2011.62a & STL

[weppler]

Alibre 2011.62a can't produce a useful .STL from this simple drawing.

I've tried many file settings, but nothing works.
FYI SW 2008 does just fine.

Any suggestions.

 

[Ralf]

You can produce with Alibre V6 -> V2011.62a useful STL files without problems:

Options -> File Types -> STL -> Survace deviation: 0,0001

 

[weppler]

Raf,

Thanks for the guidance.

Your suggestion produces an 18MB file. There are a couple of small 'bumps', but it is much better.
SW08 produces a better quality .STL at only 324KB (although binary rather than ASCII)???

Bill

 

[jhardy1]

I find you can change the size and resolution of the STL file quite a bit by playing with the STL Output settings - I just experiment until I get a reasonable compromise for my needs.

On a related matter:

I am just starting to get into RP - that is to say, I have just ordered the parts for a Prusa Mendel http://reprap.org/wiki/Prusa and in a couple of months I will hopefully be ready to start making some parts, which I intend to model in Alibre.

I have been experimenting with Alibre's STL output and the RepRap Host software (which drives the RP machine): http://reprap.org/wiki/Installing_RepRa ... r_computer

It seems RepRap Host won't read Alibre's STL files properly, and it seems to be a known issue with some STL files; e.g. see http://reprap.org/wiki/Mendel_User_Manu ... Known_Bugs

The same STL files work fine with other software I use, so I did a bit of exploring, and it seems to be at least partly related to the number formats in the STL file - Alibre exports the data using Scientific Notation like:
vertex 5.383989e-001 1.994888e-001 5.827255e-001
If I use Excel to convert ALL numbers to fixed decimal format, the resulting file USUALLY opens in RepRap Host (but not always); e.g.:
vertex 0.5383989 0.1994888 0.5827255

Has anyone else encountered similar issues with RepRap Host (or other software applications), and what suggestions do people have for how to best deal with this?