Matt Donley runs an informative blog with Sketchup tutorials and Sketchup news at Master Sketchup. As he’s just starting to get into 3D printing, he asked me to write a post about 3D printing with Sketchup, which I was happy to do.
In the article, I draw from my own experience modeling for 3D prints, as well as interactions with people in my Sketchup classes and in online forums such as Sketchucation and Shapeways. There are a few questions about 3D printing Sketchup models I see crop up repeatedly. I cover the best solutions to these problems, including making the model Solid, working with tiny parts, and the best file format for 3D printing.
If you need advice on a tricky model, email me or hit me up on Google+ or Twitter. I’d also love to see what you make if these tips help you out!
Read the post on Matt’s site: 8 Tips for 3D Printing with Sketchup.
Thanks Marcus for sharing your tips. Another one we’ve run across is that hollow objects need an escape hole for certain 3D printers/materials. Is that something you’ve come across?
Hi Alex. Yes, that’s important for pretty much all of the non-FDM printers out there. Powder and resin printers need a way to remove the support material from hollow objects, so one or more escape holes are necessary.
BTW, thanks for all the Sketchup tutorials, I’m a big fan of yours. 🙂
Hi Marcus – thanks for the clarification. And a big thanks for the compliments!
We decided to use your tips as inspiration to pull together a new guide on 3D Printing from SketchUp: http://www.go-2-school.com/sketchup/3d-printing. It’s a work in progress, so we’d love to hear your feedback and also find out what else you would like to see there. Hey, maybe you’d even like to contribute! 🙂
I’ve sent you an email, Alex 🙂