SoliForum - 3D Printing Community — Hollow bodies???

Re: Hollow bodies???

2014-04-17T09:15:45Z

...I was bored so i re-did the file instead of repair it.

Re: Hollow bodies???

2014-04-15T14:49:46Z

good work wardjr. I have to agree with him, work in mm's. It will become second nature after a few times, but it really makes trouble shooting a lot easier. digital calipers usually have two settings, sae and metric, and just pushing a button on them can get you quick conversions.

Re: Hollow bodies???

2014-04-14T17:03:37Z

I try and avoid push pull at all costs. It is almost guaranteed that it will mess with the geometry.

Re: Hollow bodies???

2014-04-14T15:25:38Z

Thanks a bunch Ward. I haven't designed in metric since college but I guess I'm going to have to learn again

I do understand what you mean by manifold now and I tried to do that but SketchUp (free version) isn't always easy to see that or manipulate it to do it. I'm a SketchUp semi-Newb. I was pushing and pulling edges to seal it up but I guess i didn't succeed.

Anyway, I sincerely appreciate all you help!

Dave

Re: Hollow bodies???

2014-04-11T21:36:10Z

So in this case the narrowest portion of the cone on the inside wall meets the outside wall. Basically it had no thickness to it.
So pay attention to the inside and how I connected the lines and all surfaces are now white. I did run it through netfabb when I was done just to fix where the cone meets the cylinder.
I included the printable .stl and the .skp so you can see the corrections I made.

Also.... I can't emphasize this enough...It is much easier and precise to design in mm's. So if you can't figure out how to get your software to understand mm's let me know and I'll help you through that process also.

Hope this helps.

Re: Hollow bodies???

2014-04-11T21:01:57Z

dave.lantz wrote:

Thanks so much Ward! I will attach the .skp file here.
I do not understand what you mean when you say "manifold". Can you point me to an explanation and a tool?

So manifold means will it hold water or is it water tight. When you look into the cone of the .skp notice how it is darker gray instead of white? That is not manifold. In essence the geometry doesn't add up. I will quick try and fix it and send it back to show you what I mean.

Re: Hollow bodies???

2014-04-11T17:58:35Z

Thanks so much Ward! I will attach the .skp file here.

I do not understand what you mean when you say "manifold". Can you point me to an explanation and a tool?

Re: Hollow bodies???

2014-04-11T17:37:47Z

Hey Dave,
First off I am having a hard time making that file manifold.
Second when you do a part like that you want to print it solid infill set to one. You only need a couple of perimeters.
By solid I mean the walls are solid. I have a meeting in a few minutes but if you can wait for a few hours I'll be happy to help you through the process. In the mean time send or post a link to the .skp file. It is always the simple things that seem to be the hardest.

Hollow bodies???

2014-04-11T17:17:57Z

Well I am beginning to understand why 3D printers aren't readily available at Staples! LOL

OK guys I tried to read up as much as possible but after half a day I'm lost and I know one of you has the answer.

I tried a simple experiment on a small part and I cant get it to work no matter what I try.

Tried to make a hollow cone for the back of a blowgun dart. See attached.

No matter how I slice it in SlicR or Skeinforge it comes out as a solid in g-code. WHY?

What trick am I missing here? (and BTW, you shouldn't need a trick to accomplish this - if the model has openings then so should the g-code)

Thanks as always!