New to 3D printers

I have been using inventor for nearly the last 20 years so that is where my experience is. I did recently download a copy of Fusion 360 for at home, I have not had time to figure out how to work it yet. If I could get a home version/license of inventor that would make my life a lot easier. Now I have to look into the educational inventor license..........

I am planning to get a 3D printer in the next month or so.
 

Register as a student. You do not need a .edu email address. The software is full featured and good for 3 years. Read the license agreement for details on what is allowed. You are essentially self-learning and non-commercial.
 
I use OpenSCAD. Not as fancy as some programs, but free and simple to learn and do simple things in. No licenses to worry about, and your designs aren't floating into the cloud, with uncertainty about whether you'll have access to the software in a few years or not, and requiring an internet connection to keep the licensing happy. There's also FreeCAD which I have not tried. Some folks prefer Blender but that's for different types of modeling.

If folks are interested we could start an OpenSCAD thread and share and help with the learning process.
 

Register as a student. You do not need a .edu email address. The software is full featured and good for 3 years. Read the license agreement for details on what is allowed. You are essentially self-learning and non-commercial.
Just tried this and all the choices have the requirement of ones self being with a "QUALIFIED EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION"
or else being connected with "an Autodesk sponsored design competition"
Haven't quite figured out what the definition(s) of that is...
Selected 'Student' and hit a wall.
1578461567151.png
 
Here are some simple drawer bins and the OpenSCAD code to generate them. By changing the arguments they can be whatever size needed, as long as they fit on your printer. :)

drawerBins.JPG


Code follows. I don't see a code insert feature, so the indent gets lost, but OpenSCAD doesn't care about indent. This is the code that generated the rendering above, all in OpenSCAD.

// simple drawer bins 1/2020 Alan B

in = 25.4; // for inch conversion (slicer assumes mm)
$fn = 100; // quality of arcs

cr = 5; // corner radius
wt = 1; // wall thickness
ft = 2; // floor thickness

// simple drawer Bins
bTray(1*in,3*in,0.75*in,ft,wt,cr);

translate([2.2*in,0,0]) // avoid overlap
bTray(2*in,4*in,1.75*in,ft,wt,cr);

translate([5.2*in,0,0]) // avoid overlap
bTray(3*in,6*in,2.75*in,ft,wt,cr);

module bTray(x,y,z,f,w,r) // basic tray
// width x, depth y, height z,
// floor thickness f, wall w, corner radius r
// x,y dimensions are internal, z,r external
{
difference()
{
rRect(x+2*w,y+2*w,z,r);
translate([0,0,f]) rRect(x,y,z,r-w);
//cube(200); // cutaway view
}
}

module rRect(x,y,z,r) // rounded corner rectangle
{
hull() // stretches shape over four corner cylinders
{
a = x/2-r; // width x
b = y/2-r; // depth y

// cylinder at each corner
translate([a,b,0]) cylinder(r=r,h=z);
translate([-a,b,0]) cylinder(r=r,h=z);
translate([a,-b,0]) cylinder(r=r,h=z);
translate([-a,-b,0]) cylinder(r=r,h=z);
}
}
 
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Just tried this and all the choices have the requirement of ones self being with a "QUALIFIED EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION"
or else being connected with "an Autodesk sponsored design competition"
Haven't quite figured out what the definition(s) of that is...
Selected 'Student' and hit a wall.
View attachment 309902


It is for educators and students. Put in your school name and proceed. I had to do that and also send a copy of my current staff ID. Contact Autodesk directly and ask what to put in or maybe contact the engineering department at your institution about what to put in because some others there have likely done it. If you are part of an Autodesk sponsored competition contact the competition organization and they would know what to do.

Fusion 360 is similar and does not require school affiliation.
 
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