How To Build a Hand in Less Than an Hour

The coolest things to print on a 3D printer seem to be body parts, most often faces, but also cool are hands. However, hands seem to be a fairly complicated structure and many people simply try to find scans of 3D hands they can print.  

 

3D Modeler Dennis Jensen shows us how to build a 3D model of a human hand in a few moments using very basic techniques that could be applied in many 3D modeling programs. He uses a very simple technique with basic shapes that are slowly twisted and bent into a highly realistic 3D hand. 

 

If you can master this technique, you'll be able to create hands in many positions - but be sure to arrange them so that they are easily printable. 

 

Via YouTube

An Introduction to 3D Printing

Anthony Lockwood of Desktop Engineering writes a review of a white paper from ZCorp that explains in 2D print form the entire process of 3D printing for beginners.

While the PDF paper is somewhat (well, quite a lot actually) slanted towards ZCorp's line of 3D printers, it is very well written for those who are unfamiliar with the concept of 3D printing and want more than just a consumer view. Beautiful diagrams accompany the text to illustrate each step in the process, be they microscopic or office-sized.

The paper explains the beginnings of 3D printing at ZCorp, and then sails smoothly through each step in the process of producing a coffee cup. From design, printing and finishing, it's a great read.

Via Desktop Engineering and ZCorp

.STL Overview

There's a terrific overview of .STL and in fact the modelling and 3D printing process available at InstaTuts. It takes you through a simple explanation of how .STL works and how it is produced by modeling software. Eventually the model (a boxer, pictured) is sent to a Dimension SST 3D Printer for production. 

Via InstaTuts

Prepping for 3D Printing

Shapeways published an excellent article describing several tips for preparing your Blender file for 3D printing, specifically for using the Shapeways printing service.

The article explains how to fix non-manifold vertices, handling overlapping objects and output scaling, and are good tips even if you aren't using Shapeways.

Via Shapeways