CalcPlot3D

What is CalcPlot3D?

CalcPlot3D is a free browser tool that graphs math surfaces in 3D and saves them as STL files you can slice and print. Paul Seeburger, a math professor at Monroe Community College, wrote it for multivariable calculus classes with support from an NSF grant, and LibreTexts hosts it. You can plot a function z = f(x, y), a parametric or implicit surface, a solid of revolution or a contour plot, or start from the Examples menu, which has knots, Klein bottles, tori and hyperboloids.

The part that matters for printing is the thickness step. A math surface has no depth, so the STL dialog asks for a print size and a thickness and grows the surface into a closed solid. It can grow along the normals, against them, half each way (the help recommends this for Möbius strips and Klein bottles) or straight down in z. A View Solid button shows the result before you save. Solids of revolution can be saved as separate washers or shells, and contour lines can become tubes or bands.

It suits teachers who want students to hold a saddle or a Klein bottle, and makers who like mathematical shapes. Expect to type equations once you go past the examples, and check the scale in your slicer, since sizes are entered in inches.

What you can make

• Surfaces of functions z = f(x, y), such as a saddle
• Parametric surfaces like knots, tori and Klein bottles
• Implicit surfaces
• Solids of revolution as separate washers or shells
• Contour plots printed as tubes or bands

How to use CalcPlot3D

1. Open CalcPlot3D and pick a surface from the Examples menu, or choose a type under Add to graph and type its equation
2. Open the main menu, then File, and choose Create an STL file from the plot
3. Enter a solid name, the print size and the thickness, and pick the direction the thickness grows
4. Click View Solid to check the shape, then Create File to download the STL
5. Scale it in your slicer and add supports under overhanging parts of the surface