Modeling for 3D Printing
with Tinkercad
Vicky Somma
vicky@tgaw.com
http://www.tgaw.com
This slideshow is on SlideShare at http://www.slideshare.net/VickyTGAW/modeling-for-3d-printing-with-tinkercad

3D Printing
• “Layer by Layer”…Like Legos!
Source: https://youtu.be/2ujP-_cWWBU

3D Printing
• “Layer by Layer”…Like Legos!
Source: https://youtu.be/He_gYshkOmI

3D Models
• The Printer Needs a Model to Print
• We Can Download Existing Models (More Later)
-OR-
• Make Our Own!

Making Models – MANY Options
• Blender
http://www.blender.org
• Maya
http://www.autodesk.com/products/maya
/overview
• OpenSCAD
http://www.openscad.org
• AutoDesk 123D
http://www.123dapp.com/
Want more options? Check out https://www.shapeways.com/creator/tools
• Sketchup
http://www.sketchup.com/
• ZBrush
http://pixologic.com/
• LightWave 3D
https://www.lightwave3d.com/
• SculptGL (Web-Based)
http://stephaneginier.com/sculptgl/#
• Even iPad/iPhone Apps!

Making Models - Tinkercad
• Free
• Online, Nothing to Install
• “The Easiest Fiercest 3D Design
Tool Around”
http://www.tinkercad.com

Design Revisions Happen

Fails Happen
Photo Credits: http://www.pinterestfail.com

3D Printing Fails Happen

Tinkercad – Signing In
http://www.tinkercad.com
Signing in is straight forward

Tinkercad - Workplane
• Like a piece of graph paper.
• By Default– Millimeter measurements (Can be changed)

Tinkercad – Camera Controls
• Navigation Buttons (officially called “The Camera”) on the upper left
hand corner
• Right Click allows you to move the “camera”
• Shift Right Click allows you to pan
• Mouse Scroll Wheel lets you zoom in and out

Tinkercad – Shapes, Letters, Numbers, Etc.
• Our building blocks.
• To start click on the “Basic Shapes” in the dropdown

Tinkercad - Shapes
You can build a lot out of standard shapes

Tinkercad - Shapes
You can build a lot out of these standard shapes- “Bipedal Mech” by Mathew Ridge
in Tinkercad!
http://shpws.me/GQX5

Tinkercad – #3DBlockZoo
(Photos courtesy of Tessa Nesci)

Tinkercad - Adding Shapes
• Drag and Drop to Your Workplane

Tinkercad - Adding Shapes
• Shape Properties give you another way to size your objects
• You can use the slidebar to change dimensions
• If you double click on the number, you can type in an exact number

Tinkercad - Selecting Shapes
• Left Click on a Shape to Select It
• Holding the Shift Key Allows you to Select
Multiple Objects
• You can also draw a box to select multiple
objects at once.

Tinkercad - Clicking
You can think of it as
alphabetic order:
Left Clicks  Shapes
Right Clicks  Workplane
Mouse Image by Wasin Waeosri

Tinkercad - “Inspector”
• Additional Properties for the Object Such as Colors and Holes (More
Later)

Tinkercad - Moving Things on the Workplane
Photo Credit: Project Ignite

Moving Things – Along the Workplane
• Along the Workplane (X and Y), just Left Click
and Drag and Drop
Tip: Be careful to click on the object and not
one of the icons.
• The numbers and arrows show you how far
you have moved it.

Moving Things – Up and Down
• To move up and down off the
workplace, Left Click on the
little arrow icon and drag.
• As you pull it up, you’ll see a
shadow, indicating the object
is not resting on the
workplane.
• The numbers to the right of
the object tell you exactly how
far it is off the workplane

Moving Things – Up and Down
• The practical application is to put objects on top of each other.

Moving Things - Nudging
• You can also use the arrow keys to nudge.
• How far is each press of the arrow key? It’s defined in the lower right
hand corner in the Snap Grid
• To nudge 10 units at a time, hold down the Shift key and use the
arrow keys at the same time.
• To nudge up and down (off the workplane), hold down the Control
key as you use the arrow keys

Tinkercad - Rotating
• When an object is selected, the three little curved arrow icons (the
“Rotation Handles”) allow you to rotate your object.

Tinkercad - Rotating
• A circle appears to help you rotate (The
“Protractor”)
• The Inner Circle rotates at 22.5 degrees steps
• The Outer Circle rotates at 1 degree steps
• Holding down Shift rotates at 45 degrees steps

Tinkercad - Resizing (Scaling)
• When you select and object, there are black and white dots (the
“Scaling Handles”)

Tinkercad - Resizing
• White Dots scale two sizes (dimensions) at once
• Black Dots scale one size
• Hint: You can tell what sides you are resizing by the numbers

Tinkercad - Resizing
• The White Dot (“handle”) at the top allows you to control the height
of your object

Tinkercad - Resizing – Proportional
• If you want to resize everything uniformly (you love your object, you
just want it bigger all around), hold down the Shift key.
• If you want to grow out from the center while resizing, hold down the
Alt Key

Tinkercad – Copying Items
• You can use Copy and Paste Icons
• You can also do Ctrl-C and Ctrl-V
• Holding down the Alt key while you
Left Click and Drag will also make a
copy of the object.
• You can select multiple objects at
once and copy and paste those too.

