3D Printing Blueprints: Using the free open-source Blender software, anyone can design models for 3D printing. Fantastic fun and a great experience whether or not you have a 3D printer, this book is a crash course in the new technology.

Blender opens with a default scene that contains a cube, a light, and a camera, none of which are necessary for this project. So to begin, the virtual work area will need to be cleared and a new file will be created for this project. Saving early is a good idea to name the project area. Saving often is a good idea in case anything bad happens; there is always a risk with any computer project. Saving incrementally is a good idea as a kind of back-up undo memory. And as this is the first project, a basic directory for the projects to follow will be set up. Carry out the following steps to create a new file in Blender:

With this project's file created it's time to begin creating the mug. The mug will be made up of two different shapes, so the first thing to do is to add the shapes we need into the scene:

Incremental saves are when a new save file is created; leaving the old one in the state it was in. This serves as a sort of extended undo if anything goes wrong. In the case of following a tutorial like this these incremental saves can provide a way back if the reader ever goes astray and doesn't realize it at first, as opposed to having to start all over, avoiding frustration.

Blender contains a powerful shortcut to make incremental saving easy. Carry out the following steps for incremental saving:

The next time this set of actions are followed the number in the file name will be incremented by 1 automatically.

In the main view there should be nothing but a gray field. This is because the mug is bigger than the current view so now is a good time to list the many ways to change the view in Blender.

Do an incremental save (Press F2, Numpad +, and then click on Save As Blender File).

Carry out the following steps to create a new cube:

The newly created cube is being seen from the front orthographic view so it looks like a box, but it does have depth. Rotate the view to confirm this. The cylinder is also entirely inside the mug body but it is visible because of wireframe mode. Press Z to toggle back to solid view and the cube will be hidden by the body. Remember to undo any view changes by pressing Numpad 1 or choosing View | Front and toggling to Wireframe...

Pan and zoom the view as explained before to adjust the view to focus on the right half of the mug with plenty of space to make the handle in.

Blender allows direct manipulation of the individual points or vertices that make up an object in Edit Mode. Many things that you can do in terms of selection and manipulation work similarly in and out of Edit Mode.

Blender provides a number of object modifiers that can be used to quickly alter objects in the scene. In this project only two modifiers, namely Multiresolution and Boolean, will be used. Modifiers can be stacked, turned on and off, and their settings can be changed on the fly. The modifiers are accessed in their own menu in the right-hand side bar.

Begin with an incremental save (Press F2, then Numpad +, and click on Save As Blender File) to set a save point. Then carry out the following steps to create a new modifier:

Multiresolution smoothes the mesh out by adding more vertices between existing vertices and putting them in a location that rounds the shape. In this case the final...

Finishing the handle taught many operations and modifiers that will now be applied to the mug body:

The border select operation is another way to quickly select multiple objects or, in this case, points for editing. Like the circle select tool while in wireframe mode, the border select tool selects all vertices that it surrounds, even if they're overlapping other points on the screen. The following are the steps for border select operation:

Most of the modeling is done, but this mug is not quite ready to print. The body and handle are still two separate pieces and the bottom of the body, while flatter, isn't quite flat enough to trust to printing. We will be making some changes that will make further editing difficult so first we will make a duplicate of the mug's body easily modifiable objects.

Even though it's only been a while set another save point (Press F2, then Numpad +, and click on Save As Blender File) now.

Carry out the following steps to make a duplicate of the mug:

With two identical shapes in the same location it can get confusing to select the correct one, so we're...

The bottom of the mug, while flatter than before, is not perfectly flat and is therefore not suitable for printing yet. However, there is a way to use the scale operator in Edit Mode to make a flat bottom, by carrying out the following steps:

Without touching the mouse carry out the following steps:

Rotate the view and notice that all the points that were there before are still there, they are all just on the exact same z level making a perfectly flat bottom for printing.

Remember to save (Ctrl + S).

All editing of a model done. The mug isn't placed on the platform it's true, it is just kind of floating in space, but it is properly oriented so the 3D printer software will take care of positioning it. All that is left is to export the model in a format that can be sent to the 3D printer.

With the final mug selected (right-click) and when not in Edit Mode (Tab), carry out the following steps:

By default the name of the STL will be the name of the project, which is perfect in this case. Just check to be sure the name is as you like it and click on the Export STL button.

Then open either MakerWare or ReplicatorG, open the STL, and prepare it for printing...

Now that you've learned the basic modeling tools challenge yourself to make your own mug shape, either by modifying the existing model or starting from scratch. Make a mug that is more of a goblet or make a mug with extruded tentacles. Perhaps, something that is more irregular and less symmetrical. The possibilities are endless.

And that's it. This thimble-sized mug taught a majority of the basic tools that will continue to be used in future 3D modeling projects. Some of those tools are:

That is a long list. Have a drink.

The next chapter will teach a different tool set for modeling similar objects using lines and lathes, but the skills of vertex selection and manipulation learned in this chapter will still come in useful!