Materia 101: Making Something Useful

Materia 101

FreeCAD

PlastInk - White Rubber Filament (1.75mm) 0.5 kg

<h3 >1. Take measurements</h3><p >First we have to take all the necessary measurements to make the new button. These are the ones we need:</p><ul ><li >The width</li></ul><ul ><li >The height</li></ul><ul ><li >The depth</li></ul><ul ><li >Other measurements of details relevant to the functionality of the button</li></ul><p ><strong >NOTE</strong><span >: A caliper is a good tool to use for this task.</span></p><figure><img src=https://projects.arduinocontent.cc/14a64d00-63ae-42af-9ef7-477c0ec28ef3.JPG /><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><h3 >2. Take notations and make a sketch</h3><p >Now we need to draw our new button on a piece of paper and insert the measurements we made earlier. We do this to get a good idea on how we will design our button later using FreeCAD.</p><figure><img src=https://projects.arduinocontent.cc/0aee17e6-3a28-45f6-822d-98b997b270be.JPG /><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><h3 >3. Open FreeCAD</h3><p ><span >Now we open FreeCAD (</span><a href="http://bit.ly/1ri2BAW">download the software</a><span >). The first thing we see is a welcome screen. Here you can find tutorials and information about the program.</span></p><figure><img src=https://projects.arduinocontent.cc/8af56a32-acd1-4671-a434-8cd9b7a71095.jpg /><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><h3 >4. Make a new file</h3><p >Click on the “File” menu and choose “New&#34;. The Start screen will disappear and you are left with a blue area dominating the window.</p><h3 >5. Choose workbench</h3><p >Now we click on the drop down menu in the top center part of the window, where it says “--&gt;Start”. Scroll down and click on “Sketcher”. The tools and menu changes.</p><figure><img src=https://projects.arduinocontent.cc/2738efc7-2444-4e7e-98a5-6b04d4067315.jpg /><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><h3 >6. Create a Sketch</h3><p >Go to the menu named “Sketch” and click on “Create sketch”.</p><p >NOTE: A sketch is exactly what it sounds like, a two dimensional drawing.</p><figure><img src=https://projects.arduinocontent.cc/5221acb7-c3b0-42f2-9763-2d48744d6fa7.jpg /><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><h3 >7. Choosing sketch orientation </h3><p >A box with options will pop up where you can choose sketch orientation. Choose YZ-plane since we want to draw the button from a profile view and click “OK”.</p><figure><img src=https://projects.arduinocontent.cc/b4ba5a8d-8d63-4e2b-a26c-85f24e3ca032.jpg /><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><h3 >8. Drawing the profile</h3><p >Now you will have a grid on top of the blue surface. Use the drawing tools (picture below)  to draw the profile of your object on top of the grid. The line  tool is the most useful one. You simply draw from one point to another. Make a quick sketch of your object in profile. It does not have to be perfect.</p><p >NOTE: You can click the “Grid snap” under the “Tasks” tab on the left side of the window. And you can even set the size of the grid to adjust for the size of your object. For this object a grid size of 0.5 mm is good. Now we use the constraint tools to make our sketch accurate.</p><figure><img src=https://projects.arduinocontent.cc/673469fb-eb72-4f9d-8670-5179826925f9.JPG /><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><h3 >9. ​ Add constraints</h3><p >Add constraints to your model to make the angles and measurements exact. You add a constraint by clicking on a line, two points or an arch and then choosing the type of constraint you want to add.</p><p >NOTE: By adding distance constraints you can later change the different dimensions of your object with the push of a button. This is what is called a “parametric” model. When the model is “fully constrained” it turns green. It says “Fully constrained” onto the right, in the “Tasks” tab.</p><figure><img src=https://projects.arduinocontent.cc/57730689-96c0-489d-b95b-36c8e312784f.JPG /><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><h3 >10. Close the sketch</h3><figure><img src=https://projects.arduinocontent.cc/566916cb-3279-472d-b546-8c42ca63942b.JPG /><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><h3 >11. Change workbench</h3><p >  Choose the &#34;Parts design&#34; option in the drop down workbench menu.</p><figure><img src=https://projects.arduinocontent.cc/1df5ddac-0fa4-45cd-96ae-4a35d2fa177d.jpg /><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><h3 >12. Click “Pad” (Extrude)</h3><p >Now you should see the pad option in the Tasks tab on the left side of the window. Click on it.