Design a Simple Fan in 123D Design

Learn to use 123D Design to make and print thissimple fan. 123D Design is a free, powerful, yet simple 3D creation and editing tool. It allows you to design and build objects that can then be printed with your Dremel 3D Idea Builder.

Open up the program so you can familiarize yourself with the various tools you’ll need to create the fan model.

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123D Design, like Tinkercad, is a program created by Autodesk. Signing up (or signing in if you are already a member) allows youto save any models you make in 123D Design to your library.

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First, use your browser to visit www.123dapp.com/designand download the appropriate software for your operating system.

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1. Main Toolbar – Start creating 2D shapes or 3D models using the tools in this toolbar. Transform, construct and modify objects using tools.

2. Application Menu – Create new, open, save, import and export files from here. Directly send the files to different applications like 123D Make and Meshmixer or simply send your model to your desktop 3D printer or to an online print service bureau.

4. Grid is the place to build the model. Switch on/off the grid with the icon on the navigation bar.

5. View Cube is the easy way to navigate on the screen. Just by clicking on different angles, view the model in different angles.

6. Sign in – Log on to check your projects, models and social connections from your account.

7. Help – Find shortcut keys information. Learn more about the product through the videos, tutorials, forums and website.

8. Parts Bin – Choose from the wide library of kits that contain several useful models that you can use and modify in 123D Design.

9. Snapping – nudging is easy way to bring precision while creating. Use arrows on the keyboard to nudge object.

10. Edit Grid – Change the grid size to the preset sizes or specify your own custom grid size.

123D Design Workspace

Pan

Rotate

Zoom

Fit

Wireframes/Material

Show/Hide Objects

Show/Hide Grid

Grouping while snap on/off

Toggle snapping

When you hover over any of the align buttons you will see your objects turn yellow, indicating the position your objects will take after you press. You will need to press all 3 dimension centers to get them aligned. Once pressed, you will need to hit the green “Exit” box to apply the change.

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Now we need to align the center of both objects. To do this, select both objects by clicking on one and then holding the “Shift” key to select the other. Once you have them both selected, click the “Transform” tab in the menu bar and then the “Align” tab inthe pop-out menu. The align grid will then appear.

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Now we need to make a hole in our cylinder. To do this, repeat the steps above to make another cylinder, but this time make the radius 3mm and the height about 25mm. This is to ensure it goes through both sides of our first cylinder.

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To start building our fan, go to the 3D shapes tab in the menu bar and select a cylinder. You can drag the object from the tab directly to the grid. When you do this you will see the dimensions tab pop up. Here you can enter in values for height, width etc. We’ll usea 10mm x 20mm cylinder for our fan.

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Next we are going to “fillet” or round the edge of our shape. To do this, select the “Modify” tab in the menu and the “Fillet” tab in the fly-out menu. You will then be prompted to select an edge of your solid. Click the top edge of the cylinder. You can now either type in a measurement or click and drag the arrow with your mouse to bevel the edge.

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You will then be prompted to select the “Source” object or the shape you wish to subtract. Click the thinner cylinder and then click away from the 2 objects to effect the change.

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To do this, click the “Combine” tab in the menu bar and then“Subtract” in the sub-tab. When you do this you will see a pop-up menu like this:

This indicates to first select the “Target” object or the object you wish to subtract “from” which in this case is the larger cylinder.

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Your final object should look like this, with the thinner cylinder protruding from both the top and bottom of the larger one.Our next step will be to subtract the inner shape from the outer one to create a cylindrical hole.

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We only need to align the shapes along the x and y axis. To do this, click the “Center” tabs shown.

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Next let’s align our blade to the center of the fan shaft like we did in step 6. Select both objects by clicking on one and then holding the “Shift” key to select the other. Once you have them both selected, click the “Transform” tab in the menu bar and then the “Align” tab in the pop-out menu. The align grid will then appear.

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Drag or type in a radius of about 3.5mm and click away fromyour object to effect the change.

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Next we are going to create the fan blades. Select cube from the shapes menu and drag it to the workplane. You can then typein a measurement of 20mm length x 15mm height x 2mm width.You may have to rotate the blade so it aligns to the fan shaft as shown. Select the “Rotate” tab from the vertical menu bar to perform this operation.

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Select “Fillet” in the “Modify” tab. Then select one of the top edgesof the blade which will highlight in green when selected. Hold down the shift key to select the other. You can drag the arrow to round the edge or simply type in the measurement. Use a radius of 1ºto get the desired edge.

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Once rotated, click away from the object to keep the change. Now we are going to “Fillet” the 3 exposed edges of our blade just like we did in step 11/12. This will create a smooth rounded edge to our blade.

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You’ll notice that the “Move” tab also displays handles to rotate your object. Click the handle and rotate the blade to an angleof about -20º or you can type in the measurement in thepop-out menu.

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Now let’s push our blade into the fan shaft just a bit. Click the blade to select it and choose the “Move” tab from the menu bar. Once the axis arrows are displayed, click and drag the correct axis to insert the shape.

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The fan blades should now be distributed equally around the shaft. The dialog box allows you to increase or decrease the number of copies you can make, so feel free to add more if you would like!

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You will then be prompted to select the solid you wish to duplicate, which in this case is our blade. Once you click on the blade shape you will need to click the “Axis” button and then click the area around which to copy your blade. Click “Axis” and then selectthe shaft face with your mouse.

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Now we need to copy our blade shape to the remaining twopositions around the shaft. 123D Design makes this easy with the “Pattern” tab, which allows you to distribute copies equally around your shape in specific patterns. First, select the “Circular Pattern” tab shown.

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Repeat this step for the two remaining exposed edges. You may have to pan under your object to select the bottom edges. Again, use a radius of 1º.

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Idea Builder 3D20:You can print from a SD card or directly from Print Studio by connecting your printer to your computer via the included USB cable.

Idea Builder 3D40:You can print from a USB stick or directly from Print Studio by connecting your printer to your computer via the included USB cable. You can also send files to print from the Dremel 3D App or from www.dremel3d.comover Wi-Fi connection. Download the Dremel 3D App (available for iOS or Android) from the Apple App Store or from Google Play.

For additional support on the various ways to print from the Idea Builder, please refer to the instructional videos by following these links below:

Idea Builder 3D20:https://3dprintersupport.dremel.com/hc/en-us/articles/201215699-3D20-How-To-Videos

Idea Builder 3D40:https://3dprintersupport.dremel.com/hc/en-us/articles/208727966-3D40-How-To-Videos

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There are multiple ways to send your design to the Idea Builder, depending on which printer model you have.

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Congratulations, you’re done! Before printing be sure to saveyour model either to your online library or directly to your computer.

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