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How do you export the result of a RevolutionPlot3D to STL (STereoLithography) file format for printing? I am a tyro when it comes to 3D rendering and printing.

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Update

Please see Printout3D and related guides:

Older

This is very easy. Design a model, for example:

model = RevolutionPlot3D[{Sin[t] + Sin[5 t]/10, 
   Cos[t] + Cos[5 t]/10}, {t, 0, Pi}, 
  RegionFunction -> (Sin[5 (#4 + #5)] > 0 &), Mesh -> None, 
  BoundaryStyle -> Black, PlotStyle -> Thickness[.1]]

enter image description here

Note a special setting PlotStyle -> Thickness[.1] which gives thickness to the model walls - yo can set your own value of course. Now export to STL and then re-import to verify file was created and see how it looks

Export["model.stl", model];
Import[%]

enter image description here

The STL file can be just sent to 3D printer. The best part? - Wolfram has a whole course on 3D printing - tips how to make it work nicely:

Scan, Convert, and Print: Playing with 3D Objects in Mathematica Q&A

with the notebook. You may also want to take a look at

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  • $\begingroup$ Good one, Vitaliy! Notice that STL files don't have dimensions or units, so at one point in the submission process for many 3D printer services you have to specify what that -1.0 to 1.0 size signifies - meters, inches, or millimeters, for example. If you know in advance what you can specify, you can scale the graphic suitably. $\endgroup$
    – cormullion
    Commented Jun 27, 2013 at 7:07

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