Pro tip: Always double check your scale multiplier before printing

Last Tuesday I was laying out a floor plan for a house remodel in San Diego. I set the viewport scale to 1/4 inch equals 1 foot but my fingers slipped and I punched in 1/4 inch equals 1 inch instead. The plot came out 48 times bigger than it should have been and I wasted a roll of paper that cost me about 60 bucks. Has anyone else made a dumb scale mistake like this before?

3 comments

3 Comments

miles2796d ago

@the_eric that doll furniture story still cracks me up... bet his buddy tried to sit a coffee mug on that tiny table and watched it collapse. I did something similar once scaling down a bracket for a shelf - forgot wall thickness is a thing and ended up with a little plastic noodle that wouldn't hold a feather. Scale mistakes are the gift that keeps on giving I guess... especially when you're staring at a 60 dollar roll of paper you just fed into the trash.

the_eric6d ago

Had a buddy print a cabinet set 300 percent too small. Looked like doll furniture.

grace_wright6d ago

Wow okay, I actually used to be one of those people who thought scaling in 3D printing was no big deal. I figured you just change the size and everything works out fine. But then @the_eric saw his buddy's doll furniture situation and that kinda hit home for me. I honestly thought you could shrink or grow anything and it would still be functional, but that's not how physics or geometry works. Now I get that you have to think about wall thickness and how parts fit together when you mess with the scale. It's a real pain but I'd rather know ahead of time than waste a whole spool of filament on a tiny cabinet nobody can use.