3DPrinting
3DPrinting is a place where makers of all skill levels and walks of life can learn about and discuss 3D printing and development of 3D printed parts and devices.
The r/functionalprint community is now located at: [email protected] or [email protected]
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I'm not talking about sculpting. I'm talking about overhangs and other fundamental issues that 3d printers need to solve before the darn thing is printed.
I'm looking up Blender's features, and it seems like there are features that can do this stuff (ex: https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/latest/addons/mesh/3d_print_toolbox.html), but even then...
Even in Blender's manual, it seems like they're suggesting you need a 2nd piece of software to do this job well.
The physical act of creating a 3d print needs to be thought of, especially in artistic designs. You will often create impossible shapes (most noticeably overhangs), especially if you're ignorant to the whole 3d printing process. Having good software that detects these situations is... well... maybe not necessary. But it helps.
If you've never sent your (computer) sculptures through a CAM or thought about these issues before, I can guarantee you that you've accidentally made a wall too thin, or a overhang that's impossible to print, or other such distortion that will 3d print poorly (or be impossible to 3d print).
The measurement of good software is the number of edge cases that it detects before you waste hours on a print job.
Each print job is a prototype. You gotta iterate. You 3d sculpt. Then you CAM-simulate to look for obvious errors. Then you 3d print. Then you figure out what went wrong and 3d sculpt again. Etc. etc.
The more issues the CAM-software detects before printing, the faster you iterate (ie: 3d sculpt. Find an issue in the CAM check. Return to 3d sculpt before printing to fix the issue). I have severe doubts that Blender (or even Blender + Cura, as recommended in this manual) covers as many issues as Rhino + RhinoCAM (as a random example of $1000+ software).
That's... okay. I'm not saying you need to buy more expensive software. But what I'm saying is that what you're losing out in terms of software is something YOU need to make up with experience. YOU need to learn about overhangs, or other such issues that can prevent a 3d print from becoming successful.
EDIT: Looks like you already ordered the printer. Well, you'll learn soon enough one way or the other. Thinking about the print is easier than designing in the first place, but its still a process. Good luck with learning slicers + cura to get your Blender stuff to work!
Its not impossible, but don't expect a success on your first print. And always be willing to go back to your Blender model and change it so that its physically possible to print. Iterate-iterate-iterate, that's my ultimate advice to you. (And while good tools can quicken the iteration cycle, Blender is possible, just not ideal IMO).
Blender has great add-ons for 3dprinting too. And are you trying to advertise a software? There are shapes that are impossible to 3dprint, however overhangs are not one of them. You can use supports, you can reorient your design, you can use bridging..