Hi people im new to the forum but not too new to sketchup. Im new to creating 3d designs though. Im trying to create a design for a protatype but cant for the life of me make the thing a solid ? could someone please help me ive used solid inspector to fix a couple of bits but the rest it just keep deleting parts i need.
Help is appriciated i can send file over if anyone wated to look
Attach the SKP.
Otherwise we are guessing…
solid to be convert.skp (1.6 MB)
uploaded there for you. i cant seem to figue out where the holes are in the mesh
In simple terms, a solid can only contain edges and faces.
Every edge must support exactly two faces.
No nested parts or edges with fewer/more faces…
The ‘lid’ contains a nested group and some faces across the corners which seem to serve no purpose ?
The top of the lid is a single face - there are holes/missing faces…
im finding it so hard to work with lol, ive used the solid inspector and still cant get my head around it lol. didnt realise it could be this hard to create a solid… thanks for the input
Just edit the parts.
You can’t have nested groups etc, so select and explode them.
You can’t have edges with only no/one face so find the ones you don’t want to keep.
Any other edge that should have a face add it.
Over draw an edge and see if it ‘faces’.
If not, then look at drawing some diagonals to see if that helps.
In the example I illustrated you can see the gray underside [back-face] of the main top part -
but if it were solid you’d see another face.
The top cannot be a single ‘skin’ how could you ever 3dPrint it ?
It needs some thickness - just as in the real world…
My No1 tip for finding problems with solids is to use a section plane. Add a section plane, move it / rotate it and see if you have stray lines, faces etc that prevent it to be a solid.
Also, I use the Outliner all the time. You can’t have nested groups or it won’t be a solid. In the Outliner you can see that very easily.
Sometimes, rather than trying to fix a bunch of bad geometry, it’s easier to start over. I did that here.
A little planning ahead can make it much easier to draw and create a clean model with solids. In both cases the lid and the box were solid without the need to run Solid Inspector or do any repair.
I’m not sure what you intended but I made the radius of the corners on the O-ring groove concentric with the radius of the outside corners.
Yours:
Mine:
To do that I drew the outside perimeter and used Offset to create the inner edges.
I drew the lid and used a copy of it as the beginning of the box.
wow, thanks for all your help. I must admit it isnt as simple at first but when you get your head around it its fine. Thanks i have now managed to create a solid for printing 
just a few adjustments need to extend it by about 7mm so things fit in place. Is there and specific way this can be done ?
Yes. In which direction do you need to extend it?
The face with the three holes in it need to extend about 7mm. How can I do it?
Turn on Hidden Geometry in the View menu. Switch to the top view and drag a left to right selection box around the side and the corners. Make sure you don’t select anything you don’t want to move and then use the Move tool to add the width to the box.
Brilliant your a star, thanks a lot for your help must appreciated.
Sorry to bother you again im in need of some more help. im looking at making one of the edge beveled a little as the 3d printer guy says it needs something to print from. How could i do this ? attached images of what i mean. needs to be to a max of 2mm
NEW BOX DESIGNED FOR EXTEND.skp (1.9 MB)Something like this?
On the inside you can select the edges against the walls of the box and use the Move tool to move them down the required distance. On the outside you would do the same thing but hold Alt to activate Autofold while you move the edges down.
Since the overhangs are 1mm wide, I moved the edges down 1 mm to create a 45° chamfer.
Exactly like that yes! I will get on the laptop tomorow and have a shot It’s a massive learning curve for me this. How would I go about it on the outside edge where it’s curved?
Select the arcs along with the straight lines, get the Move tool, hold Alt and move the selection down.
Show off… Actually, nice instructional information for the novice. Good job, Dave.
