![]() We can place a rectangle base on top of the letter then, to make sure you won't get a mirrored effect when cutting the dough with this mold. The following example creates an outline for the specified text: font = "DejaVu Sans:style=Bold" Īlthough this looks ok, you'd need something to "hold" the insides of some letters in place, like it's the case with the letter "D" in this example. To create an outline, we use two different offsets on top of the same 2D drawing this 2D outline can then be extruded. For that, we can use the offset function. If you want to turn this into a mold or cookie cutter thou, you'd like to have only the outline of the letters, instead of a full "background". Instead of union, you'd use difference in this case: font = "DejaVu Sans:style=Bold" Now, suppose you'd like an inverted effect, like a stencil. This code will give you the following object: For that, you'd want to use the union function: font = "DejaVu Sans:style=Bold" ![]() You could use a rectangle as base to print the text as a unique piece, like a nametag. If you were to print this as is, you would get 3 separate letters. The preview window will show the following: Check the OpenScad menu Help -> Font List for a list of available fonts. You may need to change the font to a font supported by your system. Text(string, size = letter_size, font = font, halign = "center", valign = "center", $fn = 64) The following code creates a 3D text: font = "DejaVu Sans:style=Bold" In OpenScad, you have different functions that can create 3D shapes such as cubes and spheres, but it is typical to create 3D shapes and then use the linear_extrude function to turn them into 3D objects. You can find this under the menu File -> Examples.Ī handy cheat sheet is available under the menu Help -> Cheat Sheet. The software comes with many examples that you can try out to get familiar with the built-in API. If you are familiar with image manipulation and transformation via code, you might find that OpenScad is quite straightforward, once you see a few different examples and get used to its syntax (which actually resembles a lot PHP, so another reason why I liked it). The big deal is that with OpenScad you use code to create solid 3D CAD objects. OpenScad is a free and open source CAD software available for Linux, Windows and Mac. This mold also doubles as stamp, if you use a string instead of single letter when printing it out. So that's how I chose to spend my Saturday morning today - messing around with OpenScad. I wanted to create some simple play-dough molds to play with my 3 year old daughter this weekend, and while it's not hard to find such models for download out there, I always feel fascinated by using code to create 3D models and bring them to life with my printer. If you are anything like me, however, you might feel the itch to create your own models, just because. For some of us who are lucky enough to have a 3D printer at home right now, there are quite a few cool little projects that can be downloaded for free and printed at home. In these times of social isolation and quarantine, we're doing everything we can to entertain our kids and have a few moments of peace in the household. How to Create Letter Molds and Stamps for 3D Printing on OpenScad
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