Implant .STL Won't Convert to GCode

I made this to organize dental implants in my office:

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:535234/#files

When I put it into Slic3r, it hangs on "Generating Perimeters" when I try to export GCode.

Any advice?? I made it in Sketchup and exported with .stl plugin.

Thanks!

Why didn't you just download the stl from Thingiverse? By redrawing it in Sketchup, you just re-invented the wheel.

The stl files from Thingiverse usually slice and print without problems from the word, "Go!"

Old Man Emu

The one on thingiverse doesn't slice, at least not in Cura anyway.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by old man emu

Why didn't you just download the stl from Thingiverse? By redrawing it in Sketchup, you just re-invented the wheel.

The stl files from Thingiverse usually slice and print without problems from the word, "Go!"

Old Man Emu

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I made it from scratch in Sketchup, then tried to slice it and didn't work. Then I uploaded it to Thingiverse so I could try to get som help to get it to slice ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DrZ234

I made it from scratch in Sketchup, then tried to slice it and didn't work. Then I uploaded it to Thingiverse so I could try to get som help to get it to slice ;)

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Ahh! Then the problem is likely to have its origin in you drawing. Is it possible to go through the drawing history in Sketchup to see it you can see an error?

I have had a look at your file using Rhino 5 and saw that all the elements had not been joined to make one object. I joined them and produced the attached stl. Try slicing it.

Attachment 3344


Old Man Emu

Quote:

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Originally Posted by old man emu

Ahh! Then the problem is likely to have its origin in you drawing. Is it possible to go through the drawing history in Sketchup to see it you can see an error?

I have had a look at your file using Rhino 5 and saw that all the elements had not been joined to make one object. I joined them and produced the attached stl. Try slicing it.

Attachment 3344


Old Man Emu

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Thanks ill try that when I get home.

Here is the sketchup file too if it helps:

https://db.tt/s8NGmYwA

Of course opinions are going to vary. But I would do this in OpenScad.

Code:

---

height=30;
n_boxes_in_x=5;
n_boxes_in_y=7;
size_of_box=30;
wall_thickness=3;

cube([n_boxes_in_x*size_of_box+wall_thickness,n_boxes_in_y*size_of_box,wall_thickness]);

for(i=[0:n_boxes_in_x]) {
    translate([i*size_of_box,0,0]) cube([wall_thickness,n_boxes_in_y*size_of_box+wall_thickness,height]);
}

for(i=[0:n_boxes_in_y]) {
    translate([0,i*size_of_box,0]) cube([n_boxes_in_x*size_of_box+wall_thickness,wall_thickness,height]);
}

---

And guess what??? Its going to slice just fine because OpenScad doesn't have that bad behavior!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Roxy

Of course opinions are going to vary. But I would do this in OpenScad.

Code:

---

height=30;
n_boxes_in_x=5;
n_boxes_in_y=7;
size_of_box=30;
wall_thickness=3;

cube([n_boxes_in_x*size_of_box+wall_thickness,n_boxes_in_y*size_of_box,wall_thickness]);

for(i=[0:n_boxes_in_x]) {
    translate([i*size_of_box,0,0]) cube([wall_thickness,n_boxes_in_y*size_of_box+wall_thickness,height]);
}

for(i=[0:n_boxes_in_y]) {
    translate([0,i*size_of_box,0]) cube([n_boxes_in_x*size_of_box+wall_thickness,wall_thickness,height]);
}

---

And guess what??? Its going to slice just fine because OpenScad doesn't have that bad behavior!

---

Can you make it 6x6in and the boxes are. .75x.75inches. And the height 1.5"

The SCAD doesn't work either! Get's stuck at generating perimeters...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DrZ234

Can you make it 6x6in and the boxes are. .75x.75inches. And the height 1.5"

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It would be easier if you used metric units.

These are the numbers I used to get close to what you specified:

Code:

---

height=45;
n_boxes_in_x=7;
n_boxes_in_y=7;
size_of_box=21;
wall_thickness=4;

cube([n_boxes_in_x*size_of_box+wall_thickness,n_boxes_in_y*size_of_box,wall_thickness]);

for(i=[0:n_boxes_in_x]) {
    translate([i*size_of_box,0,0]) cube([wall_thickness,n_boxes_in_y*size_of_box+wall_thickness,height]);
}

for(i=[0:n_boxes_in_y]) {
    translate([0,i*size_of_box,0]) cube([n_boxes_in_x*size_of_box+wall_thickness,wall_thickness,height]);
}

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DrZ234

The SCAD doesn't work either! Get's stuck at generating perimeters...

---

Attached is the .STL generated by this code. It slices fine. It slices very quickly.

Attachment 3354 ------- Attachment 3355

Roxy, thank you for all of your help. I don't know what is going on, if I put your .stl in Slic3r, I can generate gcode. If I put your .scad in OpenSCAD, then export .stl, then go to Slic3r, it generates gcode fine.

HOWEVER, if I change the values at all to customize them in OpenSCAD, then export .stl, then I cannot generate code in Slic3r.

I would like to figure out why this is happening!

But what I actually need each little box needs to be 8.5mmx8.5mm square on the inside. The height needs to be 33mm. The total width of the thing must be around 158mm, so that should be 7x7 small boxes. Width of all walls 3mm should be fine.

THANK YOU!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DrZ234

Roxy, thank you for all of your help. I don't know what is going on, if I put your .stl in Slic3r, I can generate gcode. If I put your .scad in OpenSCAD, then export .stl, then go to Slic3r, it generates gcode fine.

HOWEVER, if I change the values at all to customize them in OpenSCAD, then export .stl, then I cannot generate code in Slic3r.

I would like to figure out why this is happening!

