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Absolute position of 3D print STL

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Message 1 of 6
hpekristiansen
754 Views, 5 Replies

Absolute position of 3D print STL

hpekristiansen
Advocate
Advocate

I want to make a two colored 3D print inlay like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Sla-vIsvh4

(first the inlay is printed, and then the rest is printed on top of it)

 

Example:

 

Screenshot 2020-09-28 at 07.08.17.png

 

The inlay is the text "Test", and consist of four bodies "T", "e", "s" and "t". The main body is an elliptic extrusion where the inlay is cut away.

The function

FUSION360 -> TOOLS -> MAKE -> 3D Print

can only handle one body. One way to solve that problem is to use

FUSION360 -> Export... -> Type=stl

(this takes time because of cloud conversion, and is generally inconvenient)

 

When everything is brought into Cura(my 3D print slicer), the problem is that I have no way to align the inlay and the main body. To circumvent this problem, I join a thin circle and line pipe to both the inlay and the main body like this:

Screenshot 2020-09-28 at 07.15.45.png

This collects the inlay into one body. In Cura, I can now center both the inlay and the main body - this aligns them perfectly. Because the added pipe is so thin, Cura ignores it when slicing.

 

My question:

Are there a way to bring the bodies into Cure and preserve their relative position? -so that I do not need the hack with the thin pipe. Can you think of a smarter way to achieve the same thing?

0 Likes

Absolute position of 3D print STL

I want to make a two colored 3D print inlay like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Sla-vIsvh4

(first the inlay is printed, and then the rest is printed on top of it)

 

Example:

 

Screenshot 2020-09-28 at 07.08.17.png

 

The inlay is the text "Test", and consist of four bodies "T", "e", "s" and "t". The main body is an elliptic extrusion where the inlay is cut away.

The function

FUSION360 -> TOOLS -> MAKE -> 3D Print

can only handle one body. One way to solve that problem is to use

FUSION360 -> Export... -> Type=stl

(this takes time because of cloud conversion, and is generally inconvenient)

 

When everything is brought into Cura(my 3D print slicer), the problem is that I have no way to align the inlay and the main body. To circumvent this problem, I join a thin circle and line pipe to both the inlay and the main body like this:

Screenshot 2020-09-28 at 07.15.45.png

This collects the inlay into one body. In Cura, I can now center both the inlay and the main body - this aligns them perfectly. Because the added pipe is so thin, Cura ignores it when slicing.

 

My question:

Are there a way to bring the bodies into Cure and preserve their relative position? -so that I do not need the hack with the thin pipe. Can you think of a smarter way to achieve the same thing?

5 REPLIES 5
Message 2 of 6
etfrench
in reply to: hpekristiansen

etfrench
Mentor
Mentor

Use the "Save as STL" command by right clicking on the component or body in the Browser instead of using the Export command.  You shouldn't need the pipe to maintain alignment.

ETFrench

EESignature

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Use the "Save as STL" command by right clicking on the component or body in the Browser instead of using the Export command.  You shouldn't need the pipe to maintain alignment.

ETFrench

EESignature

Message 3 of 6
hpekristiansen
in reply to: etfrench

hpekristiansen
Advocate
Advocate

Yes that solves the annoying waiting time for cloud conversion, but it does not solve the alignment problem.

First the inlay is brought into the slicer, and printed. Later the main body is brought into the slicer, but there is no way for the slicer to know where the inlay is positioned in the design. -and the slicer has no common outer circle(the pipe) to center the two models.

0 Likes

Yes that solves the annoying waiting time for cloud conversion, but it does not solve the alignment problem.

First the inlay is brought into the slicer, and printed. Later the main body is brought into the slicer, but there is no way for the slicer to know where the inlay is positioned in the design. -and the slicer has no common outer circle(the pipe) to center the two models.

Message 4 of 6
etfrench
in reply to: hpekristiansen

etfrench
Mentor
Mentor
Accepted solution

The video shows the two parts being aligned manually.  Your technique with the pipe makes it accurate.  You only need to create one circle larger than both components without the line through the center, then do the pipe command.  Just copy the pipe to the second component.  Prusa Slicer aligned them automatically.

ETFrench

EESignature

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The video shows the two parts being aligned manually.  Your technique with the pipe makes it accurate.  You only need to create one circle larger than both components without the line through the center, then do the pipe command.  Just copy the pipe to the second component.  Prusa Slicer aligned them automatically.

ETFrench

EESignature

Message 5 of 6
hpekristiansen
in reply to: etfrench

hpekristiansen
Advocate
Advocate

Yes - that seems like the smart way to do it.

Now, I am struggling to copy one body from one component to an other. If I use

MODIFY -> Move/Copy (Create copy=yes)

then the "OK" button is grayed out untill I move the position. I could just move it in z, but is there some other way I am missing?

0 Likes

Yes - that seems like the smart way to do it.

Now, I am struggling to copy one body from one component to an other. If I use

MODIFY -> Move/Copy (Create copy=yes)

then the "OK" button is grayed out untill I move the position. I could just move it in z, but is there some other way I am missing?

Message 6 of 6
etfrench
in reply to: hpekristiansen

etfrench
Mentor
Mentor

Don't use the Modify menu.  Right click on the body in the Browser, then select Copy (not Move/Copy).  The Move/Copy command only does Move. 🙄

ETFrench

EESignature

0 Likes

Don't use the Modify menu.  Right click on the body in the Browser, then select Copy (not Move/Copy).  The Move/Copy command only does Move. 🙄

ETFrench

EESignature

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