export Alibre part

[dlaery]

I don't know what to do here.
the 1st try only part of came through.
this is an assembly, maybe I should do a boolean add first then export?
I'll try that. any advice on starting out?
I want my dimensions to be a accurate as possible.

 

[bigseb]

Exporting an assembly as stl isn't really useful as you'll end up with many separate pieces. Join (boolean) them into one single part.

 

[dlaery]

ok, thanks,

 

[dlaery]

i'm having difficulty with size. attached is a pic of the sample rook file that comes with Chitu slicer compared with a jig I need to print. the proportion is wrong,
I imported these in BobCad.
the other pic is the Chitu screen shot showing the rook and jig and the ratio looks wrong. the jig is 2.5 inches (57.15 mm) long the actual tray on the printer is 83mm wide, shortest distance, so the jigs is way too small.
I have moi but my model export to stl was too big, so I am just bouncing around trying to figure out how to control and know the size of my model.
I prefer to use Alibre 1st, I have MOI and it exports and I may have a setting wrong on the inches to mm.
any tips would be helpful. I'm sure I'll get it eventually .

 

[DavidJ]

Some STL handling software (e.g. slicers) assumes mm units, other software is smart enough to read the units from the file and adjust accordingly.

To be on the safe side, set STL export units to mm. System Options -> Interoperability -> STL/ZPR -> Output : Units

That should minimise problems - you can still whatever units you prefer for the display(design) units in Alibre.

 

[dlaery]

maybe the better question is, does anyone use Alibre to export as a stl file?
when I do that and try to import into Chitu is says invalid file.
so now I export my solid file from alibre to an stp, then import into moi

 

[dlaery]

Some STL handling software (e.g. slicers) assumes mm units, other software is smart enough to read the units from the file and adjust accordingly.

To be on the safe side, set STL export units to mm. System Options -> Interoperability -> STL/ZPR -> Output : Units

That should minimise problems - you can still whatever units you prefer for the display(design) units in Alibre.

I keep getting an invalid file. any clue what that could be?,

 

[DavidJ]

From your settings above, you'll get a VERY large file. Perhaps try increasing Normal Deviation to 4 or 5 degrees (at least as an experiment).

Most software can accept Binary files, but some only read ASCII files, so maybe try that...

 

[dlaery]

well you know what they say, try, try, again
on the settings, I checked all of the check boxes
finally, exported from alibre imported into Chitu,
Success

 

[DavidJ]

Those settings are very extreme for most uses - and will lead to big files.

My first attempt is to ONLY set normal deviation, at 4 or 5 degrees (disable the other settings). From there you can adjust values or enable other settings if required to get smoother output.

 

[dlaery]

Thanks!

 

[bigseb]

FWIW:

I export a lot from Alibre. Can't recall any issues. I set normal deviation to 1° for small models and high detail stuff, for bigger items (like my tank track; 820mm long) I set normal deviation to 2-3°.

Chitubox... has it's pros and cons. I really like the way the supports joing to the model using those little half spheres. I don't like that occasionally models import and print at about 90% size. The same model imports perfectly size-wise in every other slicer, just Chitubox gets it wrong. Not always, just sometimes. Raised this several times but no-one else seems to have this problem. Just thought I'd mention it.

 

[dlaery]

Thanks!