---

Most likely, you are not compiling and rendering the design with the new information. OpenScad (as a convenience to you) will do a best guess rendering of the source code to show you what it thinks it will generate. But, the design is not compiled and you are not ready to export the information into a .STL file yet.

Up on the Menu Bar of OpenScad, Do a Design / Compile & Render. Then export the generated information as an .STL file. That should slice without problems.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DrZ234

But what I actually need each little box needs to be 8.5mmx8.5mm square on the inside. The height needs to be 33mm. The total width of the thing must be around 158mm, so that should be 7x7 small boxes. Width of all walls 3mm should be fine.

THANK YOU!

---

Assuming you get the .STL to export in a fashion where your slicer can digest it, Just tweak any of the numbers at the top to get it to look exactly how you want it. Just to make the code simpler... The size of the box ignores the thickness of the walls. The size of the box goes from the center of the wall to the center of the wall. And the height includes the thickness of the bottom plate. You should be able to work around those issues to get what your want.

Good luck....

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Roxy

Most likely, you are not compiling and rendering the design with the new information. OpenScad (as a convenience to you) will do a best guess rendering of the source code to show you what it thinks it will generate. But, the design is not compiled and you are not ready to export the information into a .STL file yet.

Up on the Menu Bar of OpenScad, Do a Design / Compile & Render. Then export the generated information as an .STL file. That should slice without problems.



Assuming you get the .STL to export in a fashion where your slicer can digest it, Just tweak any of the numbers at the top to get it to look exactly how you want it. Just to make the code simpler... The size of the box ignores the thickness of the walls. The size of the box goes from the center of the wall to the center of the wall. And the height includes the thickness of the bottom plate. You should be able to work around those issues to get what your want.

Good luck....

---

Did all of the above. Will try again I guess...

Do all the above... And post the .STL file. Let's see if I can slice what you generate.

OpenScad or Rhino ... it depends on how your mind has been trained.

With OpenScad, you need to study the way that the software accepts directions. With CAD programs like Rhino, that part of the job has been taken care of by the various tools, you only have to get the hang of using the tool, without the need to know the ins and outs of how the tool is made.

I will admit that knowing what was being created in this example, and having an image of it, it was relatively easy to follow the OpenScad coding.


As an aside, I sliced my drawing and Pronterface said it would take 48 metres of filament and 12 hours to print.

Have you thought of going to your local hardware store and buying a multi-sectioned storage box?

Old Man Emu

Quote:

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Originally Posted by old man emu

As an aside, I sliced my drawing and Pronterface said it would take 48 metres of filament and 12 hours to print.

Have you thought of going to your local hardware store and buying a multi-sectioned storage box?

Old Man Emu

---

Holy Cow! I just pulled my design for a 5x5 box into PronterFace and it was saying 41m of filament???? That's crazy!!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Roxy

Holy Cow! I just pulled my design for a 5x5 box into PronterFace and it was saying 41m of filament???? That's crazy!!!

---

Is that possible. It's just a box...maybe I should make it thinner

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DrZ234

Is that possible. It's just a box...maybe I should make it thinner

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Here it is, wont convert to GCode.

Is it really going to take up so much filament??

Any way to reduce amount of filament, make it hollow or out of hexagons or something?
Attachment 3359

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DrZ234

Here it is, wont convert to GCode.

Is it really going to take up so much filament??

Any way to reduce amount of filament, make it hollow or out of hexagons or something?
Attachment 3359

---

First, a 3mm wall dividing the boxes is probably excessive. That can be cut down to 1.5mm. But maybe it makes sense to not make the wall solid. It can have all kinds of different infill at different fill levels. We can chop that 40m of filament down to 10m I bet.

But anyway... It sliced just fine with Slic3r 1.1.7 I have a really fast machine, but I did notice a 20 second pause when it was generating the perimeters. I think you just need to let it sit and chew on it for a few minutes. (I have lots of memory too... That really helps when you are slicing.). Give it 10 minutes before you kill it.

At the end of the attached GCode file, it says all the settings that were used to slice it. At worst case, you can just duplicate those settings and it should slice on your machine.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Roxy

First, a 3mm wall dividing the boxes is probably excessive. That can be cut down to 1.5mm. But maybe it makes sense to not make the wall solid. It can have all kinds of different infill at different fill levels. We can chop that 40m of filament down to 10m I bet.

But anyway... It sliced just fine with Slic3r 1.1.7 I have a really fast machine, but I did notice a 20 second pause when it was generating the perimeters. I think you just need to let it sit and chew on it for a few minutes. (I have lots of memory too... That really helps when you are slicing.). Give it 10 minutes before you kill it.

At the end of the attached GCode file, it says all the settings that were used to slice it. At worst case, you can just duplicate those settings and it should slice on your machine.

---

Roxy, thanks again for all of your help, really appreciated.

I am using Slic3r 0.9.9 as recommended by Makerfarm, I will leave it longer to see if it clears "generating perimeters".

Is there any EASY way to make the whole base like this http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:421886 to save filament? (also does Slic3r give that total filament needed statistic?)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DrZ234

Roxy, thanks again for all of your help, really appreciated.

I am using Slic3r 0.9.9 as recommended by Makerfarm, I will leave it longer to see if it clears "generating perimeters".

Is there any EASY way to make the whole base like this http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:421886 to save filament? (also does Slic3r give that total filament needed statistic?)

---

There have been a lot of improvements to Slic3r since 0.9.9 ! I would deviate from MakerFarm's recommendation on that one! I don't think that Cabinet or it's drawers are going to get abused too badly in an office environment. I would try just 1 outside perimeter, with 15% or 20% infill. You will be able to see if that is working before the whole part is printed. If 1 outside perimeter doesn't work, you can bump it up to 2. That would reduce the amount material (and print time) significantly.