I decided I needed a case to hold my Aurdino and motor shield, so I designed one for my 3D printer. The file is on thingiverse at https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2853975.
What sort of printer do you have? Also what software do you use for design of the case? I need to make a case for my ESP32 base station and the various extras that will be attached to it. Any thoughts on laser cutters? I am considering one of those as well.
I have an Anet A8- it was about $150 unassembled. There is a learning curve and I've invested about $100 in upgrades. It does pretty good considering the price. I have not played with laser cutters yet. It would be a lot quicker, that's for sure. Print time for the case was about 6 hours.
It is an Uno board. I have extra room to allow the board to go past the lugs for the top screws. I'll have to see if a Mega fits. I should also mention it's for the clone Arduino motor shield. If anyone wanted the file for the Paulo (that's spelled wrong I know) shield, if they can send a link to the dimensions I can modify it.
For software I start in Sketchup- version 8 still with a LOT of add-ons. I also use netfab for checking and repair of the STL file. It's been a learning curve since I started doing details for N through G scale. I don't think I am supposed to advertise on the forums, but google my username if you want to know more.
Yeah, advertising is a no-go. I'll start playing with the software and may reach out for assistance after I figure things out a bit.
not sure how it compares to 3D printing, but for my CNC router that i am building up, i use AutoDesk Fusion 360, with a free hobbyist/start-up license. it is pretty robust, and takes care of CAD and CAM. the biggest issue i have with it is how resource hungry it is. one of these days i may build up a 3D printer, but so far, i am sticking with the CNC router. good job on the case! i believe that! when testing my CNC, a small test carving of the word "test", with light face surfacing, took about 45 minutes to an hour. granted, i didn't know much about feed rate, and other settings at the time. ~Travis
Great, is the Mega file available in Sketchup? I have 2017 version, do not like 2018. Can you output it to 2017 file version? I can check it with my Mega Clone and Pololu shield.
I don't use Autodesk Fusion 360 myself - I've downloaded it and used it, but it's not what I make my models in until I learn it well enough... But having said that, anyone that's just getting into 3D modelling, I would totally recommend jumping in with learning the Autodesk software as that seems to be what most are using these days. It has a ton of sweet features and I really wish I was proficient in it. SketchUp is still extremely popular and you can't go wrong with it, either. I do both CNC (mill and router table) and 3D printing. If you're mainly cutting out flat stock to assemble, CNC is the way to go. If you want to make "objects," 3D printing removes a lot of limitations you have with CNC and it is SOOO much cleaner. No swarf/chips to clean up. I love 'em both but 3D printing is definitely my favorite. Cheers! -Mike
Both programs work well doing 3D objects. For me, with the little I would use it, 2017 Sketchup Make is Free, Fusion 360 dose have some qualify free time and then costs $310.00 per year. Shetchup Make has all the bells and whistles needed to make the type of objects I need,even did the bench work for a club. I would not use the 2018 Sketchup Make as they changed it so much and it is cloud based now, Sketchup 2018 Pro is still either cloud or local based. IMHO I cannot at this time justify that expense for Fusion 360.
I am on my second year, free, with Fusion 360. if you are still a hobbyist/startup at the end of the free subscription, you just simply re-apply. ~Travis
https://knowledge.autodesk.com/supp...-or-educational-licensing-for-Fusion-360.html in any case, it all depends on how much you use CAD/CAM. personally, i am not fond of the Cloud-based storage with Fusion 360, nor am i fond of the amount of system resources it uses on my older laptop. but it works great for what i do use it for. ~Travis
I do not like using Cloud based S/W for my files. Just do not see any advantages. It has nothing to do with "convenience". I do use the free Dropbox (1 Gig) only for sending large files via email. Just copy the Dropbox link into your email and your done. My email provider does not like to send large files.
