Prototyping checklist, so a failed part is a skipped step, not bad design
Most failed prototypes are not the result of a bad design decision, they are the result of one ordinary step nobody checked: a tolerance never confirmed, an orientation picked without thinking about it, a material chosen out of habit, a test that never actually ran. The checklist walks a prototype through sketch, design and DFAM checks, then testing and iteration, one box at a time, so the step that gets skipped under deadline pressure is the one the checklist catches instead of the part.
Open the prototyping checklist A free account opens this tool. The interface is in English and nothing you enter leaves your browser.How it works
Three stages: sketch, checks, then test and iterate.
Start from the sketch, not the CAD file
Write down the requirements, the dimensions and the tolerances the part actually needs before opening any CAD software. A tolerance decided after the model exists tends to get fitted around whatever the model already looks like, rather than the other way round.
Run the design and DFAM checks
Work through the checks for design for additive manufacturing, material choice, part orientation and print settings. Each one is a specific, previously seen failure mode, a wall too thin, an overhang without support, a material that will not hold the load, turned into a box you either check or consciously skip.
Test the part, then record what changes
Run a structured functional or visual test against the requirements written down at the start, not an informal look at whether it seems fine. Record exactly what changes for the next version, so the second iteration fixes a specific, named problem instead of repeating a vague sense that something was off.
The steps a deadline makes you want to skip
Every box on the list is a specific way a first attempt actually fails.
Built around how a prototype actually fails
A checklist only earns its place if every box on it maps to a real, recurring way a first attempt goes wrong, not a generic reminder to be careful.
Requirements written down before CAD opens
Dimensions and tolerances decided at the sketch stage, before a model exists to fit them around, are the ones most likely to reflect what the part actually needs to do. The checklist puts this step first on purpose, ahead of any design work.
DFAM checks catch what the slicer will not
A slicer will happily generate a toolpath for a wall that is too thin to print reliably or an overhang with no real support underneath it. The checklist's design for additive manufacturing checks, wall thickness, overhang angle, orientation and settings, catch that class of failure before the print even starts.
Iteration means a named change, not a repeat
A second attempt that just prints the same file again with vague hope attached rarely fixes anything. The test and iteration step forces a specific answer to what changes in the next version, so v2 is a deliberate correction to a known problem, not a repeat of v1 with different luck.
One list, shared or personal
The same checklist works as a shared language between a designer and the person operating the printer, so a handover does not lose context, and as a personal discipline for anyone working solo, catching the step your own head skips on the day three projects are running at once.
Frequently asked questions
What kind of prototypes is the checklist meant for?
Functional and visual 3D printed prototypes, from a first rough concept model through to a part that needs to be fit to show a client or to actually test under load. The same structure, sketch through test and iteration, applies to both, even though what counts as passing the test is different for each.
What does DFAM mean, and why is it its own section?
DFAM stands for design for additive manufacturing, the set of design habits, minimum wall thickness, overhang angle, bridge length and orientation, aligned with what 3D printing can actually produce reliably rather than what a general CAD model allows. It gets its own section because these are the specific, well documented ways a part that looks fine on screen fails on the plate.
Why start from a sketch instead of going straight into CAD?
Because dimensions and tolerances written down before a model exists describe what the part needs to do, while the same numbers decided after the model exists tend to get quietly adjusted to fit whatever has already been drawn. Starting from the sketch keeps the requirement honest.
Isn't a checklist unnecessary once you have enough experience?
Experience is reliable until the day it is not, usually the day you are switching between three projects and running short on time. A checklist does not compete with experience; it catches the exact omissions that experience alone tends to miss precisely on the days attention is thinnest.
What does the test and iteration step actually record?
A specific answer to what changes for the next version, not just whether the first attempt passed or failed. Tying a named change to each iteration turns a series of prints into a record of what was learned, rather than a pile of similar looking prototypes with no clear line between them.
Can a team use the same checklist, or is it only for solo work?
Both. For a team, it is a shared language between whoever designs the part and whoever operates the printer, so context survives the handover between them. For someone working alone, the same list functions as discipline, a way of forcing a step to happen even when nobody else would notice if it was skipped.
Other tools
Part of the EduFacturing tool set for designing and testing a 3D printed part.
The rest of the tool set
A free account opens the full set: DFAM rules, material selection, defect reference and the rest.
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