meshmixer surface pattern 1 side only

meshmixer surface pattern 1 side only

Anonymous
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Message 1 of 34

meshmixer surface pattern 1 side only

Anonymous
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Hi all,

 

This is my first Autocad post so please be patient.

 

I have used Autocad MeshMixer and Sculptris to generate a 3D CAD .OBJ file of a scaled 3D orthotic insole. The insole is nearly complete I only need to create small indents on the top surface to help the feet to breathe. I did manage to do a dual edge pattern with 5mm element spacing and 5mm element sizing which gave the above JPEG images of the insole. I only want that type of pattern on the topside nowhere else. Can I please have help with doing this in MeshMixer? Thanks

 

 

 

side viewside viewunderside viewunderside viewunderside view 1underside view 1top viewtop view

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Message 21 of 34

Anonymous
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I have done this thanks. 


  • The files are now almost ready to be 3D printed. I have checked the Inspector, Units/Dimensions, Mesh Query, but the Thickness check is producing blue sphere pointers, are these thin areas? Also for the Overhang check I think the default overhang support is fine - is there a standard overhang setup to put down? Thanks

left foot mesh queryleft foot mesh queryleft foot overhang queryleft foot overhang queryright foot mesh queryright foot mesh queryright foot overhang queryright foot overhang query

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Message 22 of 34

Anonymous
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Yep, the blue markers in Thickness point to regions thinner than the MinThickness value.

Two things to consider:

- a minimal thickness you want to make sure for your product (to get a certain strength of material)

- a minimal thickness your printer can handle. If the thickness of your object is smaller than the nozzles diameter (FDM) or the resolution of the projection (e.g. DLP) > this might end up in holes in your print.

Based on the way MM searches for thin regions (more info at MMHelp on Thickness😞 Don't worry that much about "thin" regions where the surface turns harsh from a inside to outside (as in your last image). A real thin region is where the makers point to a wall (as in your first image).

You can thicken such a region:

A. By clicking on its marker > You'll switch to SELECT with the thin region selected. Use Edit/Offset (with some SoftTransition bigger than zero) to thicken the region.

or

B. By running EDIT/MakeSolid in SolidType=Accurate. There you have the option to set a MinThickness all over ( if you joined the pattern and the source via MakeSolid (as explained above) you could do this in that step as well)

 

The right overhangs angle depends much on your printer technology, the used material and the printer settings you actually use for the print... maybe DLP/SLA printers need supports up to 45° while FDM printers work in a range of 25°-45°... consider things like the diameter of the nozzle, cooling issues...

Actually you need some test prints to get an idea what a printer can handle.

Message 23 of 34

Anonymous
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I have removed any blue spheres (thickness errors) and added support below with a 25 degree support in place. I am now looking to print 1 of each of the insoles (with support) using a PPV material on a cheap 3D printer. Please can you let me know a cheap 3D printer that uses PPV? I am not familiar with 3D printers. Thanks

 

 

 

left foot sideleft foot side

 

left foot topleft foot topright foot topright foot topright foot sideright foot side

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Message 24 of 34

Anonymous
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Sorry, can't give some advice on printers working with PPV (which seems to be a very special polymere)...

 

As you can see in the images you posted: MM only creates supports inside the printer's build volume. So you need to setup a printer big enough to include your object totally first to get supports where needed all over in Overhangs.

 

 

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Message 25 of 34

Anonymous
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I have found various 3D printers that can print in the volume envelope I need which is 300mm x 300m x 300mm. 

The specific 3D printer I need is the Tevo Tornado 3D printer which prints at 400mm x 300mm x 300mm which works for my insoles.

 

For printing a 3d orthotic I need to print the top (out of a total thickness of 5mm) 2mm in a soft material (e.g. soft PLA, Polypropylene) and the bottom 3mm in a hard material e.g. ABS. I have sourced the 3D printer, materials, etc. but need to know how, in MeshMixer, to split the entire insole at 2mm in the normal (thickness) direction. Please can you let me know how to do this? I would glue the two layers together after 3D printing them. Thanks

 

 

left footleft footright footright foot

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Message 26 of 34

Anonymous
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First step is to setup your printer:

Go to Meshmixer Preferences via menu (or the printer dropdown at top right) > go to its Printers tab > click on Add.

In the following dialog in Manufacturer: write Tevo

In Model: write Tornado

Think it uses mm as units? So set Units: mm

In Width: write 400 (if you gave its dimensions in xyz order - make sure this is correct)

In Depth: write 300 (if you gave its dimensions in xyz order - make sure this is correct)

In Height: write 300 (if you gave its dimensions in xyz order - make sure this is correct)

 

There are optional lines in PrinterSoftware. Leave them empty if there's no special printer software required.

