If everything you want is already on Thingiverse.com<\/a>, you can skip the design software altogether and just download a slicer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n AutoDesk Fusion 360 is free<\/strong> for hobbyists. Else, it’s $495 per year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Go get it: https:\/\/www.autodesk.com\/campaigns\/fusion-360-for-hobbyists<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Here are my recommendations: <\/p>\n\n\n\n Once you have a 3D model, you need to slice it. That means creating the G-Code instructions for the very dumb printer. Like. “Go here, then go there. Oh, now, go here. Over there now.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n Just make sure to install Cura<\/a> and go through some sort of tutorial to see how to use the settings. Here’s a good guide by all3dp<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For those of us who can quickly model in SketchUp, learning a new program may be undesirable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Quick answer:<\/strong> Yes, you can use SketchUp (with the STL Exporter extension), but it will be well worth your time to learn AutoDesk Fusion 360 for the capability of doing parametric\u00a0modeling.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n …more on that later!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There are two applications necessary to design and print 3D objects. 3D Design: If you want to make your own custom 3D models to print. Slicer: To slice a model into code that your printer can understand. If everything you want is already on Thingiverse.com, you can skip the design software altogether and just download […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2909,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":""},"categories":[61],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.keithstestgarage.com\/old\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/image-9.png?fit=1567%2C1207&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa3G03-C5","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.keithstestgarage.com\/old\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2361"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.keithstestgarage.com\/old\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.keithstestgarage.com\/old\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.keithstestgarage.com\/old\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.keithstestgarage.com\/old\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2361"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.keithstestgarage.com\/old\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2361\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2917,"href":"https:\/\/www.keithstestgarage.com\/old\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2361\/revisions\/2917"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.keithstestgarage.com\/old\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2909"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.keithstestgarage.com\/old\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.keithstestgarage.com\/old\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2361"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.keithstestgarage.com\/old\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}3D Design: AutoDesk Fusion 360<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.keithstestgarage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/image-9.png?fit=770%2C593&ssl=1\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.keithstestgarage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/image-10.png?fit=770%2C510&ssl=1\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nLearn AutoDesk Fusion 360:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Slicing Software: Cura<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.keithstestgarage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/image-11.png?fit=770%2C456&ssl=1\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.keithstestgarage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/image-12.png?fit=770%2C456&ssl=1\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nCan I use SketchUp? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n