Functional Design for 3d Printing Third Edition - Digital copy (PDF)

Functional Design for 3D Printing 3rd Edition is your guide to the intersection of design, 3d printing, and utility.  

120 illustrations, 234 pages.

This third edition is extensively improved and expanded from the second edition:

     More than twice as many illustrations and 35% more text

     Extensively rewritten for easier reading and comprehension

     Updated with modern materials and technolologies

This volume will demonstrate design practices that expand the possibilities for durable, functional objects. Your functional models will print quickly and reliably, delivering the full potential of the “desktop factory”.

Functional Design for 3D Printing will help you to:

•      Turn your ideas into practical designs that print reliably and assemble into durable, functional objects
•      Maximize strength for utility and estimate working and failure load ratings
•      Minimize printing time, material use, and weight
•      Minimize the chance of print failure, ensuring reliable prints on a variety of machines and software
•      Design printable hinges, latches, interlocking parts, and other functional elements
•      Design printable electronic breadboards, prototypes, and simple components
•      Integrate flexibility and multiple materials into your functional designs
•      Solve bed adhesion and warping problems at the design level, improving print reliability
•      Select the correct structural paradigm(s) for each application
•      Know how and when to include dedicated support structures into your model for maximum printability

If you are an experienced designer, Functional Design for 3D Printing will present design principles and practices that will help you to quickly model functional, printable objects. This volume will help you to improve and accelerate your design and prototyping work-flow.

If you are a novice designer, Functional Design for 3D Printing will be a useful introduction, supplement, and reference for functional design.  This volume will give you the technical framework for you to improve your expertise with a minimum of trial and error frustration, and will be your go-to guide for design solutions.


Some words of praise from purchasers of the second edition:

“Unlike many other currently available books about 3D printing which are heavy with ra-ra encouragements about how great 3D printing is and how everyone can excel with a little effort, this book is simply page after page of useful information about the nitty-gritty aspects of actually trying to print good models. This is the kind of knowledge that beginning (and experienced) enthusiasts need to know to avoid any potential frustrations. Don't be put off by the rather short length of this book; there's more here than most other books that are hundreds of pages longer. Highly recommended.”

“Lots of solid information on best design practice and material properties. It's written in such a way that the information won't be out of date for a long time. If you're experienced at 3D printing this book will reaffirm the things you learned through trial and error, and probably teach you a few tricks you never thought of. If you're new to 3d printing, or new at designing parts that will be 3D printed, this book will save you a ton of time and materials.”

“This book provides a wealth of rules, guidelines, and insights to help you create designs that print and behave properly. It does a wonderful job of explaining all the strange effects that can make even simple prints fail, and how to easily minimize or compensate for them.” ….. “ As others here have suggested, buy the print version so you can highlight it and keep it next to your printer.”  

If you prefer the softcover book, it is available from this link  (use discount code S9NDFAJ2 for $US 4 dollars off) or buy here from Amazon