Hollow Model With Flange Printing Problem

[minuteman64 2]

Hi guys.  Just found this forum and seeking help with a model I'm trying to print.  I designed it in Turbocad, for printing on my Anet A8 using Cura 14.07 as the slicer.

 

I've attached the STL of the model.  It is supposed to be a hollowed out shell with a flange.  I've tried many setting options on Cura (too many to remember at this point).  I can get the model to print as a solid (not hollowed out) with the flange.  Or, I can get the model to print hollowed out, but the flange only partially prints and is detached from the model.  I guess I could print the solid model and use my Dremel tool to rout out the inside - but that seems like a kind of in-elegant approach.

 

I've done a lot of work cleaning up the Turbocad drawing so I'm hoping it isn't a problem there.  Can anybody advise me as to the proper Cura settings to get this thing to print out?  Or, did I design an unprintable model?

Printer Cabinet Bump Out.stl

[tinkergnome 926]

Well, your model is not a solid. It consists of three (partially overlapping) shells.

Your chances are higher, if all shells can be combined into one single solid (i don't know how to do this in Turbocad though).

 

1196351246_PrinterCabinetBumpOut_combined.stl

 

 

[minuteman64 2]

I did it that way based on feedback from the 3d printer folks in the Turbocad Forum - who said Cura didn't care if an object was all one piece or multiple pieces, as long as the pieces were continuous.  Makes it easier to make changes in the final design.

 

I did use the Boolean Add feature of Turbocad to combine the 3 segments into one (TC Surface per Turbocad).  Same result (or lack thereof).

[minuteman64 2]

Problem solved!  Carelessness strikes again.  Turbocad is kind of finikey when it comes to making holes in or hollowing out objects.  To make the hole or hollow by subtraction, the piece being subtracted must extend beyond the boundary of the piece that is to have the hole or be hollowed.  

 

In my case, I had a plug that I was subtracting from what would be the outer shell.  I changed some dimensions on the outer shell but forgot to change the plug.  So, I had a hollow shell with a layer, probably a small fraction of a mm thick, over the bottom of the hollow.  I assume Cura was trying to read the result as a solid and getting confused.

 

Finished routing out the opening on my drawing and it seems to be printing as planned.