1 Topic by WORF22 (edited by WORF22 2013-03-19 15:01:47)

  • WORF22
  • Member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2013-03-11
  • Posts: 19

Topic: Prints coming out as just a few lines

Hello all,
I am new to the world of 3d printing I received my sd3 about 2 week ago. I have not done much printing as of yet I am finding it hard to get good 3d files well files that will print that is. I wanted to print out some rifles for my action figure collection I found one that I liked but all I got were 3 lines and the print was done. 

I have found allot of good looking files on sketch up when in the 3d view the files look awesome but when I use the slicer I get just a few lines it no longer looks like it does in the 3d view. Is there a way to get these files to print out properly?

2 Reply by cmetzel

  • cmetzel
  • Member
  • Offline
  • From: Solidoodle2 #0091
  • Registered: 2012-08-22
  • Posts: 1,429

Re: Prints coming out as just a few lines

Are you sure you're in the right scale?  Maybe you think it's inches but it's really mm?  You can attach your STL file on the bottom of the post so we can take a look. 

Welcome to the club.

3 Reply by WORF22

  • WORF22
  • Member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2013-03-11
  • Posts: 19

Re: Prints coming out as just a few lines

cool thank you.

Post's attachments

AR15untitled.stl 2.14 mb, 32 downloads since 2013-03-19 

You don't have the permssions to download the attachments of this post.

4 Reply by cmetzel

  • cmetzel
  • Member
  • Offline
  • From: Solidoodle2 #0091
  • Registered: 2012-08-22
  • Posts: 1,429

Re: Prints coming out as just a few lines

The scale was off, and wont print in the orientation it was showing.  Or any orientation for that matter without support.  My friendly suggestion would be to start with an easier print, something from thingiverse that you know will print until you get the hang of things, then try the trickier prints.  Walk before you run etc etc.

5 Reply by cckens

  • cckens
  • Member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2012-09-13
  • Posts: 591

Re: Prints coming out as just a few lines

I'd recommend the paste pushers (http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:49263).  They're simple, cute and functional.  At .3mm they have about 23 layers and print in about 1/2 an hour for about 3m of filament.  My sons thought they were the most amazing thing that I've printed, but that was because it was for them smile

6 Reply by Zarni

  • Zarni
  • Zarni
  • Member
  • Offline
  • From: Cambs, UK
  • Registered: 2012-08-09
  • Posts: 87

Re: Prints coming out as just a few lines

Apart from the scale, which if you bring it down to 10% seems about right, there are a few issues with the model.
http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/5803/ar15.png
The blue areas are showing the model inside out and the circles show a point where the model is non-manifold which is why you only got a few lines of print.
You could go through the whole file and fix every issue and end up with a nice print (with support obviously) or just find another model that needs less work.

If you fix it post a pic of the final print, it is quite a detailed model, someone has put a lot of time in to it.

7 Reply by pcpoirier

  • pcpoirier
  • Member
  • Offline
  • From: Wichita Ks
  • Registered: 2012-10-25
  • Posts: 231

Re: Prints coming out as just a few lines

You can scale it on the object placement page. looks like .1 is a good start.
When I start to run it it came up with warnings, so you need to upload it to NetFab to fix it   http://cloud.netfabb.com/
The 1st thing I print is Actual 0.5mm thin wall 20 mm box http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:37137 to make sure the Filiament multiplier is right.
Good luck

8 Reply by WORF22 (edited by WORF22 2013-03-19 20:58:51)

  • WORF22
  • Member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2013-03-11
  • Posts: 19

Re: Prints coming out as just a few lines

I have a very simple 3d drawing I wanted to print out and I was getting the same result when using slice

pic 2= What it should look like


pic 1= After slice

Post's attachments

MIKE TREK1.jpg
MIKE TREK1.jpg 449.8 kb, file has never been downloaded. 

sketchupsucks.JPG
sketchupsucks.JPG 99.66 kb, file has never been downloaded. 

You don't have the permssions to download the attachments of this post.

9 Reply by cckens

  • cckens
  • Member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2012-09-13
  • Posts: 591

Re: Prints coming out as just a few lines

post the stl... If it's what I think it is, your mesh isn't manifold and it's just slicing what it can find.

10 Reply by cmetzel

  • cmetzel
  • Member
  • Offline
  • From: Solidoodle2 #0091
  • Registered: 2012-08-22
  • Posts: 1,429

Re: Prints coming out as just a few lines

I still think you should start off with simpler items.  You'll need to enable support on your trek thing because there are unsupported surfaces that will not print without support enabled.

