

Working out which is which can be the tricky part but groups like this essentially function by getting files from various open sources such as Facebook groups or other repositories. There is no doubt some of the files on this site do not belong to them, but they also have files which I have not found anywhere else giving me a reason to believe some are authentic.


This is one of my best resources for FREE CNC 3D relief files, but also one of the more questionable resources and I am openly honest about this. As it is also a free site, it does have quite a few adverts appearing which can be frustrating but the site owner do need to make money at the end of the day. Thingiverse does get heavy criticism for the actual functioning of the site and its search feature as it can often return some very random result which have no relevance to what you have searched. There are options as well to remix files will allows the community to develop or adapt each others designs, continuing to grow the collection of files available. However, just because they all are free, some are only free to use for non-commercial purposes so you do need to check what each one is listed as. This is without doubt one of, if not the most popular sites for STL files and its encouraged that all files on this site are posted under the Creative Commons license essentially meaning that all files are free. It is your responsibility to check what you are downloading, using and you do so at your own risk.

For example, something like the Harley-Davidson logo is often used without permission and they have been publicly known to sue those using it and making money from it, same as Disney. Also, any files which contain obvious logos, characters or other trademarked intellectual property then they will likely be legally protected so be careful when using them. You will often see different sites hosting the same files and the original source can be hard to find. Please note: If a site is sharing or selling files, it does not mean they own those files or have permission to distribute them. A 90 day free trial of Carveco Maker can be found here and using the discount code JAMESDEANDESIGNS will also get you 5% off. It is also worth pointing out that quality CNC software such as Carveco come with a library full of STL files for you to use. STL files can be used for both CNC relief work as well as 3D printing. Further down there is also a comprehensive list of sites which host STL and 3D model files. Below is a list of some of my favourite STL sites, free and paid for.
