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  1. #1
    Technician
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    Been searching forever. What program to use?

    I work with both Autodesk Inventor and AutoCAD..... Very skilled with both programs, and I was hoping to find a program that is similar, or that can convert objects from those programs. I have been searching for quite some time to find out what printer to get, and finally decided to get a Replicator II that came in the mail 3 days ago. I haven't printed anything yet, but have basically been searching since then to find out what to do. I appreciate any help, and hope to get into many many makes and partsand toys and jewelry and nicnacs and absolutely anything else I can think up.... In return, I hope to be as helpful as I can be, as soon as I get some things figured out.

  2. #2
    Technologist Kingoddball's Avatar
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    Two things you could try:

    Netfabb - Free version
    Blender - Hard to use, but can probably open everything and convert it.

    Also, you could try TinkerCad (online builder), it might be able to open your program and just convert.
    It's owned by Autodesk IIRC?

  3. #3
    Super Moderator DrLuigi's Avatar
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    I would recommend SolidWorks,

    You can also save your files to STL with it.
    And is very easy to use.

  4. #4
    Engineer-in-Training MysteryAlabaster's Avatar
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    The Netfabb Cloud can convert most file formats to STL.

  5. #5
    Technician
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    Thanks for all of the suggestions. I will try to research more on each one.

  6. #6
    Staff Engineer old man emu's Avatar
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    If you are used to working with Autocad etc and are efficient in creating drawings in those programs, then I suggest that you keep with them for the design work, but download a freeware program just to convert the output of the program you know how to use into *.stl files for printing.

    Old Man Emu

  7. #7
    Super Moderator JohnA136's Avatar
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    Start printing some of the demo prints from the SD Card. We always start people out with the 20mm cube!

  8. #8
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    I have found that both autocad and inventor can save files to .stl ...but while attempting this at work, and trying to reopen the file, I am prompted with a box that says (title): Invalid Public Key Security Object File, then inside the box: This file is invalid for use as the following: Certificate Trust List. Thanks for the support so far. I will attempt a test print this weekend (I work a little ways from home, so I usually stay out of town.)

  9. #9
    Staff Engineer old man emu's Avatar
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    Don't worry about that. It just means that your computer is making a mistake identifying the file code *.stl

    Have a look at this: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/in...9214536AAfI1Dl

    Old Man Emu
    Last edited by old man emu; 11-12-2013 at 04:50 PM.

  10. #10
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    Thanks again for all of the help. I am doing what I can to try to figure things out. I just now opened up a structural steel (drawn in autocad in 3d) that I had saved as a .stl in inventor. It is shown as a typical .iam inventor 3d part. I hope this means that I can go to town on some parts and ideas! By the way, if it is recommended to print out the 20mm cube, should I do any measuring with calipers to make sure things are within spec, or will that show me what to adjust to get the most precise parts?

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