Split an .stl

[thirty6 3]

Hi

Been supplied an .stl to print but it is 300mm long, so how do i split it in half.

The original file was created in solidworks which i don't have.

Can it be done easily in meshlab / meshmixer?

 

[hreedijk 4]

I do have Solidworks, maybe I can help.

Send me a pm with the file, I'll take a look at it tomorrow.....

[thirty6 3]

Thanks Harold

I only have the .stl at the moment, cannot get hold of the solidworks file till Tuesday.

[illuminarti 18]

Well, at its crudest, you can use the free Netfabb Basic to just split the STL file into two parts along a plane. But that won't give you any kind of tongue and groove arrangement that would facilitate joining them back together. That's much harder to do - you need a tool that really understands STL geometries as more than just an adhoc collection of triangles. I think Inventor Fusion 360 can do that now, and SpaceClaim just introduced an add-odd module that lets you edit STL files far more intelligently. But ideally, you'd want to go back to the original CAD tools if you want any kind of intelligent subdivision of the part.

 

[thirty6 3]

Cool, thanks for the info the client is happy to glue it together, but I fancy looking at fusion 360.

[fingerpuk 0]

Rhino would do it and is free on Mac.

[DidierKlein 729]

you can split a part with meshmixer also but it will probably need a bit of work and patience if you want to glue the printed parts together (i'm not an expert of meshmixer but you can split a part and close it directly.

The problem is to make the same split for the second part as it doesn't really split but deletes the unwanted part.

 

[kolia 31]

Well, it would depend a lot on the geometry of the part, but what about using the "cut off object bottom" feature of Cura (advanced settings)?

You dig half of the part and you print it, then you rotate 180 °, dig half and print the second half?

Let me know if I say something stupid, I hate it

 

[DidierKlein 729]

I used that trick once it did the work. Just don't forget to have the fill bottom option to glue the parts back together

 

[thirty6 3]

Netfabb basic worked great and after sorting the orientation it printed great.