Easy pcb isolation milling with Kicad and Inkscape gcodetools extension.

Over the years I have used several different programs to mill printed circuit boards with a cnc and there are some excellent options like Flatcam that work great and are well worth learning, here is another option that also works really well, 100% opensource, and is pretty easy for beginners.

3D part design with Inkscape and OpenSCAD # 149: Removing pixelation to improve the quality of the auto trace module.

In the last post I had mentioned using Gaussian blur to remove the blockiness of captured images but I didn't go into any detail on how to do it so I will cover it in this post. Adding a small amount of blur to the image in Inkscape

3D part design with Inkscape and OpenSCAD #148: Auto trace version 2

While I was experimenting with surface I tried loading two instances of the same picture, scaled them in the z axis a little bit and then subtracted one from the other with difference, and this seems to do a really good job for tracing a .png image. This works really

3D part design with Inkscape and OpenSCAD #147 : Experimenting with transparent overlays to get better traces from the auto trace module.

In post # 127 I made a simple module to trace the outline of a png file: 3D part design with Inkscape and OpenSCAD#127: Autotrace with OpenSCADYou actually can use OpenSCAD to “auto trace” .png images, and with some fine tuning the results are not bad and are similar to

3D part design with OpenSCAD #146: Using for loops to make a marking ruler

Sometimes it's helpful to use a for loop to automatically increment numbers, shapes or sizes. I wanted a marking ruler to do some hole layout in the top of a panel but I couldn't find anything locally so I made one in OpenSCAD and printed it

3D part design with OpenSCAD #145: Using the 3d fill module to clone parts of an STL file.

In post #131 I made what I called a "3d fill" module that filled in the empty spaces of a 3d object. In this post I'm going to add to that with a selector that you can move, cut out the section you want to use

3D part design with OpenSCAD#144: Improving the Protractor tool that I started to make in post # 50.

After my last post I needed a way to find an angle after scaling a part using the scale function of linear_extrude. I went to use the protractor from post #50 and it was unfinished and pretty hard to use so I decided to make some improvements. Of course

3D part design with openSCAD #143: Gold pan with the option to also make it a classifier .

This is a work in progress, I still need to work on getting the ridges to automatically tilt with the wall angle properly which is going to involve some math that is eluding me at the moment but the basics and the default settings work well. For now you just

3D part design with OpenSCAD #142 : Making a 3d drain sieve.

Here is an example of a hair or food catcher for a drain that is a little different. Most designs are a basket with holes, I wanted one that would have a grid that fills the center that I could rotate the grid so the holes are larger at the

3D part design with Inkscape and OpenSCAD # 141: repeating SVG pattern on a cylinder.

Here is an example of how to create a cylinder with a repeating SVG pattern on the outside that can be rotated, scaled, etc. The code: // /*[SVG parameters]*/ Show_svg=true; Path_to_SVG_File="drawing.svg"; Scale_svg_X=.3;//[.1:.01:10] Scale_svg_Y=.3;

3D part design with OpenSCAD#140: More minkowski() experiments.

Here's an example using either a cylinder, a sphere or both to modify the outside of a cube with minkowski. // /*[General]*/ Resize_x=100;//[1:.01:200] Resize_y=100;//[1:.01:200] Resize_z=40;//[1:.01:200] /*[Cylinder parameters]*/ Use_cylinder=true; Height=25;//[1:.01:

3D part design with OpenSCAD #139: Constraining minkowski() to a single axis.

In the last post I used resize() to make sure an object stayed the size I wanted it to after applying a minkowski sum to it. You can also apply the minkowski sum to just a single axis with resize, here is an example: // Round_x=0;//[0:.01:20]

3D part design with OpenSCAD #138: constraining minkowski()

Using minkowski() you can make some nice rounded edges on objects but it causes the object to change size, it's pretty easy to "constrain" the object to the intended size by locking the final result with resize(). Here is an example: // /*[Cube parameters]*/ corner_radius=1;

3D part design with OpenSCAD #137: More spiral design experiments

When you import an svg image from Inkscape you can make some really interesting designs for wall art or coasters, here are some examples that I made in just a few minutes to see how it looks. The code: // length=3000;//[10:.01:6000] width=5;//[1:.01:50] turn_

3D part design with OpenSCAD #136: Experimenting with spiral designs.

After making the code in the last post it occurred to me that I could use two shapes to make the spiral then subtract one from the other to make things like a flat hollow spiral tube or U-shaped trim that could be printed in a spiral to make longer

3d part design with OpenSCAD #135: Flat spiral code to make a print in place belt.

I wanted to make a print in place belt out of tpu to see how it will last and how well it would work, there are several ways you can generate a flat spiral in OpenSCAD. Here is an example of one method that is very simple and easy to

3D part design with OpenSCAD #134: threaded screw plug / set screw.

Recently I needed to make a screw in plug for a threaded junction box and since I already have the thread code it was pretty easy to adapt it to make a threaded plug. Here is the code: // $fn=200; /*[Plug]*/ Plug_diameter=18;//[1:.01:400] Plug_height=6;

3D part design with OpenSCAD #133: Customizable vented screw cap.

I was experimenting with the thread module I made in post #71: 3d part design with OpenScad #71: Using hull and spheres to make a slinkyAn example of how to use a sphere and hull to make a smoother spiral.infinityplays.comBob to see if I could make threads for

3D part design with OpenSCAD #132: creating an"exoskeleton" support structure for printing.

While I was experimenting with .3mf file export it occurred to me that you could use one part of the file to create an external support using infill, here is what I have implemented so far: // Path_to_stl_file=("yourfile.stl"); /*[Support Frame]*/ transparent=false; fill=true;

3D part design with OpenSCAD #131: 3D fill

Recently I needed to fill the inside of a hollow print, the fill() option works for 2d objects but not for 3d objects, after some experimentation I came up with an easy way to fill the space inside of an object. Here is the code: // path_to_stl_file=("

3D part design with OpenSCAD #130: Ventilator-Version 1.

Since I have been working on a way to design shoes with OpenSCAD I have been experimenting with ways to make the outside of the shoe have a more appealing look to it, here is one of the ideas I was messing around with that also comes in handy for

3D part design with OpenSCAD #129: adding some features to the "hollowout" module

In post #94 : 3D part design with Inkscape and OpenSCAD #94: Using minkowski() to hollow out complex shapes.I recently set out to design a pair of shoes with Inkscape and OpenSCAD and wanted a simple way to make a shell out of a complex object and make it so

3D part design with Inkscape and OpenSCAD # 128: OpenSCAD autotrace part 2, cleaning up the trace.

The auto trace module from the last post works really well but requires some clean up and here is an easy way to do that. 1) Adjust the png image until it looks good: 2) Cut to svg and save the file: 3) Import the svg into Inkscape: You will

3D part design with Inkscape and OpenSCAD#127: Autotrace with OpenSCAD

You actually can use OpenSCAD to "auto trace" .png images, and with some fine tuning the results are not bad and are similar to any other auto trace that I have used. If you have ever tried to trace a .png image you know the pixelation makes it

3D part design with OpenSCAD #126 : experimenting with fresnel lens design.

A while back I made a module for concentric rings and it reminded me of a fresnel lens, so I added a few customizations to it so I could experiment with fresnel lens design. Here is the code: // outside_shape=60;//[3:1:100] height=10; //[.1:.01:100] diameter=