How to 3D Print at Rutgers?

3D printing event at makerspace, last Thursday was fun and inspiring. This is a weekly event, you can always join Rick Anderson at 35 Berrue Circle Piscataway Township, Thursdays 8 pm.

The size of the printer is 6 in. x 8 in. x 6 in. so largest module of your design should not exceed these dimensions. Printer uses ABSPVA or PLA. These filaments are available in limited colors and our makerspace is not carrying them all but you can take a look to all availbel colors from makerbot store.

Basically the printer reads from a software called MakerWare allowing to read from an .stl or .obj file. You should prepare your model in of these formats. Autodesk123D and Tinkercad  seem to be the most commonly used software for this purpose but as a designer I would also suggest using Rhinoceros or ZBrush. Rhinoceros has already started a RhinoFabLab.

One of the most popular and free 3D drawing software is SketchUp, actually it doesn’t really save or export .stl but here is a tutorial to convert from prepared by makerbot.

For inspiration and watching some modalities and limits you may spend some time on THINGIVERSE.