Staging 3D print files...?

[Ynot]

I'm a little late to the game here, but want to start playing with 3D printing, specifically at first to create block items I can use when designing my stage sets. 

So before I spend a lot of time trying to make .stl files for basic items, does anyone have the files available for - eg - Litedeck pieces and scaff legs I can use as a basis? Or even scenic flats?

 

[James Remo]

Have a look at https://www.thingiverse.com/search?q=steeldeck&page=1

[Ynot]

Oooh - that looks interesting....

Thanks.

 

[musht]

Yeggi.com , STL search engine , as usual, case of keyword bingo, lot free, some paid

https://www.cgtrader.com/3d-print-models/miniatures/memorabilia/patt-123-vintage-strand-electric-stage-light

Tinkercad, online designer, more powerful than it first appears, easier than Fusion 360.

SketchUp, be aware of reversed faces, it's a surface modeler not a solid modeller 

Edited January 15 by musht

[themadhippy]

Quote

Tinkercad, online designer, more powerful than it first appears,

Indeed  a good starting point ,I'd also recommend on-shape.I  found it fairly painless to use,certainly much simpler than the mind bending freecad.

[Ynot]

2 hours ago, musht said:

Yeggi.com , STL search engine , as usual, case of keyword bingo, lot free, some paid

https://www.cgtrader.com/3d-print-models/miniatures/memorabilia/patt-123-vintage-strand-electric-stage-light

Tinkercad, online designer, more powerful than it first appears, easier than Fusion 360.

SketchUp, be aware of reversed faces, it's a surface modeler not a solid modeller 

Already been playing with TinkerCAD

[ImagineerTom]

Just a general note based on experiences helping others - just because you /could/ 3D print a perfect model, doesn't mean you can. One example that jumps to mind was someone who wanted to print a model of a grand piano for a model box. He found a stl file, scaled it and couldn't get it to print, he used CAD to make his own model, scaled it and couldn't get it to print - in both cases I had to point out that the spindly legs of the piano were so thin that when scaled to modelbox size they were barely 1mm thick; virtually impossible to print. In the case of the steeldeck pieces linked above they would appear to have been designed with 3D printing in mind but if you add legs to them make sure you 3D print an actual solid leg, not a scaled scaffold tube as the latter would again have walls so thin the model would either fail to print or crumble at the slightest touch. Sometimes with modelboxes getting a shape that fills the correct volumetric space is more important than producing a photo-real, perfectly accurate 3D part.

[TomHoward]

On 1/15/2024 at 2:44 PM, musht said:

SketchUp, be aware of reversed faces, it's a surface modeler not a solid modeller 

Sketchup is undoubtedly painful for modelling for 3d printing but if you are using it there's a free plugin Solid Inspector^2 which will sort out all your loose edges, reversed faces or highlight the ones it can't interpret for you to fix.

[David Ripley]

Here's a Steeldeck I did yonks ago and is featured in my tome

I've printed out and it does work, but that depends on the type of printer for the wavy bits

3D Steeldeck.stl 9-46.tif

[Theatre Solutions]

I can agree with ImagineerTom. You can get good scale representation on small structures but the way many printers 'layer' the material, it sometimes presents issues that make the model too brittle to use.

I model in Creo Engineer and have access to a very expensive F10 Markforged Onyx printer. I generally don't go below 1mm for any structure thickness, but you also need to position the model on the bed to give make your strongest features horizontal to minimize cross sectional weakness.

[sunray]

4 hours ago, Theatre Solutions said:

I can agree with ImagineerTom. You can get good scale representation on small structures but the way many printers 'layer' the material, it sometimes presents issues that make the model too brittle to use.

I model in Creo Engineer and have access to a very expensive F10 Markforged Onyx printer.

I've seen it but not done any 3D printing myself, however these:

4 hours ago, Theatre Solutions said:

I generally don't go below 1mm for any structure thickness, but you also need to position the model on the bed to give make your strongest features horizontal to minimize cross sectional weakness.

seem so obvious to me now that you have pointed it out.👍