Your First Print: Designing and Printing a Rook

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3D printing is often a daunting process: How do I model an object? What software do I use? What do all these settings mean? Where do I even start? We've designed a workshop that seeks to answer these questions by walking you through the entire process from start to finish: from modeling your object, to preparing your file, to printing. Our detailed lesson plan doubles as an educational presentation: reference it on your own or teach it to an entire class. Furthermore, 3D printing ought to be accessible, so for this lesson plan, we've selected software that are both free and user friendly, namely MakerBot Desktop and 123D Design by Autodesk. We hope that users without their own printers may also learn about computer-aided design and printing. (This lesson plan is used by CoMotion MakerSpace for our outreach event with the Seattle Public Library. We are excited and appreciative of the Seattle Public Library's efforts to make 3D printing available to anyone with interest regardless of economic background.)