Creating my own models in Blender for 3D printing. Currently creating replacement wings for a hummingbird whirligig yard decoration that broke a couple years ago. It’s a sentimental gift and I’ve hated the idea of throwing it away.
Physical engineering is a huge welcome transition for me from what coding has become in the last couple years.
There’s something nice about the realities of creating a model, then printing it, then seeing that exact is too exact, then reprinting, then eight more times, and then that feeling when it all comes together properly.
A few weeks ago I was working on an adapter for an airbrush to use on a standard pancake air compressor. Learning to create threads in blender was really neat! I learned a lot about the physical construction of threads, something I have never put much thought into before.
There is something so wildly cool about having an idea, modeling it, and a few hours later holding a physical instantiation of the thing that previously just existed in your head. Something we software people don't get to experience often enough.
Can you share details about Blender CAD/CAM capabilities? I have a CNC router (carves 3D shapes into wood), and exploring what tools can help with that. I keep hearing about Blender's CAD abilities - I don't know Blender well, so I haven't jumped in there...
Blender is not the right tool for that. I think you'll be happier with an actual CAD tool like Fusion or FreeCAD.