SU question, WHY does it do THAT?

**Heartlander** · 2013-09-15 17:05:35

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From: Kent from Kansas City
Registered: 2013-06-23
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Topic: SU question, WHY does it do THAT?

I have a model with a floor and three walls, 9.4mm tall. There are shelves on the wall with 45 degree angled ramps under them for self-support and also two screw holes. Floor is 1.5MM thick. I ran all the diags, model is clean and water tight (well, as water tight as three walls can be). When I print it, it makes the floor 9.4mm thick, with no walls or other detail.

So, I removed the floor, printed it separately. Now it prints just the walls but no shelves or screw holes. Again, the model comes up clean in NetFabb and my Slicer profle has worked great on my other models.

It seems to me that a model designed in SketchUp is best made in pieces, each printed separately and glued together. More likely, there is a trick or two the old gray beards know about this that I don't. Usually the case.

Anyone care to share the Zen of how not to get totally unexpected results. Here's the last model, the one that won't print shelves.

I want to learn what I'm doing/not doing rather than someone just fix it for me.

Thanks guy, for your time and advice.

SD3, SU 2013 (Make), RH, NetFabb local.

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**elmoret** · 2013-09-15 17:06:51

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Re: SU question, WHY does it do THAT?

The trick is not using Sketchup. Pony up for some quality CAD software.

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E3Dv6 All Metal Hotend - the premier 3D printing hotend

**2n2r5** · 2013-09-15 17:27:00

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From: Frederick, MD
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Re: SU question, WHY does it do THAT?

This is using solid inspector, a free plugin for SU8. Any circles your see is a problem that causes the object to be non-manifold.

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Glass bed with QU-BD heat pad upgrade, threadless ballscrew w/ 8mm smooth rod, spectra line belt replacement, lawsy MK5 extruder, Lawsy replacement carriage, E3D hotend, Ramps 1.4 w/ reprap discount controller, DRV8825 drivers, 12v 30A PS, Acrylic case, Overkill Y-idlers, Filament alarm, Extruder fan + more.

**Heartlander** · 2013-09-15 17:41:47

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From: Kent from Kansas City
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Re: SU question, WHY does it do THAT?

Solid Inspector. Okay, I'm gettin it.

Yeah, Tim, I'm trying to get PTC to figure out why Creo (Design Elements Express) won't load on my Win 8 machine. I've looked at other packages but most are waaaay overkill and much to complicated for my humble needs. The Creo demo looked perfect... if I can get it to run.

Robox printer, HICTOP (Prusa i3 variant) Model 3DP17 printer, ELEK 2.5W laser engraver, AutoDesk 123D Design, Windows 10

**shan.destromp** · 2013-09-15 18:00:44

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Re: SU question, WHY does it do THAT?

elmoret wrote:

The trick is not using Sketchup. Pony up for some quality CAD software.

That's not terribly helpful here; there are plenty of people that use Sketchup without any need for spending tons of money for a "better" CAD program. SU has quirks to be sure; but it has 90% of the features for 0% of the cost of a "traditional" CAD Suite; with the "missing" features being things most people won't use.

Your logic is akin to berating people for not "ponying up" for the Super-Mega-Pro-God-Mode-Administrator version of Windows when Window's Home works for most.

At any rate; Heartlander, another trick to help is to enable wire-frame mode (View > Face Style > Wireframe). It allows you to see possible trouble spots; when you add that with Solid Inspector.....

Once I figured out that overlapping edges (or not quite-mating edges) were the cause of 99% of my failed slices; I've yet to have something not slice proper.

I'm not sure the method you used to build your part; but if it's in pieces which you are then connecting together; grouping pieces helps properly "snap" them together; just make sure you explode them back and then intersect everything so you can easily get rid of any overlap.

| SD3 |
| Mk5 Jigsaw |:| Overkill Y-Axis Bracket |:| Lawsy's X/Y Carriage Replacement |
| M5 Z-Axis |:| Glass Bed |:| Plexiglass Enclosure |

**Heartlander** · 2013-09-15 18:22:15

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From: Kent from Kansas City
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Re: SU question, WHY does it do THAT?

2N2, I ran ot through Solid Inspector and fixed the errors you pointed out. So much for my "clean, solid" model, huh? Anyway, thanks for the tip.