</p><figure><img src=https://projects.arduinocontent.cc/a9fd9a57-2038-49f4-9a9b-b52dcf38acab.JPG /><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><h3 >13. Pad options</h3><p >Here you can set how much to extrude the sketch. I’ve set my extrusion to 27 mm. When done, click “OK”.</p><figure><img src=https://projects.arduinocontent.cc/285b4a43-88b5-466c-92b0-b061aa3077a1.JPG /><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><h3 >14. Now your model is done.</h3><p >You can click on “Set to axometric view” (and yes I know it’s a typo) to get a nice 3D view of your button.</p><figure><img src=https://projects.arduinocontent.cc/3ed2c869-b516-4d15-a49a-445ee3e843e3.jpg /><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><h3 >15. Export</h3><p >Click anywhere on your 3D model and then go to the File menu and click export.</p><figure><img src=https://projects.arduinocontent.cc/af28ec9d-2061-45d2-a03b-6e33eb5f0c27.jpg /><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><h3 >16. Export options</h3><p >Choose “Mesh formats” from the bottom drop down menu and name the file “something.stl”. I named mine “button.stl”.</p><p >NOTE: Now you can close Freecad, but you might want to save the template file for future adjustments of the object.</p><figure><img src=https://projects.arduinocontent.cc/c07a890d-e6c1-4671-aab1-0c50dc960d93.jpg /><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><h3 >17. Settings for Slic3r</h3><p ><a href="http://bit.ly/1zoC1KC">Download here</a></p><h3 >18. Open Slic3r</h3><p ><span >Open Slic3r (</span><a href="http://bit.ly/1zzYiG8">download it here</a><span >), go to the file menu and click on “Load config”.</span></p><p >Choose the configuration file you downloaded before  and click “OPEN”.</p><figure><img src=https://projects.arduinocontent.cc/10b03206-e465-4cb7-a231-3a758e132b83.JPG /><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><h3 >19. Slice your file</h3><p >Now go to the file menu again and choose “Quick slice and save as”. Insert an SD-card in the computer and save the G-code to the SD-card. Eject the SD-card and remove it from the computer.</p><figure><img src=https://projects.arduinocontent.cc/f620b16d-6051-40a0-bf32-0582a23c4630.jpg /><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><h3 >20. Go to prepare</h3><p >Now we have to insert the filament into the printer. Click on the knob next to the screen to access the Main menu, choose “Prepare”.</p><figure><img src=https://projects.arduinocontent.cc/56dac2bd-3247-415a-92b8-04bc81d88fe8.JPG /><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><h3 >21. Change filament</h3><p >At the bottom of the menu click “Change filament”.</p><figure><img src=https://projects.arduinocontent.cc/6e21ce62-0d3a-491b-9618-9403da0be458.JPG /><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><h3 >22. The printer will heat up</h3><p >The printer is now going to heat up to 230 Centigrade and then start to eject the filament. If you have one loaded already,It will beep loudly when it is done ejecting it. Remove the old filament and push the scroll button.</p><h3 >23. Insert new filament. </h3><p >Now your screen will say ”Charge Filament” and you can insert the new filament. The Drive gear on the extruder should be spinning. The elastic filament is soft and can be a bit tricky to get into the extruder. So you might have to push it a bit to make the drive gear grab onto it.</p><figure><img src=https://projects.arduinocontent.cc/7d402448-fe92-4e6a-bf73-27344091465b.JPG /><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><h3 >24. Check the extrusion</h3><p >The printer will continue to extrude plastic when you have inserted the filament. Push the button again when you see that the new filament is being extruded to make it stop. </p><figure><img src=https://projects.arduinocontent.cc/6018c883-a6b8-4ba6-ad8a-4226fb301f86.JPG /><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><h3 >25. Print from SD</h3><p ><span >Now you can go to the main menu and choose “Print from SD”. Scroll down to </span><a href="http://xn--button-oi0c.xn--gcode-sw3b/">“Button.gcode”</a><span > or the name you chose and click on it to start the print.</span></p><p ><span >NOTE: Take a look at our</span><a href="http://bit.ly/1HE21rB"> previous tutorial</a><span > to set up the printer for printing if this is your first print.</span></p><figure><img src=https://projects.arduinocontent.cc/7920d50f-153a-42d8-9ad9-1e32103dffd9.JPG /><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><p ></p>

Materia 101: Making Something Useful

There are many things you can fix around the house with a 3D printer. I’m going to fix the button on our microwave oven in the office.