First attempts in openSCAD

[terrypin]

Excellent, thanks a bunch, really appreciate your putting so much time and effort into that.

It's going to take me a while to step through it methodically, but it's already clear that your help will greatly accelerate my crawl up the learning curve!

[fred_dot_u]

@terrypin, I've used both OpenSCAD and Fusion360 and like both of them for what little I can do in either program. I've learned that some people take well to OpenSCAD and others run away. FreeCAD is now on my machine, but I'll probably put off the hours of YouTube tutorials, especially if I can get the job done with F360 or OpenSCAD.

If you can build your code from square one using parameters and relationships, you'll have a good start. I like to test my code by changing a value, to see if the other settings follow. Sometimes the hole you thought would adjust to the new figure ends up in outer space and you debug to find the failed relationship. That's part of the fun (sometimes).

[curious aardvark]

Tinkercad used to be useful.
But as you can't seem to either import or export anymore, seems to have gone downhill since the last update.

Yet another argument against cloud software.
At least with normal programs you can get hold of the older versions that actually work ????

[terrypin]

Thanks Fred. Sounds like we share a similar practical attitude to this stuff.

[fred_dot_u]

I'd forgotten about Tinkercad, although a friend uses it exclusively. I just signed in and found that download and export (.obj, .stl) work, as does import. Something amiss?

[Gambo]

Hi I am sorry to here you have had trouble getting Fusion360. as Fred-u-dot says it has a completely different approach to OpensCad. I have used both but having come up through AutoDesk prodects since AcadV13 in 1982 I am more comfortable in their approach.

[printbus]

Thanks, and I agree that screenshot resolution is very poor, sorry.

Here is the scad file:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/stuqnbril2...tor.scad?raw=1

And here is a list of the errors:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/u2dirnlt7z...rors.txt?raw=1

Note that what you're getting are WARNINGs, not ERRORs. The script does appear to execute with those warnings.

As CA noted, that's a pretty complex script. I'd set it aside until you grasp openSCAD basics. There are several tutorials out there that walk through examples. I have also found an incredible resource to have open when working with openSCAD is the openSCAD cheat sheet.

Having done a few of my own small box scripts, they do start out simple. But by the time you add mounting tabs, a lid with lip, rounded corners, etc. things can get complex pretty quick. That said, I'm always amazed at what one can do in openSCAD and it's basic foundation of adding and subtracting the basic cube, cylinder and sphere shapes.

On openSCAD vs other tools, a few comments. First, at least with openSCAD you'll at least sometimes find originators posting their source file to sites like Thingiverse. I'd say far more so than with any other tool. When I'm looking for a model on Thingiverse, I pretty much only pay attention to those that include the source so that I can tweak or correct things to my liking - reposting the update back on Thingiverse if the licensing requires it. Second, an argument is made that people fall into two categories. Some are more artistic and will want to work with a graphical 3D modeling tool. Others are more analytical and will prefer the scripting approach of a tool like openSCAD. THERE IS NO SINGLE "BEST" TOOL THAT APPLIES TO EVERYONE. You just need to try a few different things and figure out which approach you're brain prefers.

[terrypin]

Thanks printbus. I'm stepping through examples here and in several tutorials, so making progress.

But patience isn't one of my strong points, so it's good to have others' models and code to build on. When working on that first box I changed only its dimensions so felt on reasonbly safe ground.

[curious aardvark]

here's some homework then.

take the 'birdbox'.
remove the end where the lid slides in.
Then create a seperate piece that glues there (two cubes one on top of the other would do it).

That way you can orient the box on the bed with the grooves vertical for easy printing and print the lid and side flat and seperately.

That's what I was going to do - but I got sidetracked, I frequently get sidetracked for days, sometimes years...

[terrypin]

Thanks, a fascinating possible exercise. But I'm in the same boat: in fact I'm currently in a sub-sidetrack of a sidetrack!