V oodoo wrote:
looks like lots of hours to 'build' !
I don't know how close I am to having any 3D printable models from my SketchUp modelling; I know 3D drawing pretty well, but have no experience with 3D printing.
I'd need better software than SketchUp for modelling objects with complex curves for printing. Unlike AutoCad, SketchUp breaks arcs down into straight lines, so it goes wonky when you intersect 3D curved surfaces, or extrude curved surfaces along curved paths. That's why I was asking what software others are using for modelling for printing, for example Patrick's Carb bellmouths, which I couldn't do in Sketchup.
You're right my engine model is made up of many individual .skp files for each part, but some of the more complex parts, for example, the carb have some curved surfaces still missing, and the intersections of curved surfaces is also not something that can be tidied satisfactorily in SketchUp. In fact the carb is probably the most complex and incomplete model there; it's made up of at least four simpler models, each intersecting, but with the channels needing to run between them. I also can't do items like threads or springs in SketchUp because it can't do a true helix.
I actually drew the carb in the first place to do an animation of each circuit activating as the slide moves, but I shelved it with a headache a couple of years ago, and just stuck it on top of the engine model I'd done previously, which again I'd done for crank/piston animation initially. I've just been drawing new bits, as well as SketchUp will allow, and placing them in the model as I go.....
I had a very quick read about 3D printing from SketchUp this morning; you have to create an .stl file, and it suggested MakerBot for finishing models, so I installed that. At present I don't see how .skp files know what is soild and what is void - if you introduce a section plane it's just wireframe with surfaces/materials, not solids.
I saved an .stl of the brake shoe, which opened in MakerBot OK, but with a few errors (marked below), and I don't yet know how to tidy those up.
Example of .skp in SketchUp - to - .stl in MakerBot (with errors):
..and the same .stl in Blender:
...finally, I uploaded it to Shapeways to see if they'd understand it, and the cheapest material costs £32!
But at least, in theory, I could print stuff like that if needed.
That's as far as I've got with it; you can have the .skp and .stl for the shoe to play with if you like; there's also the Blender and MakerBot files (.blend and .print). I'll spend more time on it soon, but it was really a holiday project that will get less attention now as spring arrives, and I want to play with my scooter instead.