modifier > Solidify and type 1.5 into Thickness and then click Apply

**Note: the solidify modifier tends to work best on simple shapes like this where surfaces do not intersect. If you are having issues, odds are your object is non-manifold.

ix. To make the object look a little smoother click Add Modifier > Subdivision Surface

and then change View: to 3 and click Apply

x. These features can be extremely useful; however, they tend to have strange results with STL’s imported from SolidWorks. In this case the walls will need to be manually thickened.

b. Manual Thickening:

i. Press Control +N and then Enter ii. Click File > Import > STL (.stl) and locate CH2C1.stl

iii. Again the object may be too large to see in the view frame. iv. Rescale and reorient the object until it looks similar to below:

v. Next select Edit Mode and Faces. The faces icon looks like this:

vi. Select Mesh > Clean Up > Degenerate Dissolve type in 0.100 in the box that appears

and press Enter.

vii. Next Click Mesh > Clean Up > Limited Dissolve and type in 25d into the Max Angle box.

1. This simplifies the amount of faces on the object and allows for easier manipulation of the wall thicknesses.

viii. Next press the A Key to unselect all and then Select the bottom faces as shown:

ix. Press CTRL + F, select Solidify, then type in 0.01 and press Enter

x. Press ALT + E, Select Region, type in 1.0, and press Enter **Note: you may need to type in -1.0 to achieve the proper direction

xi. Using a similar process thicken all horizontal faces to a depth of 1.0:

xii. Next zoom in and select the two faces shown:

xiii. Solidify the walls Using CTRL + F and extrude the walls to 1.5 inward by pressing ALT

+ E and typing 1.5 (with or without a minus sign for direction).

**Note: Occasionally the extrude function will extrude in strange directions. If this occurs faces can also be extruded by clicking and dragging on an axis arrow. The distance extruded will appear in the lower left corner of the view window.

xiv. Using the same process, thicken each wall, one by one, to a depth of 1.5:

xv. The object should now look something like this:

xvi. After thickening all walls, it is important to use the Degenerate Dissolve function and the Delete Loose function to eliminate any overlapping features.

Without doing so may result in strange anomalies in MakerWare such as uneven surfaces, gaps, etc... **Note: many of these scenarios are not apparent until printing; this emphasizes the importance and usefulness of Print Preview in MakerWare

1. Select Mesh > Clean Up > Degenerate Dissolve and type in 0.100. 2. Then select Mesh > Clean Up > Delete Loose and make sure to check Vertices,

Edges, and Faces.

xvii. Finally Return to Object Mode and export it to an STL file.

1. Click File > Export > STL (.stl) and save in retrievable location.

xviii. Double check to make sure no further editing needs to be completed. 1. Open MakerWare and add the previously saved file.

a. Click File > Add and locate the filename b. Select Move to Platform and double check Settings

c. Click Save Settings d. Next select Export Print File in the upper right hand corner.

i. It may take a minute or so for the file to load. e. Select Print Preview and check the object for imperfections that may

need fixing.

f. Pan, Scroll, and Roll through the layers to make sure the object is in a printable condition.