3D printing is being touted as the next industrial revolution. MakerBot, Formlabs and 3DSystems are some of the big innovators in this area. In addition, the RepRap open source community has proven that DIY 3D Printers are not only affordable, but also as good as professional printers.
3D printers are fascinating, aren’t they? shutter
The open source model Prusa i3 is very successful and many colleges and schools are listing courses on how to create a model in their curriculum. Furthermore, today you don’t need to own a printer to print something in 3D – many websites offer the service of printing objects of your choice. You only need to provide the .STL files of the object to be printed.
Did you know: 3D printing technology has a wide range of applications and is used in defense, construction and fabrication of artificial organs or limbs. Recently, a 3D Printer was even installed by NASA in the International Space Station.
What is an STL file?
STL is a file format accepted by all 3D Printers as input. If you’re thinking, where can I get 3D printed models, fret not, you don’t need to learn complicated design software. Sites like Thingiverse have hundreds of thousands of models that you can download for free and 3D print.
I built a 3D printer myself and downloaded some models from Thingiverse. One thing that I find lacking in many 3D printer applications is the ability to measure something in the model. There are many cases where you may need to know certain dimensions.
For example, I love this green Lantern ring and I want to 3D print it, but how do I know if it will fit my finger? What if you want to make a gold ring (my dream)? For this and many others, you need to measure certain components of the model.
What is Netfabb?
Netfabb is the application with which you can perform sizing and analysis of STL model files. It is paid, but a free version is available on its website. The best thing about Netfabb is not this feature, but its simple and easy to use interface.
Download and install it. When running it, a dialog box will appear asking you to register. Accept the terms of use and click Afterward.
Using Netfabb to measure STL . files
Don’t be afraid of the complicated interface on the main window. It’s really simple to understand. To measure, you will have to add the model first. To do this, click the . button open file icon in the top left corner.
After opening the model, go to Add-ons > New Measure. This will turn your model gray. Notice on the right side of the window the new measurement tools will be displayed.
Explanation of Measurement Options
First, you need to determine where your point is, whether it’s on a surface, line, or angle. Choose an option from the icons next to it row first. For most cases point on the surface works well. Then you need to decide what you want to measure: linear distance, radius, or angle. Select the appropriate option from the icons as indicated above by the number 2. The icons in row 3 will depend on the option you selected in row 2. The image below should give you a good idea of the details of all the functions.
The basic rule of measurement is that you need at least two points. Based on these principles, you can measure the distance between two points, point and edge, and between edge and edge. Same applies to corners and radii. The three most basic measurement tasks I provided in the Gif. If you want to learn more, visit the YouTube video provided by NetFabb itself.
Measure point to point
You pick two points on the model and Netfabb gives you the distance between them.
Edge measurement
Same as above, but here you select two lines/edges on the model.
Radius of a three-point circle
This is used to find the radius of any circular element in the design. One way to do that is to select three points on the circumference of the circle.
The other method is useful when you have an arc, clicking on the arc gives its radius. Needless to say, this also works on full circles.
Conclusion
Although Netfabb looks complicated at first glance, the user interface is really simple. There are many more useful options, but including them all is beyond the scope of this post. If you have any specific questions, feel free to post a comment and I’ll help you out.
Categories: How to
Source: thpttranhungdao.edu.vn/en/
