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Understand the model

Understand the model

A five-part illustrated series about frames, reusable attachments, shared clearances, and printable joints.

Read the series in order for the complete story, or choose the question you have now. Each chapter explains one part of the mental model and links to the precise reference when you need individual settings.

Use a small frame throughout: two stock members meeting at a corner, a sleeve on each member, and a connection that turns those sleeves into a printable joint. The same principles apply to larger structures.

If you have not edited a model yet, spend a few minutes with Getting Started first. You can return to these explanations whenever a model behaves differently from what you expected.

  1. 01
    From a frame skeleton to a printable joint

    Understand how design points, stock members, attachments, and connections become a buildable structure.

  2. 02
    Attachments as reusable building blocks

    Follow the inputs, bodies, ports, and clearances that let one attachment work in many frames.

  3. 03
    Designing the space that must stay empty

    See why holes in an isolated part are insufficient when neighboring parts and connectors add material.

  4. 04
    How attachments become joints

    Compare Hull, Union, and Strut, and separate manufacturing connectivity from assembly placement.

  5. 05
    Recognize and fix beginner mistakes

    Inspect placement, clearance, reconciliation, and connectivity before trusting a printable joint.