3D printing and CAD

Most of what I make starts as a problem on my desk: something that needs a holder, a mount, a bin or a replacement part. I design it in SolidWorks, print it, see what’s wrong, and print it again.

Add when you started printing and what your first printer was

The problem

Getting a part to come out of a printer is the easy part. Getting it to fit something else is hard.

Every printer and every filament prints a little differently. A part that’s perfect in CAD can come out too tight to slide in, or loose enough to rattle. If you only check a printed part against another printed part, you never know which one is off.

The solution

A setup built around three things:

• Two printers, so long prints and quick test pieces don’t wait on each other.
• Clean SolidWorks models, so a fit fix is a dimension change, not a redesign.
• Standard fit references, SKÅDIS and Gridfinity, so I’m checking against a known size instead of guessing.

How it works

The printers

I run two Bambu Lab printers: an X2D and an A1. Both have an AMS, the automatic material system that feeds filament from several spools. A print can switch colors or materials partway through without me swapping spools by hand.

With two machines, one can run a long print while the other turns out small test pieces. That makes dialing in a fit much faster.

Add what each printer is best at for you, and which one you reach for first

Designing in SolidWorks

I do almost all of my modeling in SolidWorks, and I hold the CSWA and CSWP certifications. I build models the way a shop would want them: fully defined sketches, dimensions that mean something, and features I can change later without the model breaking.

That matters for printing. A part that’s 0.2 mm too tight is a quick dimension edit in a well-built model, and a rebuild from scratch in a messy one.

Screenshot to add: a part in SolidWorks with its sketch and dimensions Add one part you designed, what it was for, and how many versions it took

Standards as fit references

• SKÅDIS is IKEA’s pegboard. The holes have a fixed size and spacing, so a hook or holder either clicks in and holds or it doesn’t.
• Gridfinity is an open storage system built on a 42 mm grid. Bins and baseplates from different designers are supposed to fit together, so if my bin drops into a baseplate cleanly, my dimensions and my printer are both behaving.

Because both are standards, they take the guessing out of the check.

Testing

For a new fit, I print small test coupons: the same peg or edge at several clearances, then try each one on the real reference.

Photos to add: parts on the SKÅDIS board, Gridfinity bins in a drawer, fit-test coupons Add the clearance you settled on for press fits and slip fits on your printers

Results

Add 3 to 5 favorite prints: what each one is, what it’s for, and anything that went wrong first

What I learned

• Check against a known size. Testing a print against a standard tells you what’s wrong. Testing it against another print only tells you they disagree.
• Model for the second version. The first print rarely fits, so the model has to be easy to change.

Add one lesson from a print that failed and what you changed

My role

Solo. I design, slice, print and test everything on this page myself.

What’s next

MakerWorld is Bambu’s site for sharing printable models. I’m planning to publish sets of models instead of one-off files: groups of parts that work together, like a family of SKÅDIS holders or Gridfinity bins for specific tools.

• Points on MakerWorld can go back into filament and parts.
• A public profile is a portfolio of real designs other people actually print.
• People who print your models find the problems you missed and tell you.

I also want to write down my tolerances for each printer and material so I stop re-testing the same fits.

Add your MakerWorld profile link once the first set is up