Robox printer, HICTOP (Prusa i3 variant) Model 3DP17 printer, ELEK 2.5W laser engraver, AutoDesk 123D Design, Windows 10

**elmoret** · 2013-09-15 18:37:49

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Re: SU question, WHY does it do THAT?

shan.destromp wrote:

elmoret wrote:
The trick is not using Sketchup. Pony up for some quality CAD software.
That's not terribly helpful here; there are plenty of people that use Sketchup without any need for spending tons of money for a "better" CAD program. SU has quirks to be sure; but it has 90% of the features for 0% of the cost of a "traditional" CAD Suite; with the "missing" features being things most people won't use.
Your logic is akin to berating people for not "ponying up" for the Super-Mega-Pro-God-Mode-Administrator version of Windows when Window's Home works for most.

My point is simple: time is money.

Heartlander uses his printer for business, afaik. He's made dozens of posts here about problems with sketchup. If he values his time at $50/hr and wastes 30 minutes a week wrestling with SketchUp, he could have paid for a license of Inventor LT in under a year - not to mention all the additional features he'd get for free.

My point is just that people often forget the time cost involved when making decisions. If it is a hobby then you can argue the time has no value, but if it is a business then that time could be spent elsewhere increasing revenue.

Filastruder - the robust, inexpensive filament extruder
E3Dv6 All Metal Hotend - the premier 3D printing hotend

**shan.destromp** · 2013-09-15 19:50:01

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Re: SU question, WHY does it do THAT?

elmoret wrote:

My point is simple: time is money.
Heartlander uses his printer for business, afaik. He's made dozens of posts here about problems with sketchup. If he values his time at $50/hr and wastes 30 minutes a week wrestling with SketchUp, he could have paid for a license of Inventor LT in under a year - not to mention all the additional features he'd get for free.
My point is just that people often forget the time cost involved when making decisions. If it is a hobby then you can argue the time has no value, but if it is a business then that time could be spent elsewhere increasing revenue.

I'll admit you've got a point there; but you're glossing over the fact that if Heartlander were to switch programs; he would be restarting at the bottom of the learning curve for whatever program he switches too. That makes the situation a little trickier; as you now have to compute whether time lost using SU is > time lost learning a new program. Furthermore are the root of his problems inherent to SU and it's limitations; or are they due to just being a novice with CAD design? If it's the latter investing in a couple of books or a CAD course at the local collage might be more cost effective; afterwords if SU is indeed the limitation there would be a (reasonably) firm foundation with which to build upon with alternate software.

| SD3 |
| Mk5 Jigsaw |:| Overkill Y-Axis Bracket |:| Lawsy's X/Y Carriage Replacement |
| M5 Z-Axis |:| Glass Bed |:| Plexiglass Enclosure |

**Shotline** · 2013-09-15 21:33:23

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Re: SU question, WHY does it do THAT?

The main problem I have had where the sliced results don't match the sketchup model is stray lines within the sketchup model. I have taken to making sure there is nothing inside the model (where it is suppose to be solid) that doesn't need to be there and my slices come out properly. Most of the time I don't even need to use netfabb.

Solid inspector really helps.

**Heartlander** · 2013-09-15 22:11:46

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From: Kent from Kansas City
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Re: SU question, WHY does it do THAT?

Dang, that Solid Inspector makes a world of difference. Guess I'll have to give ole Thom THom a cookie.

Robox printer, HICTOP (Prusa i3 variant) Model 3DP17 printer, ELEK 2.5W laser engraver, AutoDesk 123D Design, Windows 10

SU question, WHY does it do THAT?

Posts: 10

1 Topic by Heartlander 2013-09-15 17:05:35

Topic: SU question, WHY does it do THAT?

2 Reply by elmoret 2013-09-15 17:06:51

Re: SU question, WHY does it do THAT?

3 Reply by 2n2r5 2013-09-15 17:27:00 (edited by 2n2r5 2013-09-15 17:56:23)

Re: SU question, WHY does it do THAT?

4 Reply by Heartlander 2013-09-15 17:41:47

Re: SU question, WHY does it do THAT?

5 Reply by shan.destromp 2013-09-15 18:00:44

Re: SU question, WHY does it do THAT?

6 Reply by Heartlander 2013-09-15 18:22:15

Re: SU question, WHY does it do THAT?

7 Reply by elmoret 2013-09-15 18:37:49

Re: SU question, WHY does it do THAT?

8 Reply by shan.destromp 2013-09-15 19:50:01

Re: SU question, WHY does it do THAT?

9 Reply by Shotline 2013-09-15 21:33:23

Re: SU question, WHY does it do THAT?

10 Reply by Heartlander 2013-09-15 22:11:46

Re: SU question, WHY does it do THAT?

Posts: 10