- Put the part on a piece of centimeter graph paper and take a picture.
- Import the picture into inkscape, line up the scale, and trace the 2D outline of the object. Save the outline as an SVG.
- Import the SVG outline into blender and extrude. Convert the curve to a mesh, Go to edit mode and extrude the outline into a 3D shape.
- Do any 3 dimensional editing you need to make a good part.
- Export the 3D part as an STL.
- Print and replace.
Thursday, October 25, 2012
3D printing tip - Picture perfect modeling
So you have a doodad that broke and you want to 3D print a replacement. But how can you be sure that the new part will be a good replacement? Here's the method I used to make a replacement part for my kid's drawer that uses only free software and the hardware you probably already have.
You could also skip InkScape and trace the image using Bezier curves in Blender.
ReplyDeleteCurves in Blender are very powerful once you get them figured out.
It is also possible to just use the "trace bitmap" tool in Inkscape to create the curve automatically. This can make a very complicated curve, so be careful!
ReplyDelete