Embedded Text Printing using Autodesk 123D and Ultimaker

I’ve already had one go at printing text using the Ultimaker, when I used Autodesk 123D to print out my name. Next I thought I’d try making text that “stuck into” the surface. My theory was that it might look better than stuff that stuck out. And it sort of does, see above.

The biggest problem was persuading Autodesk 123D to let me put the text into a surface. I’ve figured out a way to do it now (and the program itself is growing on me as I’ve also found out how to dimension things after I’ve created them). Anyhoo, if you ever want to embed text into a surface (and so I don’t forget for next time), here is the sequence:

1. Make a new surface that is going to hold the text.
2. Create a sketch on the surface that contains the text you want to embed.
3. Extrude the surface. For some reason the text part doesn’t extrude and so you get an embedded effect.

I’ve no idea if this is a bug or not meant to happen. It actually looks really good in the designer…

You can just export and print as usual. As you can see at the top, it doesn’t look too bad. Each character in the picture is about 1cm high. I’m going to experiment with larger text and different fonts.

Comments

[Sean]

on their website it says its super accurate, with mini yoda heads as proof
how come some bits of your printed stuff looks rather messy?

[Rob]

They look a bit rough because I'm not setting the printer to "High Quality". This is to save plastic and to make the printing quicker. If I crank up the quality the prints look a lot better although, considering just how it works, I think the tool does a very good job. Also remember that what you are seeing is also highly magnified.

[Sean]

that clears that up, didn't even think about a lo-fi setting
in a way it's kinda nice 'cause you can see how it's made up