Parametric CAD for 3D printing

Parts that fit, from a sentence.

Not decorative models. Gears that mesh, bearings that turn, brackets that bolt to something. Every dimension is real, every hole is compensated for the way your printer actually prints, and every part comes with the engineering checks written down.

No account needed for your first part. Free accounts get five downloads a month.

Templates
56
gears, bearings, brackets, household, toys
Parameters
481
every one validated before it reaches geometry
Generated in
your browser
nothing is uploaded unless you save it
Exports
STL · 3MF · STEP
watertight solids, not surface soup

Why generated meshes do not work for mechanical parts

A text-to-3D mesh model can draw something gear-shaped. It cannot produce an involute tooth profile, a bore that is 8.05 mm because your printer shrinks holes by 0.15 mm, or a thread that a real M6 bolt will turn in. Those are not aesthetic problems. They are the whole part.

Real tooth profiles

Involute flanks generated from module, tooth count and pressure angle, with backlash you can set. Meshing pairs are clocked so a tooth lands in a space, and the contact ratio is calculated and shown.

Tolerance compensation

Holes print undersize and shafts print oversize, and the errors compound in opposite directions. Pick your printer and every mating dimension is corrected before the geometry is built. The correction is shown, not hidden.

Checks that argue with you

A 12-tooth gear at 20° undercuts. A 2 mm wall is under three perimeters. A 608 bearing will not fit that centre distance. The validators say so, point at the parameter, and let you decide.

Watertight by construction

Geometry comes from parametric templates, not from a mesh model, so there are no holes to repair, no flipped normals and no non-manifold edges. It slices first time.

Edit by text or by slider

“Make the bore 10 mm.” “Add a third gear.” “Use 625 bearings.” Change it in the chat or drag the parameter. Both drive the same validated spec.

Assemblies, not just parts

Drop a shaft into a gear, a nut onto a bolt, gears into a gearbox case. Clearance is measured against the compensated dimensions and reported as a verdict: press, close running, free, or interference.

What it makes

Ten families, from a single washer to a gearbox with its case and shafts — and now the fun stuff too.

Can it make the part I need?

Type it in and find out. If the catalogue has nothing close, the request becomes a work order instead of a dead end, and it gets designed properly by a human.

Read this before you print something that matters. Ideas Central generates geometry. It does not certify it. Nothing produced here has been checked by a registered engineer for load, fatigue, pressure or conformance to any standard, and it must not be used for lifting, load-bearing, medical, aerospace, automotive safety, pressure-carrying or firearms applications without independent professional sign-off. Test your parts. The full terms are here.