Trying to Remove/Avoid Small Gaps between Lofted Object Walls

[Anonymous]

Hi, new to Fusion 360 and I feel that I've gotten pretty far without having to ask for help, but now I'm stuck!

I created a lofted object using some drawings I made in Illustrator, then I Unstitched the object, removed some sides and used Thicken to create a thin-walled object.

The problem I'm facing is that when I used Thicken, it left several very thin gaps between the object. When I import the STL into Cura for 3D Printing, these gaps are causing a break in the print walls, resulting in a very poorly printed object.

How to I remove (or avoid!) these small gaps from occurring?

I've attached my project file, and below are screenshots showing in Cura (3d printing slicer) how the gaps are affecting the print by causing breaks in the surface.

[lichtzeichenanlage]

I'm not sure if I can provide an answer, but at least I have some recommendations that could make the design more stable and some questions. 

• Are your sketches imported? The curves do have to many points and they will not result in an smooth surface. 
• You haven't create one bud many bodies. I guess the reason is, that you could not stich and thicken them because at -.079 mm thickness Fusion raises an error. Right?
  • But just thicken them does not help you. In some case your bodies are folding into each other (perhaps not a big issue, but might not result in the design you want to have.Folding into each other
  • In other cases you're producing gaps. With some luck they might be canceled out by your slicer - but that's more than a dirty hack 😉
  • Small gaps
  • Both examples are the reason why Fusion can't thicken / shell what you want. The radii are just to tiny.
• Follow Rule #2: Name your stuff. 😉 

The sketches are not to complicated. My recommendation would be to redraw them from sketch. Are the dimensions, radii etc. are fix? Or could they be adjusted?

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the tips! I'm busy trying them out and trying some new tricks. Your tips have been helpful, I've made some progress but still experiencing the same issues, but have been able to minimize them. But, I'm giving it more effort and trying to learn on my own before I write back here, so I'll reply shortly with what I've learned and what issues I'm still experiencing.