Possible to export STL with one file per component (not body), or keep origin?

[twitos]

Hi,

I have a wheel with numbers on top of it. See this picture:

As you can see in the screenshot, the core wheel is one body, and then each number is another body (that I grouped in a component called "numbered wheel"). It seems that unlike sketchup, I can't "group" bodies to form a part (or can I?).For sure, I can't "merge" all the numbers in a single body since they are all detached from one another.

I wish to print this in a Makerbot using 2 colors - one for the numbers and one for the main wheel. To so do, I must have 2 STLs, one for the wheel and one for the "dial" (all the numbers). I can export the "wheel core body" as one STL and the "Number wheel" component as another component, but the problem is that the "position in space" will not be maintained. In the sliced software, when I combine the 2 STLs, they are one inside the other instead of on top of the other.

Alternatively, if I select from the Wheel to export to STL with "one file per body", then I will end up with 21 stl files, which is also a problem. I would need to export to stl with "one file per component".

The only alternative I found was to export the wheel core body as one STL, then export the "Numbers wheel" component as "one single file" and send it to Print Studio, and in print studio offset the number wheel manually. This is crazily tedious since I cannot specify the offset, I need to manually drag the arrow to get the exact offset, which can be complex and difficult to achieve. Really not ideal for a solution (and way too manual).

Am I missing something obvious here? Any other suggestions?

Thanks

[davebYYPCU]

Lots depends on the Slicer program's ability.

In Fusion Combine > Join the numbers to the plate, 

then save as one Stl, 

In the slicer, change colours at the base of the numbers.

In Meshmixer, Plane Cut the face of the plate.  Save again, and

get the Slicer to separate shells.

Few things to help you think, but may not assist with your Software.

[twitos]

Thank you for your answer. I don't entirely control the slicer since it is the people who operate the printer who do the slicing. I know they are using Cura on a Mac, and they are the ones that told me that I MUST give them 1 STL per color I want. Agreed that perhaps there are ways to fix this in the slicer, but since they do the slicing at a later time when my parts are up for printing, it is tricky to ask them to change the way they currently do things. 

This is why I wanted 1 STL for the core wheel, and another one for all the numbers together.

I have no problem generating those 2 STL, the issue is that the origin of both is at the same place, instead of one being offset in relation to the other.

Any way to "save as STL" while keeping the offset/origin from my model?

Any way in Print Studio to do the offset while typing the distance instead of dragging an arrow?

[davebYYPCU]

Sorry I have Simplify 3d for Slicing, and my own printer, so yeah bit harder to tell the print guys how to do it.

Simplyfy 3d, keeps the same origin for all the parts in your model "äs saved" 

And I think Meshmixer is where to go next.

When you Plane Cut the single model, (keep parts) it will give the thirteen bodies, hide the plate and combine the other twelve to one file.  Not tried it, but I think that works.

Don't know Print Studio.  

[etfrench]

The numbers should be in one component and the wheel in another.  Their origins must be identical. 

One way to ensure this is to:

1. Create the wheel component.
2. In a new component, create a sketch on the top face of the wheel.
3. Create the numbers.
4. Extrude them either as new bodies or as subcomponents.
5. Save the wheel component and the number component as separate STLs.
6. In Cura, import both STLs.
7. Select and Merge the STLs.

At this point the STLs should be located at their correct relative positions.

Since Cura is free, I'd recommend installing it and work through the dual extrusion instructions (lots of hits in an Internet search).

[twitos]

You bring up valid points.

Since I was learning Fusion as I built along, I may have made some mistakes:

1- I had both designed the wheel on the ground, and the number wheel also on the ground, instead of creating the number wheel on top of the core wheel

2- IF you look at the tree in my screenshot, you can see that there is a component called "wheel", and in it there is a body called "core wheel" and a component called "number wheel". I guess that the "wheel core" should have been a component instead of just a body inside a component?

Is there a way to "fix" the current situation without drawing the number sketch again? I took a painstakingly long time to do because of the way Fusion handles constraints on letters.

Thanks for your help.