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New 3D Printable Search Engine (printablesearch.com)

130 points by hugegreenbug ↗ HN
PrintableSearch is a new 3d printable search engine to find the top 3D printables from the best model sites. It differs from others by ranking models between sites accurately and it has a modern ad free interface.

51 comments

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folkhack
Tried five searches, things like "test," "bed level," etc. All common terms for 3D printing calibration.

Was only able to get one search to go through which took >20s. All others timed out with "We encountered an error."

Not sure the tech is ready for this to show off and first impressions are everything.

willcipriano
Too many users perhaps
hugegreenbug
Yes, too many users. I wasn't prepared for this influx of users.
willcipriano
Happens all the time, consider cloudflare and adding some cache headers, would at least let the homepage load regardless of user count.
opan
I would rather people not throw cloudflare at everything, it's ruining the web. Especially with those horrible browser checks that never work right and lock you out of sites.
scrollaway
Those are not really there by default. They’re there if you increase the threat level.
Rebelgecko
Looking forward to trying it out but looks like it might be overloaded currently. In the meantime I've been using thangs.com (ironically their UX is better for finding things hosted on other sites than it is for the STLs they host themselves)
npunt
I never knew I wanted to print my own search engine until now
colordrops
I've seen so many crazy projects that I was wondering for a second if it might be something like that before clicking through.
chankstein38
I was half expecting some kind of 3d printable algorithm. Like a physical implementation of a sorting algo or something haha
samstave
UH, those are called BOOLEANS my friend.

-

Bins

Of

Organized

LEGO

Easily

Addressable

N.. OW!! damn kids, where is your garbage collection!!??

Systems

earthling8118
The search box doesn't allow for any sort of symbols. I tried entering a '+' but it doesn't allow that.
hugegreenbug
it's intentional. I remove them in the search so I wanted to represent what was actually searched
hugegreenbug
I need to make that more clear in the about section. Thanks.
monday_
Off topic, but is there a way to import existing mechanical designs like we do it in software with libraries? Something like importing a transmission design into CAD and gluing it to the model with API-like slots.

I'm very new to CADs and only have limited experience with FreeCAD, but having to design a latch anew every time you need it seems like a common enough pain point.

nickpinkston
We're actually in process of building this for individual components (bolts, motors, gears, etc.) at: https://beta.govolition.com where you can search for components, filter by spec, download CAD/specs, and purchase the parts.

But also check out:

- https://grabcad.com/library/tag/library <-- Lots of multi-part projects in addition to components.

- http://traceparts.com/ <-- Individual component CAD

- https://www.3dcontentcentral.com/ <-- Individual component CAD

Generally, you'll want to download .STEP files so they import into FreeCAD, as opposed to native Solidworks Part files, etc.

adrienthebo
Onshape allows for versioning parts and assemblies, mate connectors to determine how parts should connect, assemblies and subassemblies to define the relationships between parts and allow for reuse, configurable parts (feature flags etc); it's extremely powerful and pleasant to use. Regrettably it's a closed source SaaS option but all of the open source CAD tools are grossly underpowered in comparison. There's nothing like KiCAD that'll let you get work done quickly effectively - at least in my experience.
s1mon
The kernel (Parasolid) is closed source as well as many of the back end bits of Onshape, but all the code behind the standard features that is written in FeatureScript is under an MIT license (the Onshape Standard Library).

https://cad.onshape.com/FsDoc/index.html

evanlivingston
This is, in practice, the utility of the widespread use of CAD. Many manufacturers of parts distribute CAD models of those parts.

For example, McMaster-Carr have CAD models (in various formats) for nearly every single part in their catalog.

A designer/engineer can import those parts and then either create drawings referenced off of those parts, or mate/join those part using reference geometry. That is to say, the API is the geometry, and the CAD software provides good tools for interacting wit that API.

0_____0
MCM's 3D parts are also great starting points for stuff you'd like to print for prototyping. I just printed off a bespoke belt pulley using an MCM model as a base this past week. Added a bunch of specific mounting features I need for my application. It's an inferior part printed in FFF, but it'll work for now.
skykooler
And the nice thing is, if it breaks and you determine you need a better one, you can order the part from mcmaster and you already know it'll fit.
RobotToaster
Also a great way to get weird threads and connectors. Need a NPT thread? Just import a NPT cap.
pmayrgundter
Agreed. I'm also newish

I think for standard formats you start with STEP encoding and then there are various ISO semantic specs that encode to this, eg IFC for buildings (a standard BIM data format)

So i don't think STEP handles this explicitly, and while IFC does via URL-comptible file imports, it's rarely used in the wild.

Proprietary vendors use the standard formats for import/export but typically have poor support/wrong incentives for good interop.

There is interest in it tho, and I've talked with the OSARCH folks about it for BIM, and we're planning to work on it this year for bldrs.ai (open-source, links there to our discord and a #cad channel).

Ideally you import parts at the file level and have a compile step, like with code, where you load on lots of automatic integration tests

Stop by and chat!

unraveller
3d printables with an s. when you say 3d printable X it means you can print the X.
amelius
What does it have to do with tables and how do I print the chairs?
taf2
I'm waiting for the AI that can take my picture and convert it into a 3D model.
jagged-chisel
“Search engine for 3D printables”
ncr100
DDG results, (helpful?), perhaps we could call them "Established 3D Printable Search Engines":

- https://www.yeggi.com/

- https://www.stlrepo.com/

- https://all3dp.com/printables/

- https://www.printables.com/

- https://stlbase.com/

And a 40 day old blog post about 16 search engines for 3D Printables: https://www.3dsourced.com/rankings/sites-for-stl-files-3d-pr...

filoleg
Not sure about the entirety of the list, but printables.com is not a search engine. It is a repository of models that users have to manually post and upload them to the website. It doesn't search and aggregate from other sources. It has its own internal search engine though.

Yeggi (you mentioned it as well) is a proper search engine though, and it indeed sources models from many other repositories (including printables.com).

mutant
I'll stick with Yeggi, thnx.