3D-printed templates and jigs from your pattern

Why print a template

A paper template curls and tears after a few uses, and card frays at the corners. A printed template keeps its edges. Trace round it with a scratch awl or a silver pen, mark each stitching hole through it, and the tenth wallet comes out the same as the first. A jig does the same job the other way round: it holds the leather instead of sitting on it.

Both come straight from the pattern you already drew, so they match your printed and laser-cut pieces exactly.

Make a 3D template

1. Select the closed outlines of the piece. Lines that meet end to end count as one closed outline.
2. Choose Output ▸ Export STL and pick 3D pattern.
3. Set the thickness and how the stitching holes come out.
4. Turn the 3D preview with the mouse to check the result, then click Export.

The options:

• Thickness: 2 mm to start with.
• Stitch holes: Convert to round, with a hole diameter (1.2 mm to start with), or Keep original shape for the iron's own blade shape.
• Text: engrave a name, a size or a part number into the top or the bottom face at the depth you set. Multi-colour print also saves the letters as a second file, to print in another colour.
• Edge processing (beta): a chamfer or a rounded edge on the top or the bottom, with the size you set.

Make a positioning jig

A jig is a tray with a pocket the shape of your piece. Drop the cut leather in and it stays put. Choose Positioning jig in the same dialog:

Option	What it does	To start with
Outer shape	A rectangle round the pattern with a margin, a rectangle of the width and height you set, or the pattern's outline grown by a margin	Rectangle, 10 mm margin
Corner R	Rounds the outer corners	3 mm
Total height	How tall the jig is	5 mm
Pocket depth	How deep the pocket is. Make it the full height for a frame with no floor.	3 mm
Gap (clearance)	Room round the piece so the leather drops in	0.3 mm
Keep nested contours as holes	Cut-outs inside the piece, such as a window, stay as raised islands	On
Finger hole	A hole through the floor to push the piece out	20 mm across

Check before you print

The 3D preview shows the result before you save it: drag to turn it, right-drag to move it, scroll to zoom. Pick a preview material (leather, acrylic, metallic or matte) to see the shape better. Open shapes are left out, and PatinaCAD tells you how many, so you can close them first. Snapping line ends together as you draw keeps outlines closed.

Tips

• Measure the first print with a steel rule against the pattern before you print more. 3D printers can make a part a fraction larger or smaller than drawn.
• For a template you mark holes through, convert the holes to round. The built-in French irons make slits only 0.25 to 0.3 mm wide, which leaves the printer very little to work with.
• Engrave the pattern's name and size on every template, so you can find the right one on the wall.
• Cut leather is rarely as crisp as the drawing. If a piece is tight in the jig, raise the gap a little and print again.
• Make the jig from the same pattern you print at actual size or cut with a laser, and every version matches.

Good to know

• Only closed outlines go into the STL file. Lines that don't close an outline are left out and counted.
• Holes drawn as single lines (an iron with a blade width of 0) can't keep their own shape in 3D. Convert them to round.
• Edge processing is in beta, and works when Text is set to None. Pieces whose edge can't be shaped keep straight edges, and PatinaCAD says how many.
• Multi-colour print saves two STL files: the template, and the letters that fill its engraving.
• PatinaCAD makes the STL file. You print it with the software for your own 3D printer.