Combining Components into one Chaos

[CoastLineModels]

This assembly is composed of hundreds of copied and pasted components, and before 3D printing it I need it combined into a single solid, so I select all the bodies of the components I wish to join and hit combine, but it refuses to join all of them, it will choose one component and ignore all but one instance of it but join all the other components which have multiple instances. if I repeat the action, it will ignore a different set of bodies. If I go to the combine function first and try and select bodies, it just goes nuts and starts hiding copies of components... 

this smacks of a bug, it certainly isn't logical, if I'm doing something wrong then please point it out because I'm tearing my hair out right now! 

[jhackney1972]

Your browser shows your design has "Linked" components.  I believe your process is impossible with this condition. 

[CoastLineModels]

Linked components (and many others) are not involved in the combine, they are turned off as you can see in the video. 

[BigBearBrian]

I have a design I want to 3D print as one piece. In creating it, the single view became sufficiently complex that as I tried to add more bodies, I would get an error. It seemed that designing the object in multiple components, in multiple views, then combining them into a single view would be my solution.

However, this thread implies that I can't combine those multiple components into a single body if they are linked. I tried to create a Rigid Group, but I still would need to export individual STL for each component.

If the multiple linked components is not a feasible path, are there any suggestions for an alternate method of accomplishing my goal? My intent was, for rigidity, to print the body (see attachment) as one single piece (also to save having to apply rivet decals to all those locations....)

Brian Pickering

[davebYYPCU]

I have a design I want to 3D print as one piece.

Then you need one body in a file.

Duplicate the model, and then break the links in the copy file, combine join the bodies in this second file.

Might help....

[BigBearBrian]

I tried this, but breaking the links starts breaking relationships like construction of mirror planes, after which the errors start compounding.

For instance, I try to start with the "outline" (side beams and car ends), construct two mid-planes (one left/right, one fore/aft) to use in creating all the pieces. Breaking the link breaks the mirror planes, so that now I don't have the two mirrored centerbeams (or crossbearers, bolsters, etc.)

I'll try to keep at it later, but this doesn't feel like it can handle the complexity that I would expect from a major design package that charges hundreds of dollars per year... or is it a limitation of my personal subscription?

[davebYYPCU]

Break Link to an external file?, (should not break a midplane, or anything else) if we are talking about the same action.