Introduction and seeking direction.

My name is Logan... 32 years old. Majored in Entrepreneurial Management since I love both fixing processes(consulting) and would love to spend my time "inventing". I'm in an industry where I really don't get to use my skill set(automotive remarketing) however I have decided to use my free time to get back to what I enjoy. That being said, I'm probably in the minority on this board. I have great business sense, can build computers and networks(everybody can these days right???), however I have no engineering or programming experience. I decided that one of my product ideas could make me some money, probably not millions but enough to fund more product ideas or inventions so here I am... researching 3D printers and learning to model. I started with no experience in modeling Saturday evening and after a few hours here and there, I have four of the five required components of my first product invention! It's truly amazing how you can spend 15 minutes creating a single basic model, find that you made a critical error in the beginning, and find that the you can make the same model a second time within 2 minutes. Anyway, I hope to finish my first product in SketchUp by the end of the week and will be going to the 3D Printer World Expo this weekend to take a look at the Phoenix EZ 3D printer among others.

I understand the differences between SLS, SLA, and FDM, differences between available medias for FDM, pros/cons comparing FDM to injection molding or vacu-forming.... I know enough to say I know that FDM is the right option for my prototyping, and that I'd love to be able to print a working prototype that has moving parts... but need a good book or website to do my homework so that I can remain efficient. I don't want to be printing blindly if I can learn from other people's mistakes. From what I understand, I will most likely want dual extrusion so I can work with two medias, ABS as the main media and PLA as the support which will be dissolved away. I'm learning quick enough how to design my components... my question now is where do I go to learn more about slicing, printing fully assembled products, etc.

So... I have very little experience but learn very fast and retain just about everything I read or see in videos. Other forums I'm on have pages such as a "Hall of Wisdom"(ADVRider) which on one forum is the "go-to" page for newbies and veterans alike. It's a growing page with FAQ's, tutorials, and just about everything in between. In browsing this board it seems like it's not geared towards the beginner, so in hopes of becoming a member with contributions to this community(well, if I learn anything!), where should I start?

Thank you for the help and I'll return the help in kind at some point in the future!

Logan

I'm sorry no one has answered your post for so long. I just became a moderator here and found it by looking for posts with (0) responses. I like the way you are thinking about approaching this and it sounds like you are on the right track. It also sounds like you are not afraid to jump in and figure things out. That's sort of the best way to approach 3d printing. I think that you might want to get started by buying an inexpensive printer that you assemble yourself and just dive in. You'll learn about slicing by doing it. Once you pick up a few key words or phrases you'll have better words to use to do searches using them and you'll find lots of answers. I started the same way last year and have had very little trouble finding answers to what I needed.

I assume that what you mean by "printing fully assembled products" is that you want to print products that have multiple parts and or moving parts all in 3d and then fit them together to have something useful or working. It's difficult to print a single object that has moving parts but prints in one pass or session. You'll have to print parts separately and then put them together for the most part. And there are a few limitations. One side of the part has to stick to a bed that is moving to be able to print. So, there is always a flat side. That creates design challenges and there are creative ways around it but it's a hurdle sometimes.

It's difficult to teach someone to think spatially. Either you have it or you don't. If you can see it in your head, then you have a start. You now have to get it out of your head and onto paper or into a model on your computer. Do you sketch or draw? That's great way to start. Sketch your ideas and they don't have to be pretty. They just have to be good enough so that you know what you are thinking. Then get something like Blender and start modeling. It's a free 3d software at http://www.blender.org/. Or go here for software: http://www.shapeways.com/creator/tools.

You seem to be a self-starter. You are asking where to find good places to get you started I think the answer is that until you jump in with both feet, you won't necessarily find them. Once you have a printer in front of you and you print your first cube, you'll be amazed at how fast you figure it out. Then come back here and post in one of the other forum sections where people are getting printing help. This section is sort of off the radar for people with printers and printer related issues. Once you are up and running there are many people who will go out of their way to assist you.