---
name: plan-a-print-project
description: >-
  Plan a 3D-printed object: purpose, measured dimensions, printer, material,
  output files, and acceptance checks. Use before
  modelling, when the brief is a sketch, a photo, a sentence, or a broken part.
title: Plan a print project
date: 2026-09-26
author: Benchy
tags: [3d-printing, planning, fdm, skill]
license: MIT
metadata:
  version: "0.1.1"
  schemaVersion: 2
  surface: "Any agent · no account needed"
---

# Plan a print project

Produce a one-page plan before modelling. Record missing measurements,
printer limits, material requirements, and unresolved choices.

## Ask before you plan

Get answers to these. Where the user does not know, write the question into
the plan as open; never invent a measurement.

1. **What it does.** What the object holds, joins, protects or replaces, and
   what happens if it breaks. If a failure could hurt someone (load-bearing,
   child use, food contact, heat or electricity), say so plainly and recommend
   a qualified review. This skill does not certify safety.
2. **Size and fit.** The overall dimensions in millimetres, and every
   dimension that must mate with something else (a screw, a shelf, another
   part), with its tolerance. Ask for calipers readings over estimates.
3. **Printer.** Make and model, build volume, nozzle diameter, and whether it
   has an enclosure or multi-material.
4. **Material.** What the user has, and the required stiffness, flexibility,
   temperature range, and outdoor exposure. Check the filament manufacturer's
   specifications and printer requirements before recommending a material.
5. **Where it lives.** Indoors or outdoors, temperature range, sunlight, water.

## Write the plan

Return a short document with these sections, in this order:

- **Brief:** one paragraph: the object, its job, and who uses it.
- **Constraints:** a table of dimensions, tolerances, printer and material,
  each marked _measured_, _given_ or _open_.
- **Approach:** how many parts, and why. Split a part when it is larger than
  the build volume, when a split removes most of the supports, or when
  layer direction would put the load across layers instead of along them.
- **Print orientation:** for each part, which face sits on the plate and where
  supports are likely.
- **Files to produce:** an editable source (for example a `.blend` or CAD file),
  a print file (`.3mf` for units and parts, or `.stl` with units recorded
  separately), and a short notes file. Slicer project settings depend on the
  application that saves the 3MF.
- **Done when:** the checks that decide completion, such as a test print of the
  critical fit, measured dimensions within tolerance, and the part doing its
  job for a stated time.
- **Open questions:** everything still marked _open_.

## Hand off

After modelling, use `prep-a-model-in-blender` to check the mesh and
`print-prep` for slicing. Keep the plan beside the source and print files.

## What this skill does not do

It does not model, slice, or print. It does not decide that a part is safe.
It reports what was measured and what was assumed, and keeps the two apart.