Tinkercad - Fixing Mistakes
• Undo/Redo
Like Word, Excel or most programs,
you have the ability to Undo and
Redo steps.
• Delete
Just click on the object and click the
Delete button

Tinkercad - Holes
• Any Shape, Letter, Number, etc Can Be Turned Into a Hole
• Holes allow you to subtract an object from another
• Click on the Inspector and select Hole

Tinkercad - Holes
• Practical Applications:
• Actual Holes
• To Change Shapes
• Or to Engrave!

Tinkercad - Grouping
• Grouping makes multiple objects into one and applies any holes
• Select your objects and hit Group Icon (or Ctrl-G). You can always
Ungroup.

Tinkercad – Download for 3D Printing
• Click on Export button
• In most cases, you’ll pick .STL as the format

Design Time!

3D Printing – “Slicing”
• We used Tinkercad to make .STL files.
• Next we used a Slicer Software to “slice” our model into layer by layer
instructions for the printer (called Gcode)

3D Printing Concepts and Vocabulary Words
Filament – Our “thread” for
our final product
Filament Drive – Moves the
Filament to the Hot End
Hot End – Melts that Filament
so we can “draw” with it.

3D Printing – Start Up and the Skirt
• Makes sure the filament is
flowing
• Like squirting mustard before
putting it on your sandwich
Photo by Josh Reichlin

3D Printing – The All Important First Layer
• You want your print to stick
• People have employed a variety of
tools to make that happen:
• Heated Bed
• Painters Tape
• Glue Stick
• Hairspray
• Even Superglue
• Rafts

3D Printing – The All Important First Layer
• Why?
• Your print may fall off or move
• Precise Measurements – A curled
edge may throw things off
• Your Nozzle could even knock the
print

3D Printing – Infill
• Prints Aren’t Usually Solid
• Saves Time and Material

Design Considerations – Thin Walls
• Your object needs to be sturdy enough to support itself… and be
moved.

Design Considerations – Thin Walls
• The 3D Printing service companies
publish guidelines on Wall Thickness
• Varies for My Home Printing:
• Walls Supporting Lot of Weight– 2mm
• Normal Walls 1.0 – 1.5mm
• Detailing (such as Embossed Letters) –
0.5mm

Design Considerations - Bridging
• With the right speeds and temperatures,
we can print over gaps!
• Just small distances - I tend to stick to
20mm-30mm gaps
Find/Test Your Printer’s Capabilities With “Ultimate Extruder
Calibration Test”
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:9804

Design Considerations - Bridging
• Bridging Can Be Exploited for Moving Parts

Design Considerations - Overhangs
• Overhangs – Supported underneath by one side
• Works when there is good overlap with
previous layer
• Most printers can handle angles of 45 degrees
or higher Photo Courtesy of Joel Telling, The 3D Printing Nerd

Design Considerations - Supports
• Overhangs too flat, bridges too far, object starts in mid-air?
• Supports are temporary structures that help the print

Design Considerations–Orientation
You aren’t necessarily going to print your object right side up.

Design Considerations–Orientation
Printing Heart Upside Down Doesn’t Require Supports

Design Considerations– Splitting Up Into Parts
You don’t necessarily have to print it all at once

Design Considerations – Using Other Parts
• No need to recreate the wheel.

Getting Models - Thingiverse
http://www.thingiverse.com

Getting Models - Smithsonian
http://3d.si.edu/

Getting Models – So MANY Resources
Including PinShape, YouMagine, Yeggi
Need A Listing? Check out http://3dprintingforbeginners.com/3d-model-repositories/

Advanced Tinkercad – Importing Models
• You found and downloaded a model you like.
• In Tinkercad, click on Import, browse to the file and hit Import again.

Advanced Tinkercad – Importing Models
• It’ll bring the new object into Tinkercad and you can manipulate, add
additional objects or engrave just as a normal object to make it your
own

Advanced Tinkercad – Ruler
• Adds keyboard control to be more exact with the measurements
• Drag the Ruler icon to your Workplane.
• It’ll display the dimensions of your object. Click on a measurement and
you can enter in exact numbers.

Advanced Tinkercad – Workplane Tool
• Drag the Workplane icon allows you to move the Workplane
(our graph paper)
• Helps save some layout and rotation time

Advanced Tinkercad - Align
• A quick way to line your objects.
• Click on Adjust (in the top tool bar) and choose Align…
• Click where you want to align everything (Top, Middle, Bottom, Right,
Left)

Tinkercad – Resources to Learn More
• In Tinkercad, click Learn to access all their tutorials

Tinkercad - Resources to Learn More
• AutoDesk’s Project Ignite Site - FULL of Tinkercad classes and tutorials
• The same login as Tinkercad
• https://projectignite.autodesk.com

Printing Models – MANY Options

THANK YOU!!!
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Vicky Somma
vicky@tgaw.com