i have been asked to help create a 3d printable bracket that will help lift the cloth of masks away from the face, so that those whom have sensory issues, like my autistic students and friends childeren, can wear masks without the panic behind it.
I am almost done with version 1 but i ran into a interesting error i have not seen yet. Solid inspector reports the object to be solid, so does entity info, but SU pro 2018 keeps asking me to fix the model.
I hit fix now, and even though the message box reassures me that i wont be able to notice the fix, it removes alot of the model. Even scaling it 10000 times bigger, it still removes some of the model.
thanks for the help:)
Post the .skp file so someone can spot the issues.
Usually when I model something small with curves etc, I model it at least 1 hundred times bigger then scale it down the the size needed.
Scaling it up after you have already drawn it won’t fix small edges glitches. You need to work on an enlarged version from the start and then scale down.
Thats what i tried. I scaled to 1000 times bigger and still same issue hahaha. Ill post the skp file but it includes alot of other practice models i made of masks for the nih
see thats what i thought as well. So before i did anything, i scalled it 1000 times larger, then did the solid tools cut, and it ended up not working. I did find a work around though. Once the cut is finished, if i raise the face by 1mm, it fixes everything but leaves a single hole in the mesh somewhere and i cant find it haha. but it 3d printed just fine
here is the skp file anyway. it will have my nih approved mask i made in it as well.
You need to start the model with the scale either X100 or X1000, then when finished scale it down. Another possibility would be to use the Dave Method. Start with a base piece (small part) of the model at normal size, make it a component. Copy it, then scale it up and finish the model. Then you will have the finished part at normal size and the scaled up model to examine or make changes later.
A search of the forum for the “Dave Method” may provide more details of the technique.
I use the dave method all the time. I used it on this model. I started out 1000 times bigger, made my cuts etc, then scalled down by 0.001. Solid inspector says all shiny and entity info shows a solid, but sketchup is not liking it and throws an erroe everytime i tey to save or export stating the model needs to be fixed. Haha, makes no sense to me
This is one of those annoying issues where SU is trying to be too helpful. When it checks for validity it decides your vertices are too close together. You can sometimes avoid it by choosing not to let SU fix your model. But sometimes even that doesn’t solve it because when you save the model it breaks it anyway.
Basically it comes down to tiny geometry and it is often better to keep the model larger and export the stl in the correct units for the smaller version. I’ve mentioned this before but as an example, the software for one of my printers needs me to export a model that is drawn in m as cm and it will then see it as mm.
So I would suggest you work out what export settings you need to export a 1m cube to stl that opens as a 100mm cube in the printer software. Then you just model in meters and bob’s your uncle, no scaling either way needed, and SU shouldn’t try to tear your model apart.
Thanks box. This is the first time i have ever seen this. I always model big, 1 meter is 1 inch(25.4mm) or in this case, 1 meter is 1mm, then at the end, i will just scale every thing down by 0.001 when finished. I have done that process hundreds of times and today, i was so confused haha.
Anyway, thanks for the explanation of sketchup behavior. I have tried to do the idea of lwtting my slicer adjust and scale, but simplify 3d always has a hard time, so does ideamaker. Wish i could use prusa slicer but win10 hates it…
Anyway, i found a small work around. If i raise rhe fave up by 1mm(1m), it reports it still as a solid, but it will actually export as stl without a bunch of errors, but it still asks to fix the model when saving. Ill just ignore it haha.
The typos here are making it difficult for me to understand what you are saying.
I opened your file, SU wants to fix it, I let it, and the end mask isn’t solid. (it is solid if I open and don’t let it fix it)
I select it and activate solid inspector, it tells me 1 surface border, I hit Tab to zoom to it, then use the move tool to close the gap. Done, solid and saveable.
