Following up from our post on designing for use, reader Mark Lynch pointed out his terrific list of design tips 3D printing.
We had posted a short piece on the perils of 3D printing functional objects without regard to the engineering requirements of the design. Short of taking a serious engineering course or two, we asked if there were sources where one could quickly learn how to make better prints.
Reader Mark Lynch quickly pointed us to his blog, where he had posted a decent list of a dozen or so tips for design and printing we hadn’t seen before. It includes advice on print orientation, density, support and more. There’s also several useful videos and slideshows included in the post. Lynch’s blog, whose tag line is “Hands-on Help for Small Manufacturers and Smart Technical People”, also markets a series of ebooks on manufacturing, although none appear to be dedicated to 3D printing design.
While these tips are helpful, we’d like to see a more comprehensive, one-stop source for such tips. It seems that every personal 3D printer operator has to learn “the hard way” how best to do a great many things to be successful. Streamlining that learning curve is important, not only for 3D printer operators, but for those considering a purchase. Shortening the path to success is always a good thing.