Confirm with Add.

Now you'll find your printer in the printer dropdown as a subitem of the manufacturer. Activate this.

----

If you want to print it in two materials in separate prints (Not sure if this is a good idea - you need to construct and remove supports twice maybe you consider a dual printer head?):

- SELECT the surface you want to be printed in hard material.

- Run Modify/SmoothBoundary. This creates a smoother border and creates a face group automatically. Accept.

- Leave SELECT and run EDIT/GenerateComplex.

- In GenerateComplex: Double click the group (NOT its border). This will create a flipped offset surface. You can set the needed Offset if you click on the boundary (being orange now). Accepting the tool there should be a green line around the group showing that there's a complex.

- You'll find SplitComplex in EDIT now. Run it to get two objects.

- Now you can create supports for each part separately in ANALYSIS/Overhangs.

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Message 27 of 34

Anonymous
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Hi,

 

I am going to use Ultimaker Cura 3.6. As splitting each orthotic into a top and bottom layer is dependent upon the available material, which in itself depends on the 3D printer, I would rather use Cura (if possible) to set up face groups to print the orthotic rather than MeshMixer. Available single (top and bottom) materials are ABS, TPU, PP and various others. There are also various combinations of top and bottom materials. Is there a way to use Cura to set up Face groups? I have taken an image below showing each of the 3D orthotics within Cura using a Creality CR10 printer with TPU material selected. ThanksRight foot Creality Cr10 TPU materialRight foot Creality Cr10 TPU materialLeft foot Creality Cr10 TPU materialLeft foot Creality Cr10 TPU materialto generate a face group within 

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Message 28 of 34

Anonymous
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The upper workflow results in two objects. Export both. Import one, print it in the desired material. Import the other and print it in the other material. Glue both prints together...

If you've a dual material extruder import both in Cura and align them. Here's how to do that in Cura

Can't see why you want to get the groups into Cura and I don't think Cura supports groups.

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Message 29 of 34

Anonymous
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I have created 3 Cura files with 1) 5mm 1 material orthotic thick TPU material for both left and right, and 2.1) and 2.2) 1mm thick ABS (hard) bottom and 4mm thick PLA (soft) thick top 2 material orthotic as below. I have ensured that the space between the orthotics on the heat tray is maximum, the minimum distance is 10mm. Is there anything else I need to do before ordering the 3D printer in terms of modelling changes? Thanks

 

1) 5mm left & foot right TPU material1) 5mm left & foot right TPU material2.1) 5mm left & foot right foot bottom shell PLA material2.1) 5mm left & foot right foot bottom shell PLA material2.2) 5mm left & foot right foot shell top PLA material2.2) 5mm left & foot right foot shell top PLA material

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Message 30 of 34

Anonymous
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Are you sure about the scales? Seems the soft parts look too small - but that might be just an optical illusion.

 

On a single nozzle extruder I would do the print in four separate jobs:

- print hard ABS: right insole

- print hard ABS: left insole

- print soft PLA: right insole

- print soft PLA: left insole

>>> less risk if a print fails plus no travels between objects. Production time should be nearly the same as if you print both soft and hard jobs at the same time.

 

On a dual nozzle extruder you have to align the soft and hard shells (see link above)

---

Overall seems you're done with modelling.

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Message 31 of 34

Anonymous
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I've checked the '2 material' CURA files attached. They're centred in the middle of the plate, 5mm thickness, initial material is TPU. I've tried attaching the 2 x CURA files to this message but it won't send. How do I send the CURA files over for final checking? Thanks

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Message 32 of 34

Anonymous
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You might try to zip the files to attach it here.

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Message 33 of 34

Anonymous
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Ok here's the Dropbox download link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/1bm51gb0x4jfluy/20190218-nrml%201%20mater%20lft%20rht%20cura%205mm.zip?dl=... Please can you download the files in Cura to quickly check they make sense? Thanks

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Message 34 of 34

Anonymous
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Thanks for the help so far.

 

I have re-done the base layer as I had found a better and more accurate way of getting the base layer. Basically do the plane cut 1st then extrude outward. Result is below and is 2mm ABS.

 

 

left foot base 2mm absleft foot base 2mm absright foot base 2mm absright foot base 2mm abs

Now all I need to do is to create a perforated 1mm top layer of material PLA and this layer needs to fit inside the bottom layer to be glued on. Can you please let me know how to do this? Thanks

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