Getting Started with 3D Printing Using Tinkercad

Contributors:

Feldi

Resources and Going Further

This tutorial was intended to give you a starting point for your 3D printing adventures, specifically how you might use 3D printed objects to enhance your electronics projects. Once you feel comfortable with Tinkercad, try making shapes and objects of your own design!

More 3D printing troubleshooting - Printing can be a finicky process. Check out this troubleshooting guide (complete with pictures!) if you still can't get your print to look right.
Tinkercad Tutorials - A good place to start if you want to get better at Tinkercad.
Cura LulzBot Edition User Manual - A good place to go if you need help with Cura
LulzBot TAZ 5 User Manual - A good thing to read to learn how to use and take care of your TAZ 5 printer. Other 3D printers should have their own manuals. We recommend Reading The Full Manual.
Cura Source Code - Want to dig into the source code for a slicer program? Here's your chance!
TAZ 5 Source Code - Wait, what? That's right. The LulzBot line of printers are all open source!
Project Box on Tinkercad - If you really want to skip all the fun of modeling your own (and just want to copy my design to play with), here you go.

Want to get some cool 3D printing ideas? Check out these tutorials:

Hacker in Residence: The Harmonic Skew Zoetrope

Check out Hacker in Residence, Jesse's awesome Harmonic Skew Zoetrope in this project tutorial.

Tech Prank: Hardware Mouse Jiggler

Create an innocuous-looking USB stick with an Arduino Pro Micro and a 3D printed case that moves your mouse pointer randomly every few seconds. Sure to anger your coworkers and friends!

Getting Started with 3D Printing Using Tinkercad

Tinkercad is a great, easy-to-use online modeling software that can have you 3D printing quickly. This tutorial will walk you through designing a simple project enclosure.