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The Google SketchUp Thread

Started by marc_reusser, May 15, 2010, 11:24:21 PM

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Hydrostat

Hi Kathy,

okay, then it doesn't make sense to change material. But I'm with Marc, this would have been a candidate for laser cut. Anyway you should give the print a try and see what remains of its crispness after painting.

Volker
I'll make it. If I have to fly the five feet like a birdie.
I'll fly it. I'll make it.

The comprehensive book about my work: "Vollendete Baukunst"

kathymillatt

Thanks Guys

I'll see how the 3D printing goes but next time will think laser first.

Kathy

lab-dad

Posting this here as to not muddy up other threads.
As far as SU goes, what "template" should I start with?
I tried several but not crazy about any.
The first part i am designing is 6" square in real space.
Ultimately I would like to get it printed in 1/16th scale.

Marty

eTraxx

Marty -
This is just my personal preference .. others will disagree. That being said ..

6" square cube.

I set my template to decimal inches and three decimal places

6" in 1/16 is .375"

.375" is 9.525 mm

I leave the template in decimal inches and make the object 0.525 INCHES square. I would then export the finished .dae file, import into MeshLab and remove duplicate faces and vertexes and save as a .stl file. I open the .stl file in NetFabb to correct any errors and save back as the same .stl file

in the .stl file the object is 9.525 UNITS on a side. Upload to Shapeways and when they ask what unit of measure you tell them mm.

Works every time. This gets around the fact that Sketchup won't draw a radius below 0.018" .. and has problems scaling below that also.

So .. you are in inches but THINKING in mm. This is handy for Shapeways since they tell you things like minimum walls, detail, escape holes, wires .. all in mm. You can measure directly off your model .. just ignore the inch mark and think mm.
Ed Traxler

Lugoff, Camden & Northern RR

Socrates: "I drank WHAT?"

mabloodhound

#244
Ed said:
"I leave the template in decimal inches and make the object 0.525 INCHES square."

He actually meant 9.525.

And yes, it works every time.  Just takes some thinking to remember after re-sizing that it's in MMs
8)
Dave Mason
D&GRR (Dunstead & Granford) in On30
"A people that values its privileges above its principles will soon lose both."~Dwight D. Eisenhower

lab-dad

#245
Thanks guys

Im not sure why one would convert to metric if working to 4 (or more)decimal places.
Sounds like a recipe for errors (as seen above)  ;D

This is what a couple hours of playing with SU produced.


Looks good but i have no idea how to"place" the circles and holes exactly.

* And then once I get it drawn how do I know if it is "right" without actually printing it?
* I have been using the dimensions tool so I guess thats the only way?

May be i can find some videos today after i do some real modeling.

Marty

nalmeida

So far so good Marty,

I've been using Sketchup and it's intuitive but as everything else you must undertand it's "intuitivness" (it reminds me of my new smartphone, I must be getting old because my kids get there a lo faster than me!). In circles usually center point is the most important reference, if you stay with the cursor on the circle line for a few seconds and then hover on the center it'll fix there. In any case there are no circles, circumferences or spheres in Sketchup (and other programs), it's just a polygon or poly-line which makes everything harder!

lab-dad

#247
Okay.
Using a bunch of correctly dimensioned boxes I got the part drawn correctly in 2D.



Now when I go to "pull" the areas to their desired thickness some work and others end up hollow. How can I make the back one solid piece and then pull the front to their correct thickness?

I'm so close!!!! :-[

Marty

eTraxx

select Pull tool .. then tap the contrl key . a + will appear next to the cursor. This creates a new wall when you pull
Ed Traxler

Lugoff, Camden & Northern RR

Socrates: "I drank WHAT?"

lab-dad

THANKS ED!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You are my hero! ;D
I did it!
Now i just need to redraw it and change all the circles to 96 points.
I was able to go back and change the lower radius but not the one in the center.
No biggie, I need the practice!

