3D Scanning and Printing

In this section, I present how I used FreeCAD to design a customizable lattice matrix structure suitable for 3D printing. The aim was to explore how to make object that is not easy to make subtractively.

I began the design process in FreeCAD by selecting the Part Design Workbench. Here’s the step-by-step breakdown:

• Step 1: Create a New Body and Sketch
  - Click Create New and select the Part Design workbench.
  - Create a new body and then a new sketch on the XY plane.
  - I drew a simple "L" using polyline tool which served as the unit cell of the lattice. This shape was fully constrained using dimension and symmetry tools.



• Step 2: Pad the Sketch into 3D
  - I used the Extrude tool to extrude the sketch to a desired thickness (e.g., 5 mm), transforming the 2D shape into a 3D object.
  
  -Created a new sketch on the face of the "L".
  -And made a square at the corner of the "L" to extrude into 3-point "L" using geometry tool and created the square at the corner of "L".
  -Then extruded into 3 point "L".
  - This became the base unit of my lattice matrix.
  - Then joined using Part>Boolean>Union tool.






• Step 3: Create a Lattice with Array Tool
  - I switched to the Lattice Workbench and selected the Array tool.
  - I created a Linear Array to make direction of the copies (5) and the spacing between them (e.g., 20 mm).
  - This produced a repeating matrix of the L unit.
  -The step repeated for both "L" shapes.
  -The hole lattice joined using Boolean>Union tool.








• Step 4: Adding a cylinder
  I have added a cylinder form the shapes with radius: 40mm, height: 100mm.
  I moved the cylinder to the middle of the lattice using tranform tool, this is going to be used to shape the lattice.
  I joined them using Boolean>Union tool,
  -Then shape made using Part>Boolean>Inetrsection tool.





• Step 5: Adding a base
  I have created sketch on the bottom plane .
  Created polygone shape and extruded.
  I joined them using Boolean>Union tool,
  -Then shape made using Part>Boolean>Inetrsection tool.




• Step 6: Adding cone
  I have adde a cone form the shapes with radius: 1mm, Second radius: 40mm. I moved the cone on top of the lattice using tranform tool, this is going to be used to shape the lattice.
  I joined them using Boolean>Union tool.



Front view.


Exporting the Model for 3D Printing
Once the design was finalized, I exported it as an STL file for 3D printing:

• Select the body or object in the model tree
• Go to File > Export
• Select STL Mesh (*.stl) and save it to a directory

Slicing the STL for 3D Printing
I imported the STL file into Creality Print software to prepare it for 3D printing.




• Imported the STL file into the slicer workspace
• Used the Scale tool to resize the model to fit the print bed.
• Used Move and Rotate tools to position the object flat on the print surface
• Clicked Slice to generate G-code
• The G-code save and ready for 3D print.