A kit with assembly instructions

Selling a kit (a model, a robot, a desk organizer) means the customer is your assembler. Good instructions are the difference between a delighted maker and a refund request. Solid Vibes builds instructions from the structure you already have: the pieces, bought pieces and Connections in your Thing.

1. Design the kit as a tree of Pieces

Separate the parts a customer will hold. Remember the rule: a piece is separate if it moves, is bought, needs a different material, or needs a different process. For a kit, add one more practical reason: it prints separately on the customer's printer.

Use real Bought pieces for hardware, so the instructions list the exact screws, nuts, and inserts, with correct quantities.

Make a desk organizer kit. Base, two side panels, a sliding drawer and a hinged lid. Fasten the side panels to the base with M3 screws into heat-set inserts. Print everything in PETG.

2. Make it forgiving

Your customer's printer is not your printer. Design for the average, not the best.

• Use generous clearances. 0.3 mm per side for slip fits rather than your tuned 0.2. Store it in a fit_clearance parameter so you can adjust once.
• Avoid supports wherever you can. Chamfer overhangs.
• Fit common beds. Check that every piece fits a 180 mm bed. Split bigger pieces.
• Add alignment features. Pins, tabs and tongue-and-groove joints help people put things together correctly.
• Prefer symmetry, or make the asymmetry obvious, so parts cannot be installed backwards.
• Use as few distinct fasteners as possible. One screw size is easier for everyone.

Test on at least two different printers before release.

3. Check the Make list

The Make list is your bill of materials: every piece with how it is made, its material, time and cost, and every bought piece with its specification and quantity.

Verify:

• Quantities are right (four screws, not three).
• Nothing is missing (a nut for each bolt).
• Each printed piece shows a sensible print time.

4. Generate the exploded view

An exploded view separates the pieces along their assembly paths, which shows what goes where. It is generated from your Connections, and appears in both Render Studio and Drawings.

5. Generate assembly instructions

In Make, ask for the instruction sheets. Solid Vibes generates IKEA-style, step-by-step instructions from the Things tree, so the steps follow your pieces, bought pieces and Connections, and the sheets finish with an exploded view and a parts table.

Make assembly instructions for this kit. Start with the parts list, then one step for each Connection, and finish with an exploded view.

The order of assembly is partly a judgment call (what is easiest to hold while you screw something on?), so review each page as if you were the customer. Better still, hand it to someone who has never seen the kit, and watch where they get stuck.

6. Export for your customers

Exports of drawings and instruction sheets are PDFs. PDF and drawing export is part of the Pro plan, and Maker has basic drawings. Print files (3MF or STL) are available on every plan.

For distribution, bundle:

7. Freeze a release

When the kit is ready, create a release tag, such as "v1.0 kit". It freezes the geometry, the drawings and the Make list together. If a customer reports a problem months later, you can reopen exactly what they received. Keep improvements on a branch for v1.1.

Common mistakes

Try it

On the Hinge box template:

Treat this as a kit for other people to print. Set all fits to 0.3 mm clearance per side using one parameter, make sure every piece prints without supports on a 180 mm bed, and list the screws I need to include.