Welcome to my new post for my video on YouTube. In this one, I will show you how to make a simple face mask.
See the video about it on YouTube!
It’s a step by step tutorial. We will start in Autodesk Meshmixer, where we will make a 3D face object, next we will use Fusion 360 for some additional tweaks and finally we will slice the model in Cura. All along the video you can find several tricks for mentioned programs and even some suggestions towards the end. So, let’s get started!
Today we will use two Autodesk programs: Fusion 360 and Meshmixer, so just firstly let’s start the latter. Both are the latest version on february 2019.
So here we are. First we will click Import plane. Here it is. It will set our work bottom plane. Meshmixer has many preset scalable objects. We will select heads. We could also scan one of our family members and use 3DF Zephyr or Recap Photo to make a head object, but the one here has proven to be good for face masks. We drag and drop the head to the center. Be sure to set the Size to 1. You can check other options, but they just distort the model. Click Accept.
Now click Edit and then Transform. As the head is rotated, we will adjust the rotation in the Z axis and enlarge it to real size. After rotating, don’t forget to scale it up 10 times. The Uniform Scaling should be checked below for human faces. Aliens may vary. And click Accept again.
And now the model is gone. No! We just have to zoom out, as we are currently inside this guys neck. Here’s our baldy. As his nose is a bit high, we’ll also tilt his head forward. Click Transform again. The line from tip of the nose to the ear should be horizontal.
Now we will cut our mask out. No surgical equipment, just click Plane Cut. This blue arrow shows which part will be cut. If we drag the red arrow around, we see where the plane is. Now I will move the plane around a bit like a real pilot. The nose of the mask should be opened at the bottom. Here’s a trick. Fill Type should be No Fill, as we are making a mask, not an object. Click Accept.
Next we will cut the skull off, so the large blue arrow should point towards it. We’ll tilt it a bit as mask should be narrower towards ears. Surgical precison. Again select No Fill. Accept.
Ears should also get away as this ain’t no elf mask. Adjust the plane. As it will be 3D printed, it should lean forwards. Surprise – No Fill again.
And now let’s finally see what do we have. A nice single layer mask. To select all the triangles press CTRL + A if you use Windows. This will also open a menu. Under Edit you will find Extrude. Or press D. We have to make it solid. Direction should be Normal and Density 100. Offset is the mask thickness. 2mm is thick enough for any PLA not to brake. Let’s see why I have changed the direction. Constant was default. See – it makes edges unprintable. So Normal it is.
Now we just have to export the model and this is how to do it.
Now we will move to the other program which is Fusion 360. Here’s a trick. If we want to import STL files, we have to turn Design History Capture off. Here is how to do it. Click Continue. Under the Insert menu we click Insert Mesh. Find our previously saved file. Here are some options. I advise you to click Center and Move to Ground to ease further steps.
Let’s measure the mask. Wait a bit – it’s just a few clicks away. It’s 14.6cm wide. It fits me and my kids, so I hope it will fit you too.
So, if we want to see, we’ll have to cut some holes for eyes. But before advancing we’ll have to make a solid body from triangles. Right click on Meshbody1 and select Mesh to BRep. It will make a solid body and make it visible. Now we can turn the Design History Capture back on. Right click on the first line. Click the latter option. It appeared at the bottom.
Eyes. We will crate a new sketch. Select the ZX plane. I’ll draw two ellipses. I have decided the width should be 40mm and the height 20mm. Don’t mind the violet rings – they are anchors to the mask. I’ll turn the mask visibility off, now that we have ellipses. Press D to select dimension tool. Set dimensions like I do it here on both sides. The left eye is a bit tilted. We’ll have to adjust it. Under the Modify menu there is a Move tool. You can also press the M key. Arrows snap, so I will enter the number – 0.5mm. Let’s rotate the object to see where our drawing planes is. Behind the eyes.
Now we will actually cut out holes. Click extrude above. First click one, then press CTRL on the keyboard and then click the other one. Drag the arrow up a bit. If we turn the object visibility back on, the extrude menu on the right changes to cut. Click OK.
Now you will see why it is good to turn Design History Capture back on. Do you see the lateral right eye corner? A small sharp remnant. Let’s use lower toolbar. Double-click the last extrude icon. It returns us back a bit. The reason for remnant is the sketch plane. Let’s cut backwards a bit too. Mind the Direction change in the menu.
Well this was a basic surgical procedure. To export the model from Fusion 360 and open it in Cura – one way is to right click on the Unsaved line at the top and then Save as STL.
The Cura version I have is 3.6.0. I will show you another trick. If the model is not flat, you will use a lot of support filament. This is not an ideal model to show you this as we have plane cut the model and leveled it in Fusion. See, I have supports enabled. Well, the trick is to lower the model under the bed. This part will not be sliced in Cura and not printed afterwards. The other thing I would like to advise is to select at least 3 lines wall thickness to make the print sturdy.
The mask will be printed in around 3 hours.
APPENDIX
SUGGESTION #1
It is useful if you make some holes for the elastic around the head. Here is how to do it. We’ll use Fusion 360. Select side view. We’ll make a new sketch. Select ZY plane. We will draw a circle. A great location would be about 40mm on Y axis and 30mm on Z axis. I’ll hide the mask to prevent snapping. Let’s see the location. It’s great. Now let’s dimension it. Press D on the keyboard and click the circle. Diameter of 3mm should satisfy. We just have to extrude it. Symmetric extrusion. Now drag the arrow through the mask. It automatically clips. Click OK and that’s it.
SUGGESTION #2
If you do not like snapping to grid in Fusion 360, you can turn it off. Here’s a Grids and Snaps menu. Just uncheck the Snap to Grid. Now it’s easier to draw face ornaments. It will just try to snap to the edge of the selected triangle.
FIN. ENDE. END.
So, I have shown many tricks in both Meshmixer and Fusion 360. You are invited to hit the LIKE button below to support my work, COMMENT below if you have any thoughts, do SUBSCRIBE to my channel and SHARE the video. Support even further – there are links to Paypal and Patreon. Either way, you can download a finished face mask model from my Thingiverse page. All the links are in the description below!
DESCRIPTION
In this video I show how to make a homemade simple face mask for masquerade or for halloween. So, it’s a DIY project and a tutorial. I use Autodesk Meshmixer and Autodesk Fusion 360.
Be sure to check my other DIY videos. There are even videos about how to make your life easier with simple electronics.
LINK Geeetech A30 3D printer (official): http://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/c302G6cY
LINK Geeetech A30 3D printer (alternative): http://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/RRS4suu
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