So, I’m trying to print some older models from thingiverse and I have discovered that basically all the files I want to print have glaring flaws in them.

Internal free floating structures, connector pieces and holes that are the exact same size… So on and so forth…

Do I need to learn a software like CAD or Blender to fix these? I seem to be able to do some basic stuff in Orca Slicer but it honestly seems like as much of a pain to modify the parts there as it would be to use a real software.

Is there one that’s easier? I think I messed around with SketchUp once upon a time.

I am worried this feels like opening a can of worms just so that I can make a thing that already exists in a dozen forms better.

  • BoozillaEnglish
    6•3 days ago

    IMO it’s worth the time and effort to learn the basics. You don’t need to be an elite level modeler because you’re not modeling for animation or games. I’ve had good luck with simple fixes and mods in Blender.

    My experience is entirely with SLA, however, FDM might be a bit trickier.

    • @[email protected]OPEnglish
      3•3 days ago

      Yeah I think people forget about print orientation and stuff like that with FDM.

      I think the person said they printed with supports on but didn’t have great results and my thought is how they didn’t realize they made supports inside their part to get it to print that could have been solved with some mounting points for the bridging.

      Which in theory sounds like something I could do… No animation…

      But man slicer modifiers made me want to go insane and I barely managed to learn Photoshop, gimp, and the like.

      But thanks. I’m noticing basically 2 camps for software and it helps at least narrow down what I’ll find support for using I guess.

      • @[email protected]English
        0•3 days ago

        Gimp and PS made no sense to me. Ive learnt $d modling over time and don’t it fairly easy.

        Started with Tinkercad. Its fine for the basics. Square plus circle minis triangle etc. It dosnt have a timeline or parametric though, so small changes are pretty hard.

        Mixed to fusion360. Free if you can navigate the site. Heaps of tutorials non lone and really solid to. Basically draw in 2d and extend. Draw in 2d and cut. Heaps non other use full ways to modify things too. Its parametric so you can say one side is X long. And change X and the model will scale.
        Focus on the 2d shapes, fully constraining them and making them simple.

        Moved to Onshape. Its not got the 10active models that fusion has. And runs (surprisingly well) in browser. i can jump on any PC (work cough) and make edits. The tools (for most people) are on par with fusion and I found it more initiative.

        Watch heaps of builds on fusion and you’ll get the just pretty quickly.