The 1 Skill That Turns Your 3D Printer Into An Idea Manufacturing Machine

3D printing is more attainable than ever, so it’s a fantastic time to get into it if you haven’t already.

Sites like MakerWorld and Thingiverse have millions of free models available for anyone to print. Beyond free models, sellers on Thangs and other sites have highly customized models for solving problems and being creative from almost any franchise you can think of to keep your printer occupied for the rest of your life. However, after the benches, monitor buddies, and gridfinity organizers, you’ll likely start to get the itch to print something you’re unable to find or is prohibitively expensive to buy the model.

So there is 1 skill that can transform your 3D printer from printing other people’s ideas into your own idea manufacturing machine.

The 1 Skill: 3D Modeling

Learning to create your own models unlocks an entire new world of possibilities.

Maybe you built a desk with interesting shapes and need more customized cable management than you can find in stores or with available 3D models. Or maybe you have a favorite obscure prop you’d like to have from a niche franchise without significant fandom to create models. Possibly, you’re like me and want to combine the solutions you’re creating with franchises and need to be able to combine multiple models together beyond the slicer’s capabilities.

Any and all of these are fantastic reasons to learn to model in 3D, but there are 2 flavors or paths of modeling to choose from.

Flavor 1: Mesh Modeling

If you’re more creative and want to model interesting shapes exactly how you imagine them, mesh modeling is for you.

Applications like Blender excel at letting you easily create your own models (for free). YouTube has millions of videos about using Blender as well for specific use cases and it can even move into animation if you want to create videos with your models before or after printing them. Start with some simple shapes, then blend and sculpt them to create exactly what’s in your head.

With mesh modeling, keep scale somewhat in mind so your curves are not made up of too few triangles, which can make things look blockier than intended.

Flavor 2: Parametric CAD Modeling

If you’re more concerned with creating solutions that are modeled after real world constraints, parametric CAD modeling is for you.

Parametric is just a fancy word for variable-based modeling, which lets you save a number as a variable and reference it in your model. Applications like Fusion 360 let you take these variables and create almost anything you can think of that is driven by them so parts fit exactly how you want (and has a free tier). Plus, if the model is set up correctly from the beginning, variable values can be changed later and the entire model updates to reflect the update, opening up rapid prototype iteration.

Armed with a pair of digital calipers, you’ll quickly be creating your own perfectly sized adapters, fixtures, and attachments for anything you want.