Up until recently, my experience with 3D printing has been mostly confined to downloading files from Thingiverse and sending them to my printer. That all started to change a few weeks ago when I began to teach myself some basic modeling skills and I began to understand how modeling and printing can be used outside of making tchotchkes for my desk. While it is incredibly cool to be able to produce objects and enclosures on the 3D printer basically out of thin air, I am currently very excited about something else: designing and printing customized tools. Using free online modeling software, I was able to design and print a handful of cookie cutters that I can use while baking or with clay!
A few hot tips for those of you thinking about making your own cookie cutters:
1. I did not use food grade filament, but if you want to make this at home, you absolutely should get something food safe.
2. A friend mentioned that using a batter with a thicker texture, like a peanut butter cookie, would yield better cookie shapes after baking.
What kinds of tools are you interested in designing and printing for your hobbies? Let us know in the comments below!
i need help with adobe illustrator! doesn't give you the options to follow .. I'm new .. help please
Unfortunately, Feldi has moved on from SparkFun and I am not sure that we have a resident expert on that software. However, you might be able to be able to find more information online about the changes in the software or you can try reaching out to Adobe (there is a contact us button under the Support drop down menu).
While, yes, you used free modelling software, you didn't use free image processing software. Is it possible to similar image to outline processing in free software like Gimp, Inkscape, FreeCAD, etc?
Absolutely. The key is to use a design software that is vector based. I'd recommend Inkscape!
Hi Feldi!
Nice post! It would be nice, though, if you'd add a link to the software you used -- the name went by kinda quick in the video, and this "60ish brain" sometimes has trouble grabbing onto things like that...
Sure! I used tinkercad: https://www.tinkercad.com to model and then cura to generate the g code: https://www.lulzbot.com/cura
I realized I should have mentioned that I like to use OpenSCAD for many designs. It's not appropriate for everything, but it is nice for many of the things I've designed, ranging from "mechanical tidbits" to playing pieces for games. Doing something "artistic", like an animal, might be better done using some tool other than OpenSCAD, though.
Thanks for the insight! It's can be tough picking out which modeling software to use - especially when you are getting started - so this is really valuable advice! :)
I think Fusion 360 is one of the best CAD softwares.