After that the next question will be; How do i check it before "printing" and then; "how do I get it printed?
I assume I will need to learn how to copy the whole thing and connect them to some sort of sprue. Gonna need a total 8 and may be a couple extras..........

Marty

eTraxx

I have a Prepping for 3D Printing .. part II linked. I talk about MeshLab and netfabb. This is an older article .. you can ignore the reference to AccuTrans3D as MeshLab and NetFabb does everything you need. Both are free and very important to have.

Like anything else there are various ways to do it. Me .. i export a .dae file from Sketchup. Import the file into MeshLab. Use the filters to remove any duplicate faces, vertexes and save as a .stl file

Import the .stl file into netFabb and fix errors (looks like red cross symbol) .. apply the fix etc. and save back as the same .stl

Upload to Shapeways .. paying attention to the size you exported. A .dae file exported and turned into a .stl file does not contain units of measure .. no inches, mm whatever. Sketchup exports in inches. That is why I model in inches .. but act like they are mm. When I upload the file I simply tell Shapeways it is mm. If you design in inches then tell Shapeways it is inches and everything is good.

To Sprue or not to Sprue. The x + y + z has to be 12mm or larger for them to physiclly handle the objects. For small parts it is therefore necessary to sprue them. It doesn't hurt even for larger parts.

take note of minimum wall for FUD which is 0.3mm .. keep it above that. Also .. note that any shape that is greater than twice it's diameter is considered a wire .. such as a sprue or bit attaching to a sprue. If you have a cylinder that say is .5mm in dia that if the length is greater than 1mm it is considered a wire. Wires have constraints depending on whether the end is free or not (like a part on a sprue). Look at the materials page at Shapeways for the material you will be printing .. it gives you all the constraints.
Ed Traxler

Lugoff, Camden & Northern RR

Socrates: "I drank WHAT?"

marc_reusser

Ed is much more versed...but FWIW....I simply draw everything 1:1 in SU. Group the model...and scale the whole thing down to the scale I want using the "scale tool"..then check the couple of places I am concerened about re. thickness for printing/material capabilities (slightly adjust if needed)[while doing this I briefly change my drawing settings/units to "decimal/mm"....once checked, I set my srawing settings back to "feet/inches"

Then I select the group....use the CadSpan plug-in to convert directly to STL. and upload it to Shapeways. once on the site I simply select "inches" to upload..and then click upload and its all done.

I have never found a need to do all the mesh and leak checks before, and scale conversion calcs and settings at the site, and never had a problem with a part/model by not doing so.
I am an unreliable witness to my own existence.

In the corners of my mind there is a circus....

M-Works

lab-dad

I was checking dimensions so I could redraw this for (hopefully) the final time.
And notice what seems like an error to me.
How could a computer program make a mistake like this or am I not "reading" this correctly?
I was using the "dimension tool".

finescalerr

Somebody more technical than I will explain "how" but I can tell you that smaller errors are common in CAD programs; for example you draw something 1.0000 inches long and next time you check it the dimension is 0.9977 inches. Yours is a more significant discrepancy and one of our resident geniuses no doubt can account for it. -- Russ

eTraxx

I did a quick drawing using your three dimensions and got this ..



A look at the Model Info ..... Window >> Model Info shows me that it is set up as:

Format: Architectural
Precision: 1/16"
Enable length snapping: 1/16"

I almost never use this for anything other than buildings. Instead I use ..

Format: Decimal
Precision: 0.000"
Enable leng snapping: 0.000" (sets automatically when I set the Precision)

which gives me this ...



What happens is when you were set to Architectural it was set to 1/16" (in my case at least) and was snapping the dimensions to the closest 1/16". Now we can see the exact dimensions.

A little pushing and pulling gets the three dimensions to what you entered and the overall length is now correct.



For a check switch back to Architectural ..

Ed Traxler

Lugoff, Camden & Northern RR

Socrates: "I drank WHAT?"