Prepare Your Model for 3D Printing

To avoid printing errors and broken parts when using a 3D printing service, use the guidelines
in this document for the following:

■ Thin Shells and Walls
■ Structural Problems
■ Moving Parts
■ Miscellaneous

Thin Shells and Walls

Models with a thin shell or walls may

■ Break when printed or shipped
■ Print with errors
■ Be impossible to print
■ Be vulnerable to breaking

Before you print your model, check the minimum shell and thickness requirements set by us. For a list of minimum requirements, see you service provider’s website.

Scaling Down Models

If you scale down a model, use caution. Make sure the shell or walls still meet your service provider’s minimum thickness requirements. Also, pay particular
attention to small objects that may break easily, such as the following:

■ Handrails
■ Pillars
■ Pins
■ Window sashes
■ Wires

Structural Problems

Models with a large mass connected to a thin stem may

■ Break when printed or shipped
■ Print with errors

Be impossible to print ■ Be vulnerable to breaking
For example, a model with a sphere connected to a base by a thin stem is suspectible to damage after it is printed.

Moving Parts

Before you print your model, be sure that there is enough clearance between
moving parts such as the following:

■ Gears
■ Cogs
■ Links in a chain

If you do not, your prototype may be a solid, non-moving object.

Miscellaneous

You can print the following:

■ 3D solids
■ Watertight meshes
■ Uniformly scaled blocks and xrefs that contain 3D solids or watertight meshes