Offset a full body for molding

[k.jannik]

Hey guys,

I want to 3D print a body and use it for a molding process. But for the part which is goign to be used for the mold, I want to create a clearance/offset from the original part. This part is a more or less a complex shaped body, from which I want to create an offset in all dimensions from, lets say, 1mm.

Could you please help me out here and explain me how to do that in Fusion360?

Thanks in advance,

Jannik 🙂

PS: english is not my mother tongue 😛

[TrippyLighting]

Without even a screenshot of the model there is not much help we can provide. I can say in general, the more complex the shape is the further away you move from a one-click solution.

[k.jannik]

@TrippyLighting,

 it is basically a piece of a knife, split in two

@MingweiGao, the thing is, it is not just a cube which I can uniscale in X, Y and Z ... it is a bit more complex than that I guess

[MingweiGao]

You may have a try with Scale(Solid->Modify->Scale) via Uniform or Non-uniform. In mold design, you may consider the shrinkage of the plastic part and Scale can help you enlarge the original part. 

[TheCADWhisperer]

Can you File>Export your *.f3d file to your local drive and then Attach it here to a Reply?

[k.jannik]

Here is the .f3d file. I hope it will help 🙂

[rushabhthakkar_910]

@k.jannik , See the attached Screencast Video.. 👉  https://autode.sk/3q8XFEN    And the Attached Model..!!

[k.jannik]

@rushabhthakkar_910thanks for the great torturial. That is kind of what I was looking for. The method with the offset surfaces works well. The problem I have now is that the surfaces are not stitched together so I can not create a STL file in order to 3D print it. I need to create a full body out of the offset surfaces. Any suggestions?

[rushabhthakkar_910]

@k.jannik  See this Screencast Video... https://autode.sk/35DlLhy 

You can manually Extend them by Going to Design Workspace> Surface Tools> Modify Tab> Extend Command... 

Extend all the faces by 1mm... And than Stich them... 

In the video, I have Extended some faces and stitched them..

[jhackney1972]

I am assuming you want to create a mold for half of the handle.  You wanted to add some clearance to the mold which I used 1.08 as my scaling factor.  Since I added Capture Design History to your model, you can change this value in the timeline and the mold will update.  I also removed the handle holes since they probably cannot be molded.  I also remove the handle interference with the blade before I started everything.  The Screencast will show all.  Model is attached.

[k.jannik]

Thanks for your help and the great video tutorial. But that is unfurtunately not what I need. If you use the scale operation and the handle is for example 100mm long, 30mm wide and you upscale it by 10%, the result would be 110mm length and 33mm width. But I want it to be equal in all dimensions (not just X,Y and Z).

I need basically a surrunding hull/offset all around the model with a constant offset value, kind of like @rushabhthakkar_910 tried to do with the surfaces. The problem there is, that i can not stitch them together so I can 3D print the needed part.

[jhackney1972 · Accepted solution]

Ok, I have another proposal.  This one is like creating a shell from your original body on all sides an equal distance, just like a M&M candy.  In the Screencast I started at 0.5mm offset and then changed it back to end up at 0.1mm.  You can use the timeline to change it to a larger or smaller value.  From the new body, which I labeled in the Browser, you can create the mold using the method I showed in my first video.  Model is attached.

[k.jannik]

thanks for the great support and the amazing video turtorial! It worked just fine and I can continue with my project! Thanks a lot 🙂