3DPrinting
3DPrinting is a place where makers of all skill levels and walks of life can learn about and discuss 3D printing and development of 3D printed parts and devices.
The r/functionalprint community is now located at: or !functionalprint@fedia.io
There are CAD communities available at: !cad@lemmy.world or !freecad@lemmy.ml
Rules
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No bigotry - including racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, or xenophobia. Code of Conduct.
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Be respectful, especially when disagreeing. Everyone should feel welcome here.
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No porn (NSFW prints are acceptable but must be marked NSFW)
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No Ads / Spamming / Guerrilla Marketing
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Do not create links to reddit
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If you see an issue please flag it
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No guns
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No injury gore posts
If you need an easy way to host pictures, https://catbox.moe/ may be an option. Be ethical about what you post and donate if you are able or use this a lot. It is just an individual hosting content, not a company. The image embedding syntax for Lemmy is 
Moderation policy: Light, mostly invisible
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I just model nearly everything I print. The one time I purchased was from cults3d. I'm sure printable or anywhere else is fine too. Most of the paid ones just have better pictures but some are great designs imo
I really should learn 3d modeling for printing?
It's definitely not necessary, but it becomes very empowering when you can go from idea in your head to 3d mock-up to printed object in a matter of minutes or hours.
It's OK to not rush in to learning a design program of any kind. Take your time if you want. There are millions of things to print at the click of a button.
And when you are ready to learn something new and extra, you will know when you are ready and then you can start learning. And it will be a fun process, not a chore because 'you have to learn this.' This is a journey, not a job for you
I think so. While it may seem daunting and very complex at first, getting the basics down in blender will get you pretty far. FreeCAD is another popular choice. They're two very different ways of modeling, so I recommend trying out a tutorial for each and see which style works for you.
There's also onshape which has a free tier (your files are public) and it's web based so you can model on any platform. Or fusion 360 which comes from an annoying company but fine for little things. I've been using onshape for little things lately. I
don't think I'd recommend blender to a newbie. It's more involved and really takes time to learn. Similar for free CAD. I love the idea but it's really clunky to use.
The best (imo) modeling software has a simple workflow with easy to find tools. Create a sketch, extrude that sketch, then do it again if needed, add holes etc...