Hello, I once again am completely stuck trying to seal this to get ready for printing, it has naked edges preventing union and export and I’ve just not figured out how to seal it all. please help, I just need a solid surface for STL export. thank you for any help I’m still very much a noob.
Pls Help.3dm (3.8 MB)
Hi @Justin_Lee
In general, you need to be MUCH more precise in your modeling. I reckon the whole ring supposed to be symmetrical, and it’s not - at all.
I’ve untrimmed all the major surfaces and re-trimmed just one half of the ring and then mirrored that. Also, there are a lot of redundant surfaces in your file - you need to be more careful in terms of not having copies of your surfaces in the same place. The top V-part (or whatever… the pointy top surface) consists of 24 surfaces joined together in a mishmash; some are exact dulicates, some are not. If you explode it, you’ll see that every surface is there 2 times. Also you have some end-caps still in place and the shank is also f’ed up - the trim curve on one side is bad - untrim fixes it. I wonder how it got that way?
On a more general level, make sure to only post the geometry you need help with. Export the geometry in question to a new file, so that there are no “garbage” in the file, no uneccesary blocks etc.
TLDR: Make sure your curves and surfaces actually line up, not just seem to line up. Use Osnaps, SmartTrack and all the other modeling aids to make sure your geometry is precise.
HTH, Jakob
Pls Help_JN.3dm (2.7 MB)
Thank you I have been effectively demolished by your reply and learnt a lot, I appreciate you taking the time to help!
Hi @Justin_Lee
It was by no means my intention to demolish you in any way! My aim was to underline that as you get into 3D CAD modeling - especially if you need to actually manufacture/3D print your outcome - precision and meticulousness is paramount! I guess that’s one of the main differences between “general” 3D modeling and CAD; it’s not enough to look as if things line up… they need to actually line up
BUT… in V8 there’s always ShrinkWrap
, which will make a watertight mesh from almost any set of surfaces you throw at it. Here’s what I get from your origianl surfaces:
Pls Help_ShrinkWrap.3dm (4.5 MB)
It might be enough for your intended use?
-Jakob
you beat me to shrinkwrap… for a lot of jewelry folks, shrinkwrap will be the answer to all their printing issues. (not to mention some new iterative workflows that are non destructive)
for example, you can take several watertight “chunks” of models, shanks, bezels, prongs, details, and moosh them all together, no booleans necessary, then shrinkwrap and get a mesh that will print like a champ. rearrange the bits and shrinkwrap a new variation of the same ring etc etc…