Printing assembly from solidworks

[air2gnd 0]

I use 2013 solidworks. I have exported a stl file to cura. There are about 10 items in the assembly. Some rotate some do not. Will it work. My son has an orginal ultimaker

 

[gr5 2,210]

If you don't want the parts to be "glued" together as they are printed you want at least a .2mm gap between parts.

Also Cura has an option in "normal view" where you right click on your parts and choose "split an object into parts" and it will separate all the parts and you can move them far apart or print them one at a time, etc.

Solidworks also allows you to save only some of the pieces into each stl. I don't know how to use solidworks but I'm sure it has things like "export current layer" or "export selected" or "export each piece to different file" or most likely all of those features.

 

[IRobertI 521]

If you can print all the parts of an assembly at once and have them work depends entirely on the model. In some cases it might be enough to leave a 0.2mm clearance, in others it wont. It's impossible to answer without seeing the model first.

I don't know how you've built your assembly, if it's separate individual parts, separate sub-assemblies or multi-body parts. But you can uncheck "Save all components of an assembly in a single file" while saving the file in the options (Option button only available after choosing STL as the format). This will save each part as a separate STL but I'm not sure if it'll break apart subassemblies and it'll not separate multi-body parts I'm pretty sure.

Of course orientation will be the same as the assembly which might not be ideal so you'll have to rotate them in cura afterwards, or, open each individual part, add a new coordinate system and choose that system in the options while saving.

 

[solid-print-3d 30]

I'm familiar with SolidWorks. If you can get the assembly to me, I'll take a quick look at it and send it back ready to print in the correct orientations, etc...

 

[air2gnd 0]

Thanks, I will rebuild the parts with .02 mm gap. I am new to this forum. How do I insert an image of this asssembly?

 

[IRobertI 521]

0.02mm is not enough, 0.2mm will work in some cases. It's easier to get things that are next to each other in the x-y plane to move. Parts that are stacked on top of each other might not even be possible, depending on the geometry.

How to add pictures:

http://umforum.ultimaker.com/index.php?/topic/4525-how-to-upload-an-image-to-the-forum/

 

[air2gnd 0]

Thanks for the info. Pic uploaded. see gallery

Also should have said .2 instead of .02 mm

 

[IRobertI 521]

Yeah you definitely need to break that up into several pieces. There's no way you'll get a satisfactory print if you print all of that at once.

 

[air2gnd 0]

I am new to 3d printing. My son has the printer and i want to expand my services. Just as I thought. I will have to make the parts as individual, then reassemble them. I am checking it for accuracy.

Thanks

I will update on progress