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Learn 3D design and printing
Free to read, no account, no video. Every guide answers one question that decides whether a print works — and says plainly where the answer depends on your own printer.
Starting out
5 min read
What is 3D printing?
How a 3D printer turns a design on a screen into an object you can hold — explained for children, parents and teachers, with no jargon.
6 min read
How to design your first 3D model
A first design from nothing to a saved file: choose a shape, give it real sizes, check it, and export it. About twenty minutes.
Designing well
5 min read
How thin can a 3D printed wall be?
Why hollow models need a minimum wall thickness, how to choose one, and what happens when a wall is thinner than the printer's nozzle.
6 min read
Clearance and tolerance: making parts that actually fit
Why a 10 mm peg will not go into a 10 mm hole, how much gap to leave, and how to work out the right number for your own printer.
Printing it
5 min read
Overhangs and supports: which way up should you print?
What an overhang is, why 45 degrees matters, and how turning a model over can remove the need for supports without changing the design at all.
4 min read
STL or 3MF: which file should you export?
The practical difference between the two common 3D print formats, what each one keeps, what each one loses, and when to use which.
For grown-ups
7 min read
3D design in the classroom: a starter guide
Running 3D design with a class of thirty in a 45-minute period, on school laptops, with one printer or none at all.
6 min read
Is 3D design a good thing for my child to learn?
What teenagers get out of 3D design, what it costs, what to watch for, and why the age floor is 13 — written for parents deciding whether it is worth the time.
Then make something
Reading about clearance is not the same as choosing one. Individual subscribers can apply it in the browser Studio with nothing to install.