3D printing help

[gatesofmemphis]

Ben/Dan/Claudio/et al,

can one of you see if the attached file is printable, and if so, print it for me?  I created it in, and exported to STL from, Blender.  I'm not sure where the dimensions are set for the STL so I might need to scale it up or down and re-export it again.  I'd like the width to be about 2" across.

If you can print it, I'd like it in a translucent color material -- red, blue or...

Much appreciation in advance.

Roy

[claudio donndelinger]

With the underside of the shield being hollow/curved we'd have to use a printed support material underneath. It would then have to be cut off/ cleaned up. I'll give it a go and see what happens tomorrow. I don't have any translucent plastic, but I'm going to try to satisfy my curiosity and see what happens :p

CD

[Sonny Mounicou]

Claudio,

It would be more efficient to add a few manual (hollow) support pillars that you can easily break/clean off.  The use of support material will create quite the mess and use a lot of plastic.

--Sonny

[gatesofmemphis]

Thanks for the fast replies!  Do you guys have any links to designing for RepRap printing? 

[Sonny Mounicou]

The biggest rule is that overhangs shouldn't exceed a 45 degree angle.  If you look at the angle on the bottom of the shield, you see that its very aggressive.  That means that successive layers won't have one to build upon which creates problems. 

--Sonny

[gatesofmemphis]

How does this STL look for printing?

[claudio donndelinger]

It looks like a majority of the gears surface is going to need some kind of support underneath. The surface layers look a bit thin as well. Could you add some internal support ribs? Maybe some removable supporting posts in the model would help.

CD

[Dan Hess]

Is the goal of the model to be hollow as such?

Thanks,

Daniel H.

Google Voice:  (901) 214-5326

- Copying one is plagiarism, copying many is research.

[gatesofmemphis]

Dan, yes so I can put LEDs and battery inside.

Perhaps I could break it into 2 files then combine them after printing.

[Dan Hess]

If it is intended to hold something, then why not design it to hold that content rather than being an open cavity?  For the LEDs you could simply deign recessed holes into the print for the number you want, and for the battery you could put a more form fitting hole for it to fit into.  That may almost instantaneously provide the support needed for the majority of it.  The printer is capable of doing bridges in small sections so depending on how that is done up it is much more likely to be able to do that than trying to float the layers the entire length of the print.

Thanks,

Daniel H.

Google Voice:  (901) 214-5326

- Copying one is plagiarism, copying many is research.

[gatesofmemphis]

I went ahead and broke them in two to remove the float but I like the idea of putting the component containers as support.  However since I want the effect (illuminating the logo from the hollow) to dictate placement I don't know now where the content will go.  

Thanks for all the help! 

[claudio donndelinger]

Ill print them up tomorrow and bring them to the meeting Friday. I only have orange, but at least you'll be able to see how they come out.

CD

[Danny Chamberlin]

I have a couple pounds of clear I'm not using up at the shop if you want to run by and grab one Claudio. Should be in the white box behind my large tackle box

Danny Chamberlin

Co-Chairperson,

MidSouthCon 30

dcham...@midsouthcon.org

[gatesofmemphis]

Thanks a bunch!

I'm now reworking the shield/M combo for what I'm learning about bridged surfaces.

[claudio donndelinger]

When I cut the model, it's very small, around 4mm or so. I can scale the model up to 40x, but when sliced, it's only generating 1 layer. Can someone else cut it and see if it turns out similarly? 

CD

[gatesofmemphis]

That's something I meant to ask -- what are it's "real" dimensions?  Blender's export to STL doesn't allow any input so I'm not sure how real measurements are output. Does STL has physical dimensions built into its format?

[claudio donndelinger]

Yes. This model is tiny. I'll re-cut it in a bit and get you it's dimensions.

CD

[gatesofmemphis]

I've been doing some studying on Blender's export to STL and, if I'm right, files I sent you last week should be as tiny as 2.5 mm across.  Is that what you saw Claudio?

These two should both be ~2 inches in the X and Y.  Can you try printing these?

[claudio donndelinger]

That fits with what I saw. I'll print those out this weekend.

CD

[gatesofmemphis]

thank you!

[claudio donndelinger]

It looks like we still have an issue with the size of the model:

"File /home/.../msmnewmedalliontop.stl is being chain exported.

Warning, there are no slices for the model, this could be because the model is too small for the Layer Thickness."

What size is the model supposed to be? The model was sliced with a layer thickness of 0,28mm. 

CD

[gatesofmemphis]

Perplexing.

I'm not sure how deep it is supposed to -- maybe .25-.50 inch but I do know it's supposed to be 2x2 inches square.

Is there a program that reads and loads STL files that can give me the dimensions after I export it?  For instance, does MeshLab give you the dimensions of an object?

thanks again,

Roy

[gatesofmemphis]

Claudio,

One more time!  These should be ~50 mm (or 2 inches) across.

thanks,

Roy