Step 1: Design

A) Come up with your idea, it can decorative, functional, or even a manifestation of a thought

- Some things to keep in mind when deciding on what you want to make:- How big will it be?

- Where will I be using it? Temp isn’t a big problem, and its best to keep these parts in a dry place

- Does it move? You might not be designing moving parts, but wear and tear on PLA is not that great if it's impacting or sliding against something

- How will it print?- Most rounded corners and spheres should be fine, but- The “steeper” the round, the less precise the printer will be- Thin segments are tough for printers, because the layer might not

hold. - A rule of thumb I use is to keep all minimum widths at least 1 cm, or

10 mm

- Here is a link to a good article on other important design considerations:

- http://mastersketchup.com/design-considerations-3d-printing/- And here’s another one, that is nitty gritty, and focused on creating stable pieces

- http://support.3dverkstan.se/article/38-designing-for-3d-printing

B) Start by sketching it out on some paper    

- This helps a ton! That way you're not trying to fiddle with learning SketchUp and trying to remember what you wanted to make at the same time

- Try to include a side, front and top profile

- Dimensions are usually good to have planned out, other times you might freehand it, and then scale the model to something appropriate later.

C) Make it in SketchUp!

- The fun part, plus it gets easier every time you do it.

- Try to think in terms of the extrude function, and try to use it efficiently. - For example, when creating a house, instead of making a block and

then a triangle on top, sketch out the profile of the house in 2D then extrude that

- You don't really have to worry about size, but when you're finished, try to have one or two definite dimensions(like the end product has to be 45 mm tall or something)

- Some tips we discussed:- Connecting vertices with the line tool will make it into a surface- Negative extrusion, or when you extrude something through a whole surface, it makes a hole

Step 2: Export the file and check for errors

A) In order to export the SketchUp model as a .STL file:

- You will need the right extension to be able to export your SketchUp file as a .STL

- To get this extension:- Click on "Extension Warehouse", it should be the second last button

from the right- A window should pop up, just search "STL"- The extension you want to install is called "SketchUp STL", it’s by the

SketchUp Team.     - Now under "File", you should see the option "export STL"     - When exporting, keep it ascii, and units don't really matter if you have that defining dimension (must be 45mm tall or something like that)

B) Check for errors in Netfabb    

- Open up Netfabb -> Project -> Open- Now you should see your model, hopefully all green or all gray- To error check:

- Click "Extras" -> "Repair Part"- In the bottom right, "Automatic Repair" -> "Default Repair"- In the bottom right again, "Apply Repair"- Now it might ask about removing the old part or something, it doesn't

matter,- To finish, right click your part on the model tree, and "Export part" ->

"as STL"

- Netfabb mouse buttons- Holding right click on the background rotates the object about the

viewing plane- Holding right click on the part lets you rotate the part freely- Left click is pretty useless- Holding middle mouse lets you translate the part, and the scroll wheel is zoom

C) Check in Makerware (OPTIONAL)

- If it is repaired in Netfabb, chances are it will look fine in Makerware, so this step is optional

- To open: "File" -> "Open" or "Add"- The sign of a good part is uniform color. If any surface looks black, then

that might be an error.

- Makerware mouse tips:- Double click on the buttons to see what they do- Double click on the scale option, and then select an object to see its dimensions as a box

- Now you can manually enter your dimension(s) in mm- To enter it in inches, your value as if it was in inches, then click

"inches-> mm" - For those of you wondering, this button turns (for example)

5 mm into 5 inches, and then converts 5 inches into mm, and displays that. It's weird.

- Right click rotates, middle mouse translates, and left click is still useless.

- If you've changed the size of the model, then save as STL, but if you've only used Makerware to check your model, then you can just close it when done.

Step 3: Give it to the library

- No real explanation needed, except that you might ask them to not resize it if it's already to scale

Download links:

Netfabb download page: http://www.netfabb.com/downloadcenter.php?basic=1#

Makerware download page: http://www.makerbot.com/desktop