Simplifying 3D Printing with OpenSCAD: Design, build, and test OpenSCAD programs to bring your ideas to life using 3D printers

by Colin Dow

Length: 320 pages
Edition: 1
Language: English
Publisher: Packt Publishing
Publication Date: 2022-03-30
ISBN-10: 1801813175
ISBN-13: 9781801813174
Sales Rank: #486093 (See Top 100 Books)

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A step by step full-color guide to OpenSCAD that makes 3D printing easy

Key Features

Learn about 3D printing technology and the software used to design your objects
Discover the various FDM slicer programs used to create G-code for 3D printer jobs
Understand how to use a slicer program to create G-code to run your 3D printer job

Book Description

OpenSCAD is an open-source 3D design platform that helps you bring your designs to life. This book will show you how to make the best use of OpenSCAD to design and build objects using 3D printers.

This OpenSCAD book starts by taking you through the 3D printing technology, the software used for designing your objects, and an analysis of the G-code produced by the 3D printer slicer software. Complete with step-by-step explanations of essential concepts and real-world examples such as designing and printing a 3D name badge, model rocket, and laptop stand, the book helps you learn about 3D printers and how to set up a printing job. You’ll design your objects using the OpenSCAD program that provides a robust and free 3D compiler at your fingertips. As you set up a 3D printer for a print job, you’ll gain a solid understanding of how to configure the parameters to build well-defined designs.

By the end of this 3D printing book, you’ll be ready to start designing and printing your own 3D printed products using OpenSCAD.

What you will learn

Gain a solid understanding of 3D printers and 3D design requirements to start creating your own objects
Prepare a 3D printer for a job starting from leveling the print bed and loading the filament
Discover various OpenSCAD commands and use them to create shapes
Understand how OpenSCAD compares to other CAD programs
Get to grips with combining text and a cube to create an object
Explore the common libraries in OpenSCAD

Who this book is for

This book is for engineers, hobbyists, teachers, 3D printing enthusiasts, and individuals working in the field of 3D printing. Basic knowledge of setting up and running 3D printers is assumed.