11 Reply by cckens (edited by cckens 2013-03-19 22:55:12)

  • cckens
  • Member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2012-09-13
  • Posts: 591

Re: Prints coming out as just a few lines

True, but I think that I could make it work without support.  Some gentle curves supporting from the lower pieces you should be able to create this support-less.  It's how I make bayonet connections when I need them to print standing up.

Edit:  On second glance, it could be done without supports if all the overhangs went to z=0, that is to say, the insignia and the inner circle went all the way through the model.  Not sure if this is what is causing the issue in the first place as I'm not sure how Sketchup handles boolean unions in objects; whether it actually booleans them to create a watertight mesh or if it just combines the objects which would be worse and probably what causes a slicer to bork up like that.
Either way, the piece is probably do-able in 1 piece, but you could split it to 3 pieces and paint them separately before gluing them together.

12 Reply by WORF22

  • WORF22
  • Member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2013-03-11
  • Posts: 19

Re: Prints coming out as just a few lines

first thank you all for your help. this is the insignia stl file. i have D.L. and printed some files that came out nice.

Post's attachments

img0513smalln.jpg
img0513smalln.jpg 119.19 kb, file has never been downloaded. 

insigniauntitled.stl 521.12 kb, 6 downloads since 2013-03-20 

You don't have the permssions to download the attachments of this post.

13 Reply by Kvirre (edited by Kvirre 2013-03-20 16:07:11)

  • Kvirre
  • Member
  • Offline
  • From: Malmö, Sweden
  • Registered: 2012-10-05
  • Posts: 81

Re: Prints coming out as just a few lines

Have not checked the model ... but i'm not sure that the problem only (or is) that it's non-manifold.
What I suspect, is that the normals are flipped, this causes the same kind of problems anyway (and also looks the same in sketchup)

Solution :
Select the inverted faces and right click. Then click on "Reverse Faces."

If I misunderstood the term non-manifold then i'm sorry, I haven't had a look at the actual model.

Kvirre's Website

14 Reply by pcpoirier

  • pcpoirier
  • Member
  • Offline
  • From: Wichita Ks
  • Registered: 2012-10-25
  • Posts: 231

Re: Prints coming out as just a few lines

I ran it thru  http://cloud.netfabb.com/ and they cleaned it up

Post's attachments

AR15untitled_fixed.stl 578.5 kb, 10 downloads since 2013-03-20 

You don't have the permssions to download the attachments of this post.

15 Reply by cckens

  • cckens
  • Member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2012-09-13
  • Posts: 591

Re: Prints coming out as just a few lines

This insignia is also non-manifold, but for the reasons that I stated above.  The objects were combined and not booleaned so the slicer looks at all the meshes and finds them to be intersecting and then just goes crazy.  I'm looking at cleaning it up as netfabb probably won't do a thing to this structure.

16 Reply by cckens (edited by cckens 2013-03-20 20:15:23)

  • cckens
  • Member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2012-09-13
  • Posts: 591

Re: Prints coming out as just a few lines

WORF22
I've cleaned up the mesh and made it manifold (except slic3r seems to think there's a hole in there somewhere) and it will slice correctly (in both Kisslicer and slic3r, I tested).

The model was awash with intersecting facets so it's a good guess that it was composed of 3-4 meshes that were just laid up together.  Not a way to create a printable model, but if you're using sketchup I can kind of understand.  Don't get me wrong, sketchup is a great program and can create objects that will print, but in this case the software just didn't export right so that's what was putting your model in hock.

Enjoy!

Edit:  I took some liberties such as making the model fully flat on the bottom so that it will not need supports to print.  I figure it's a small price to pay... If you want it as 2 pieces I can facilitate that as I have the meshes that I re-created it with.

Post's attachments

Insignia-fix.stl 99.98 kb, 9 downloads since 2013-03-20 

You don't have the permssions to download the attachments of this post.

17 Reply by WORF22

  • WORF22
  • Member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2013-03-11
  • Posts: 19

Re: Prints coming out as just a few lines

oh man you guys are best. i tested it look dam good but for one thing some how it got mirrored lol. i have learned much in the last 2 days thank you all i will post some pics of what i have so far.

18 Reply by cckens (edited by cckens 2013-03-20 21:36:09)

  • cckens
  • Member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2012-09-13
  • Posts: 591

Re: Prints coming out as just a few lines

So the dot was supposed to be on the other side?  I can fix that.

Post's attachments

Insignia-mirror.stl 99.89 kb, 11 downloads since 2013-03-20 

You don't have the permssions to download the attachments of this post.

19 Reply by WORF22

  • WORF22
  • Member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2013-03-11
  • Posts: 19

Re: Prints coming out as just a few lines

nice thank you man it looks good.