Converting a 3D object into a mould. With Tinkercad and Inkscape

Transcription

1 Converting a 3D object into a mould With Tinkercad and Inkscape

2 What you need Tinkercad Inkscape a STL file to convert Create an account now Download for free now Pick up one for free now

3 To make better moulds Choose the object to convert wisely Not all objects can be converted into moulds, choose simple objects, with smooth angles and no inner folds About this tutorial About colors Colors are here to help you, using the same color shapes as that you see in this tutorial will make your life easier. Some screenshots also include red circles to guide you About the shape we used The shape we used as an example in this tutorial comes from Scan The World

4 Let s learn a bit more about Tinkercad Overview of the most useful tools

5 Use this tool to group shapes

6 This is the alignment tool, select at least two shapes and click here to align them properly

7 Use this button to switch between perspective and orthographic views (very useful)

8 have a terrible sense of direction? Keep an eye on this and you won t get lost!

9 Made a mistake? It s never too late to go back!

10 Get started! Time to create your mould

11 01 Import the object into Tinkercad, resize it as you want (hold Shift while resizing to keep proportions)

12 (!) The next step is crucial for the success of the design, stay FOCUSED!

13 02 Rotate and move the shape so that its largest section matches the workplane

14 (!) Switch to the FRONT orthographic view The shape must be COMPLETELY out of the red areas

15 (!) Switch to the LEFT orthographic view The shape must be COMPLETELY out of the red areas

16 (!) If you can t meet the two conditions at the same time, the shape you chose might not be convertible : (

17 03 Export the design to SVG

18 04 Open the SVG file in Inkscape Do not resize the shape

19 05 Right-click on the shape, choose the Fill and Stroke menu, and set the stroke width to 1 mm

20 06 Open the Path Editor (F2), choose Convert the object strokes to paths (Ctrl + Alt + C), and save the object as SVG

21 07 Go back to Tinkercad and change the shape to a hole

22 08 Switch to BOTTOM orthographic view

23 09 Create a box that encompasses the entire shape

24 (!) Four pins will be added later to the corners of the box Make sure to leave enough space!

25 10 Switch back to perspective view

26 11 Set the thickness of the box so that the top of the box is 1 mm above the top point of the shape

27 12 Move the box 1 mm upward

28 13 Duplicate the box (Ctrl + D) and repeat steps 11 and 12 symmetrically

29 13 This is what you should see in the FRONT orthographic view

30 14 Import the two SVG files, the one you first exported from Tinkercad, and the one you modified in Inkscape

31 15 Select the two shapes (hold Shift to select several shapes), and align them using the alignment tool

32 16 Group them

33 17 Set the thickness of the yellow shape to 1 mm

34 18 Move the red box away

35 19 Switch to TOP orthographic view

36 20 Align the yellow shape with the hollow shape

37 21 Select the yellow and the hollow shape, and use the alignment tool to adjust alignment

38 22 Move the red shape back in place

39 23 Switch to the FRONT orthographic view

40 24 Move the blue shape downward

41 25 Duplicate the yellow shape, and move the copy downward until it meets the top of the blue shape

42 26 Group the red shape with the yellow shape, and the blue shape with the green one

43 27 Duplicate the hollow shape (Ctrl + D) without moving or resizing it

44 28 Group the red shape with one of the hollow shapes

45 29 Move the red and the blue shapes upward until the top of the blue shape meets the workplane

46 30 Group the blue shape with the hollow shape

47 31 Move the blue shape upward

48 32 Switch back to perspective view

49 33 Move the red shape away for a while

50 34 Create a 6 6 mm based hollow cylinder, and place it 2 mm away from the edges of the blue shape

51 34 This is what you should see from the FRONT orthographic view The top of the hollow cylinder must be 1 mm above the top of the red shape

52 35 Duplicate the hollow cylinder without moving the copy, resize the copy to 5 5 mm, move it 3 mm downward

53 35 This is what you should see from the FRONT orthographic view The top of the yellow cylinder must be 2 mm under the top of the red shape

54 36 Add a mm half sphere at the top of the yellow cylinder You can use the alignment tool to have it perfectly aligned

55 36 This is what you should see from the FRONT orthographic view

56 37 Switch to the TOP orthographic view

57 38 Select the two cylinders and the half sphere, duplicate them and move the copies to the three corners of the blue shape

58 39 Move the red shape back to its place

59 40 Select the red shape and the four hollow cylinders, and group them

60 41 Return the red shape

61 42 Group all the other shapes

62 And Here it is! Don t forget to share this design on myminifactory.com!