Manipulating a .STL file

[KP Chiang]

I am looking for a STL file editing tool that would let me choose triangle facets (from a 3D visualization, picking with mouse clicks) and then export them as another .stl file....any ideas?

[Rob Hall]

Blender maybe not quite sure what you're trying to do

On Jul 27, 2015 5:40 AM, "'KP Chiang' via 3D604" <3d...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

I am looking for a STL file editing tool that would let me choose triangle facets (from a 3D visualization, picking with mouse clicks) and then export them as another .stl file....any ideas?

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[KP Chiang]

I want to choose a set of triangle facets from a curved surface and then export the selected facets as a separate .stl file to manipulate the vertices further.

Thanks for the Blender recommendation. I downloaded it today and played with it for 30 mins and it feels very promising.

[Stefan Mohr]

Netfabb may be able to do what you want as well. I've only used it to split an STL into 2 halves (due to print area limits), but it seemed quite capable at editing STL data directly.

SketchUp does an adequate job of importing simple STL shapes as well.

[Kimball Andersen]

Sketchup is actually pretty good for this.  You will need to add the stl import and export add ons, and I recommend the cleanup add on as well.  It is very easy to use for simple modifications to a stl file.

K

[Ian Smith]

I'm not sure if it's the best tool.  Meshmixer will do that.  You can select the portion you want.  Zoom in if you want to be more specific about the selection. 

When you select the facets, a popup window will open with a choice for edit at the top. Pick Edit -> seperate 

If you have done it correctly your seperate portion will be bright and the remainder dark. 

You should also have an object browser window open by default.  in their highlight the original object and click the trash can at the bottom of the window. 

that will leave you with your part.   Save it as a meshmixer file.  Then export the STL.  You can then take it into another program that you are more comfortable with. 

These are notes from a quick test so they should work for you.  I'm using meshmixer 10.9.246

Best thing.  It's free.