Hello, I have been working on a DIN box for my car, but have been struggling to convert it into a 3D solid. From the beginning of design, I basically used lines to form the skeleton of the box and fill in the box with surfaces instead of solids which i should have done. I tried using the convert to solid command, but the program said that it failed to convert. From my understanding, there are no spaces that could prevent the surfaces from converting. I have looked at many forums, but have found no answer. This is my first design, so feel free to tell me what I did wrong. I would really hate to start over, so if you can help that would be great. Side question, If the inside is hollow, could it still be printed? Thanks.
Hello, I have been working on a DIN box for my car, but have been struggling to convert it into a 3D solid. From the beginning of design, I basically used lines to form the skeleton of the box and fill in the box with surfaces instead of solids which i should have done. I tried using the convert to solid command, but the program said that it failed to convert. From my understanding, there are no spaces that could prevent the surfaces from converting. I have looked at many forums, but have found no answer. This is my first design, so feel free to tell me what I did wrong. I would really hate to start over, so if you can help that would be great. Side question, If the inside is hollow, could it still be printed? Thanks.
If the surfaces defined a watertight volume you could use surfsculpt to create a solid from the surfaces. You model is not watertight. Note the gap in the image below. You are correct that you should have used solids and not surfaces to start with. You should also make use of layers in the creation of the model. For example, create the wire frame model on one layer and the surface or solid model on another.
I suggest deleting all the surfaces leaving just the lines in 3D. Define a new layer with a different color and create boxes (solids) and extrusions to define the geometry. Remember that you can use union and subtract to simplify the process. You might want to set the visualstyle to X-Ray
YOu could start with an extrusion like I show below then subtract the blue boxes. Create a box or extrusion to subtract from the inside if the object is hollow.
Good luck!
If the surfaces defined a watertight volume you could use surfsculpt to create a solid from the surfaces. You model is not watertight. Note the gap in the image below. You are correct that you should have used solids and not surfaces to start with. You should also make use of layers in the creation of the model. For example, create the wire frame model on one layer and the surface or solid model on another.
I suggest deleting all the surfaces leaving just the lines in 3D. Define a new layer with a different color and create boxes (solids) and extrusions to define the geometry. Remember that you can use union and subtract to simplify the process. You might want to set the visualstyle to X-Ray
YOu could start with an extrusion like I show below then subtract the blue boxes. Create a box or extrusion to subtract from the inside if the object is hollow.
Good luck!
Hi Guys,
I don't want to hijack this thread but I have a similar problem.If I am intruding please let me know.
I have created the teeth on a helical gear but am having trouble making them solid. Is any one able to point me in the right direction please
Hi Guys,
I don't want to hijack this thread but I have a similar problem.If I am intruding please let me know.
I have created the teeth on a helical gear but am having trouble making them solid. Is any one able to point me in the right direction please
As can be seen here your model does not define a watertight volume as there are hole at the top and bottom of the gear teeth.
To fix this your need to define additional surfaces that will make it watertight when using the surfsculpt command.
The first step to do is to explode the arrayed teeth converting them to surfaces.
Next create planes to define the top and bottom of the teeth. Since you want to maintain the hole through the gear you need to have a hole in these planes. You can make the hole by using a Boolean subtract of a cylinder that has a radius less than the gear OD and greater than the hole's minimum ID.
After the Boolean subtract you are left with this.
You can now use surfsculpt to make a solid of the geometry.
As can be seen here your model does not define a watertight volume as there are hole at the top and bottom of the gear teeth.
To fix this your need to define additional surfaces that will make it watertight when using the surfsculpt command.
The first step to do is to explode the arrayed teeth converting them to surfaces.
Next create planes to define the top and bottom of the teeth. Since you want to maintain the hole through the gear you need to have a hole in these planes. You can make the hole by using a Boolean subtract of a cylinder that has a radius less than the gear OD and greater than the hole's minimum ID.
After the Boolean subtract you are left with this.
You can now use surfsculpt to make a solid of the geometry.
Ok, I will try to do that. Do you convert it from a surface to a slid using the Mode when using extrusion? Also, how would i create the hole inside to make it a hollow box to put things in. With my design, is it possible to create a solid fillet around the bottom edges? How would I do that?
Ok, I will try to do that. Do you convert it from a surface to a slid using the Mode when using extrusion? Also, how would i create the hole inside to make it a hollow box to put things in. With my design, is it possible to create a solid fillet around the bottom edges? How would I do that?
Hi, sorry to bother again, but when I decided to start over again with just the lines I couldn't even extrude any lines or poly-lines. I also could not create a box and subtract with my dimensions as it wouldn't allow me to reach the other corner of the box. If you could direct me to a solution that would be much appreciated.
Hi, sorry to bother again, but when I decided to start over again with just the lines I couldn't even extrude any lines or poly-lines. I also could not create a box and subtract with my dimensions as it wouldn't allow me to reach the other corner of the box. If you could direct me to a solution that would be much appreciated.
for the gear
close pline on end of one tooth
select teeth eXplode to get one of the edges of a tooth
extrude the pline using Path on the edge
polar array
BTW clean up the overlaps on the inner radius of the gear teeth first
attached
for the gear
close pline on end of one tooth
select teeth eXplode to get one of the edges of a tooth
extrude the pline using Path on the edge
polar array
BTW clean up the overlaps on the inner radius of the gear teeth first
attached
Extruding lines and polylines is pretty basic stuff. Polylines must be closed to extrude them into a solid. Read up on the pedit command and how to use it to join lines and polylines together. As for working with solid boxes see if you can find a few tutorials or an intro book into 3D modeling with AutoCAD/
Extruding lines and polylines is pretty basic stuff. Polylines must be closed to extrude them into a solid. Read up on the pedit command and how to use it to join lines and polylines together. As for working with solid boxes see if you can find a few tutorials or an intro book into 3D modeling with AutoCAD/
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