Practical 3D Printers [electronic resource] : The Science and Art of 3D Printing /
Evans, Brian.author.
Desktop or DIY 3D printers are devices you can either buy preassembled as a kit, or build from a collection of parts to design and print physical objects including replacement household parts, custom toys, and even art, science, or engineering projects. Maybe you have one, or maybe you're thinking about buying or building one.  Practical 3D Printers takes you beyond how to build a 3D printer, to calibrating, customizing, and creating amazing models, including 3D printed text, a warship model, a robot platform, windup toys, and arcade-inspired alien invaders. You'll learn about the different types of personal 3D printers and how they work; from the MakerBot to the RepRap printers like the Huxley and Mendel, as well as the whiteAnt CNC featured in the Apress book Printing in Plastic. You'll discover how easy it is to find and design 3D models using web-based 3D modeling, and even how to create a 3D model from a 2D image. After learning the basics, this book will walk you through building multi-part models with a steampunk warship project, working with meshes to build your own action heroes, and creating an autonomous robot chassis. Finally, you'll find even more bonus projects to build, including wind-up walkers, faceted vases for the home, and a handful of useful upgrades to modify and improve your 3D printer.
Description based upon print version of record.
Title Page; Copyright Page; Contents at a Glance; Table of Contents; About the Author; About the Technical Reviewer; Acknowledgments; Introduction; Why Own a 3D Printer?; It's a Big World of 3D Printers; About This Book; Learning by Making; Sharing Things; Chapter 1 A World of 3D Printers; Tea. Earl Grey. Hot.; How a 3D Printer Works; Cartesian Robot; Thermoplastic Extruder; Printbed; Linear Motion; Endstops; Frame; A Survey of 3D Printers; RepRaps; RepRap Mendel; RepRap Huxley; Box Bots; MakerBot; MakerGear Mosaic M1; Ultimaker; RepStraps; whiteAnt CNC; Upstarts; MendelMax and AO-100
RepRap Wallace and PrintrbotChoosing the Right 3D Printer; 3D Printer Summary; Print Volume Comparison; Buying a Kit or Building Your Own; Buying a Kit; Building Your Own; The Choice Is Yours; Choosing the Right Material; Filament Materials; Filament Diameter; Buying Filament; Basic Tools and Supplies; Hand Tools; Electronics Toolkit; Printing Supplies; Summary; Chapter 2 3D Printer Toolchain; From a 3D Model to a 3D Object; 3D Models; Slicing and Toolpath; Printer Control; So, What's a Toolchain?; Electronics; RepRap Arduino Mega Pololu Shield; Sanguinololu; Printrboard; Firmware; Sprinter
MarlinSJFW; MakerBot; Slicers; Skeinforge; SFACT; Slic3r; Printer Control; ReplicatorG; Pronterface; RepSnapper; Repetier-Host; netfabb Engine; Summary; Chapter 3 Calibrating Your Printer; The First Steps; Talking to the Machine; Making Things Move; Going Home; Heating Things Up; Printing Overview; Downloading a Model; Slice the Model; Print the Model; Print Settings; Perimeters; Solid Layers; Infill; Layer Height; Transform; Printer and Filament; Print Speed; Print the Bunny; Calibration Prints; Starting on the Right Foot; Circle, Circle, Circle; Pyramid of Power; Firmware Settings
Initial SettingsCalibrating Axis Movement; X and Y Steps; Z Steps; Extruder Steps; Mechanical Settings; Uploading Firmware; Summary; Chapter 4 3D Models from the Cloud; Places to Find and Share 3D Models; Thingiverse; I Made One; I Made a Derivative; Upload a Thing; Open Licensing; Google 3D Warehouse; Downloading a Model; Exporting an STL in SketchUp; Using netfabb to Repair STLs; Introducing Web-based Solid Modeling; 3DTin; Tinkercad; Project: Alien Invaders; Drawing with Cubes; Extruding Shapes; Saving and Exporting an STL for Printing; Wrapping It Up; Summary; Chapter 5 3D Haiku
Making a Vector ImageWorking with Inkscape; Drawing Shapes with Inkscape; Inkscape Path Operations; Working with Text; Designing the 3D Haiku; Preparing the Vector Image; Converting to Paths and Working with Nodes; Converting Curves to Lines; Preparing the File; Setting Up Layers; Saving the File; Extruding a Vector Image; Working with OpenSCAD; Making Objects in OpenSCAD; Add and Subtract Objects; Move and Rotate Objects; 2D to 3D; Making Things Interesting; Moving and Rotating the Haiku; Adding to Our Design; Make Ready for Printing; Wrapping It Up; Summary; Chapter 6 Steampunk Warship
Intermediate OpenSCAD Techniques
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Desktop or DIY 3D printers are devices you can either buy preassembled as a kit, or build from a collection of parts to design and print physical objects including replacement household parts, custom toys, and even art, science, or engineering projects. Maybe you have one, or maybe you're thinking about buying or building one.  Practical 3D Printers takes you beyond how to build a 3D printer, to calibrating, customizing, and creating amazing models, including 3D printed text, a warship model, a robot platform, windup toys, and arcade-inspired alien invaders. You'll learn about the different types of personal 3D printers and how they work; from the MakerBot to the RepRap printers like the Huxley and Mendel, as well as the whiteAnt CNC featured in the Apress book Printing in Plastic. You'll discover how easy it is to find and design 3D models using web-based 3D modeling, and even how to create a 3D model from a 2D image. After learning the basics, this book will walk you through building multi-part models with a steampunk warship project, working with meshes to build your own action heroes, and creating an autonomous robot chassis. Finally, you'll find even more bonus projects to build, including wind-up walkers, faceted vases for the home, and a handful of useful upgrades to modify and improve your 3D printer.
Computer input-output equipment.
Optical data processing.
Hardware and Maker.
Computer Imaging, Vision, Pattern Recognition and Graphics.