[PhoenixGG]

Hi Guys

I am hoping to get some practical advice on a project I am working on. I recently scanned a model in a 3D scanner. It produced a nice large STL file with about
1 000 000 reference points. Its fairly large...

I want to use the model to create a skeleton of the life size model. I plan on making cuts of the model ruffly every 200mm and I want to CNC the flat "rib" surface out of wood. So that I can use this as a base to create the final model from.

I have tried every piece of software I could get my hands on, mesh to solid, Rhino 5, solidworks and Inventor. None of them seem to be able to help me convert the mesh into a solid surface I can work with. I have managed to simplify the model to, as small as, 10 000 reference points, but still no luck. The STL model does however load successfully into all of the software and I can clean up and modify the mesh, but I have not been able to create a solid from it.

My question stands as such. Do I need a solid model to allow me to continue with the project or can I make the nessecary cuts from the mesh and use that on a CNC machine?

I have attached a picture of the type of work I am trying to do. I hope this makes it a little clearer. If anything is unclear, ask and I shall do my best to answer.

[Mike 1948]

Hi Guys

I am hoping to get some practical advice on a project I am working on. I recently scanned a model in a 3D scanner. It produced a nice large STL file with about
1 000 000 reference points. Its fairly large...

I want to use the model to create a skeleton of the life size model. I plan on making cuts of the model ruffly every 200mm and I want to CNC the flat "rib" surface out of wood. So that I can use this as a base to create the final model from.

I have tried every piece of software I could get my hands on, mesh to solid, Rhino 5, solidworks and Inventor. None of them seem to be able to help me convert the mesh into a solid surface I can work with. I have managed to simplify the model to, as small as, 10 000 reference points, but still no luck. The STL model does however load successfully into all of the software and I can clean up and modify the mesh, but I have not been able to create a solid from it.

My question stands as such. Do I need a solid model to allow me to continue with the project or can I make the nessecary cuts from the mesh and use that on a CNC machine?

I have attached a picture of the type of work I am trying to do. I hope this makes it a little clearer. If anything is unclear, ask and I shall do my best to answer.

Have you tried Vectric's Aspire or Cut 3D. They handle STL files nicely and can slice them and create tool paths. You can get free Eval copies also

Mike

[bschwand]

meshlab
MeshLab

[CCW]

^^ Meshlab looks great, I'll have to try that out.


I think autodesk 123 make can do what you're trying to do, not sure about file limits though. You don't need to make a solid, stl should slice just fine as long as it's water tight. I think Rhino has a plugin that does this too. Sketchup also has a plugin to do this but you won't get smooth curves as you would with autodesk or rhino. You need to find some way to simplify the model though, you don't need that much detail for slice modeling. 10,000 faces might be ok, but it might take some time to crunch the numbers.

[awerby]

I don't think you need to create solids for this project. All you need is a contour line that describes the outside of each slice. I'm pretty sure Rhino has a tool that will generate intersection curves between an array of planes and your mesh model. Then save each of the resulting curves as a DXF, feed them to your CAM software (nesting might save some material) and cut them out.

Andrew Werby
www.computersculpture.com