This guide is just to highlight the design process of making a 3D model for printing from start to finish.
The Tool that I use for designing my models is Fusion 360 by Autodesk. Currently I am using the Free for personal use license but I do plan on upgrading to a paid version in the not to distant future. It is a very powerful tool that is easy to pick up and learn on. It is more geared towards mechanical and practical design. Their are other free options out their such as Blender that is more geared towards 3D animation and modeling to be used in movies or video games.
What prompted this write up is that I had a Tripod mounting plate crack on me and instead of throwing out the whole tripod and getting a new one I decided to take up the challenge of designing and printing up a new one that would work with the Tripod.
I busted up out my trusty Pittsburgh Digital Caliper's and started taking measurements to get an idea of what I needed to Sketch up using Fusion 360. It took a couple of revisions but I finally got one that I was happy with for the design. As for the measurement dimensions these all were taken in Metric using Millimeters.
After getting the everting all sketched out I extruded the sizes out and to get the profile I needed on the base I used a feature called "Sweep" that takes a series of sketch profiles and defines the shape along a selected path.
After getting everything rendered up it was time to review the model, export it, and set it up using Cura to print the Model which I have a few short videos that I believe better shows all of the steps through out the process. The final video was speed up by 500%.
The Final result of the design and after an 1hr 18min print I had a new tripod mount plate. With the added benefit of if this one breaks all I have to do is print another one and I am set. Also if I ever decide to design up other things that need to work with this tripod I can easily integrate this design into it to make it compatible.
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