Simplifying 3D Printing with OpenSCAD
Contributors
About the author
About the reviewers
Preface
    Who this book is for
    What this book covers
    To get the most out of this book
    Download the example code files
    Conventions used
    Get in touch
Part 1: Exploring 3D Printing
Chapter 1: Getting Started with 3D Printing
    Technical requirements
    Understanding the Creality Ender 3
        Ender 3 models
        Understanding the parts of the Ender 3
        Upgrading the Ender 3
    Leveling the print bed 
        Leveling the corners of the bed
        Mesh bed leveling
    Materials available for 3D printing
        Poly-Lactic Acid (PLA)
        Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS)
        Glycolyzed Polyester (PETG)
        High-Impact Polystyrene (HIPS)
        Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA) 
        Carbon fiber
        Nylon
        Flexible materials
        Other materials
    Summary
Chapter 2: What Are Slicer Programs?
    Technical requirements
    Controlling a 3D printer using G-code 
        What is G-code?
        Understanding G-code
        Using Pronterface to control our 3D printer
        Leveling the corners with G-code
    Common FDM slicer programs 
        Slicing an object into G-code
        Slicing software applications
        Which FDM slicer should I choose?
    Slicer programs for liquid resin 3D printers 
        What is liquid resin printing?
        Chitubox
        The Anycubic Photon Workshop
    Summary
Chapter 3: Printing Our First Object
    Technical requirements
    Finding objects to print
        Understanding 3D object file formats
        Downloading 3D objects
        Calibration objects for our 3D printer
    Preparing our 3D printer
    Slicing our object
        Setting up the profile
        Loading our model
        Quality settings
        Infill settings
        Temperature settings
        Cooling settings
        Build Plate Adhesion settings
        Slicing our object
    Printing our object
        Applying a glue stick to the bed
        Running our print job
        Calibrating our printer
        Inspecting #3DBenchy for print quality
    Summary
Part 2: Learning OpenSCAD
Chapter 4: Getting Started with OpenSCAD
    Technical requirements
    Introducing OpenSCAD 
    Exploring other CAD programs
        Fusion 360
        TinkerCAD
        FreeCAD
        Comparing OpenSCAD with other CAD programs
    Learning OpenSCAD GUI and basic commands
        Downloading and Installing OpenSCAD
        Getting to know the OpenSCAD environment
        OpenSCAD basic 2D shapes
        OpenSCAD basic 3D shapes
    Learning OpenSCAD Boolean and transformation operations
        OpenSCAD Boolean operations
        OpenSCAD transformation operations
        Creating our PVC pipe hook
    Summary
Chapter 5: Using Advanced Operations of OpenSCAD
    Technical requirements
    Turning 2D shapes into 3D objects 
        Importing SVG files into OpenSCAD
        Creating a 3D Thumbs Up symbol
        Extruding the base
        Putting the base and Thumbs Up object together
        3D printing our Thumbs Up award
    Looking at advanced OpenSCAD commands
        Exploring the available fonts
        Exploring the text operation
        Creating a dynamic backing plate
    Simplifying our code with modules
        Creating a module for our Thumbs Up object
        Creating a module for the base
        Creating a module for the plaque
        Creating a design using modules
    Summary
Chapter 6: Exploring Common OpenSCAD Libraries
    Technical requirements
    Exploring the OpenSCAD General libraries 
        BOSL
        dotSCAD
        NopSCADlib
        BOLTS
    Using the BOSL to design a desk drawer
        Downloading and installing the BOSL
        Creating the drawer tray
        Adding rails to our drawer tray
        Creating the handle for our drawer
        Creating the sliders for our desk drawer
        Adding screw holes to the sliders
    Exploring OpenSCAD Single Topic libraries
        Round Anything
        Mark's Enclosure Helper
        The OpenSCAD threads.scad module
        The OpenSCAD smooth primitives library
    Creating our own OpenSCAD library
    Summary
Part 3: Projects
Chapter 7: Creating a 3D-Printed Name Badge
    Technical requirements
    Creating text for our 3D-printed name badge
        Understanding the OpenSCAD text operation
        Making text curve in OpenSCAD
        Creating a name tag text generator module
    Adding a base plate to our 3D-printed name badge
        Creating our first shape
        Adding an indent for the brooch pin
        Putting the first shape and indent together
    Printing out our 3D-printed name badge
        Preparing our design for a print job
        Printing and finishing
    Summary
Chapter 8: Designing and Printing a Laptop Stand
    Technical requirements
    Designing the frame in Inkscape and OpenSCAD
        Downloading and installing Inkscape
        Exploring Inkscape
        Using Inkscape to design the frame
        Using OpenSCAD to complete the design
    Designing the threaded rod in OpenSCAD
        Creating a rod with an M10 threaded top
        Adding a connector plate
    Printing out our laptop stand
        Slicing and printing the frame
        Slicing and printing the rods
        Putting the laptop stand together
    Summary
Chapter 9: Designing and Printing a Model Rocket
    Technical requirements
    Creating the motor mount
        Building around the paper tube
        Designing and printing the motor mount
        Getting an accurate outside diameter measurement
    Creating the nose cone
        Designing the nose cone
        Printing out the nose cone
    Creating the fins
        Designing the fin can
        Printing out the fin can
    Assembling and launching the model rocket
        Installing the shock cord
        Installing the fin can
        Finishing the construction of our model rocket
    Summary
Part 4: The Future
Chapter 10: The Future of 3D Printing and Design
    Technical requirements
    3D printed homes
        What are 3D printed homes?
        Advantages of 3D printed homes
        3D printed homes for space exploration
        Creating a 3D printed birdhouse
    The future of mass customization
        The fourth industrial revolution and 3D printing
        Customizing products
    Summary
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