A Beginner's Guide to 3D Printing: 14 Simple Toy Designs to Get You Started

by Mike Rigsby

3D printers have revolutionized the worlds of manufacturing, design, and art. But how does a person with little or no computer design experience create an object to print? The best way to learn is through hands-on experience. Professional engineer Mike Rigsby leads readers step-by-step through fourteen simple toy projects, each illustrated with screen caps of Autodesk 123D Design, the most common free 3D software available. The projects are later described using Sketchup, another free popular software package. The toy projects in A Beginner’s Guide to 3D Printing start simple—a domino, nothing more than an extruded rectangle, a rectangular block. But soon you will be creating jewel boxes with lids, a baking powder submarine, interchangeable panels for a design-it-yourself miniature house, a simple train with expandable track, a multipiece airplane, a working paddleboat, and a rubber band–powered car. Finally, you will design, print, and assemble a Little Clicker, a noise making push toy with froggy eyes. Once trained in the basics, you will be able to embark on even more elaborate designs of your own creation.

304 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2014

Reviews

[San Diego Book Review · Rating 2 out of 5]

In A Beginner’s Guide to 3D Printing: 14 Simple Toy Designs to Get You Started, Mike Rigsby provides detailed, step-by-step instructions to aspiring 3D printing aficionados on how to create 14 toys and gadgets, including a baking powder submarine, a rubber band car, a bathtub paddleboat, a train and track, and a simple drum. Instructions and illustrations are provided for these creations in 123D by Autodesk, and instructions without illustrations are provided for use with SketchUp. Read the entire review at http://www.sandiegobookreview.com/a-b...

Reviewed by Brett Peterson

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Takes you step by step in designing files for 3d printers using two programs, sketch-up and 123D. Good for classes.