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3d printing from Hexagon stl files?

tdrdtdrd Posts: 0
edited December 1969 in Hexagon Discussion

I am looking into using Hex to create some small parts for my model railway.

Has anyone any experience of using Hexagon to design and print to 3d printer using Hex?

I need accuracy down to 1/10th of a millimetre so also need feedback on how practical Hex is for creating these items.

Thanks in advance for any feedback

Terry

Comments

  • cdordonicdordoni Posts: 583
    edited December 1969

    Hexagon can produce STL files that work fine with a 3d printer with a bit of help. I recommend using netfabb Basic (free) to check the files, as it has some repair capability.

    I have found that several problems resulting in crashes or preventing further modeling operations in Hexagon can be fixed in netfabb Basic. I typically encounter these issues with booleans. Repairing the object in netfabb allows me to continue to model in Hex until I start to have issues again, then repair, and continue to model. Note, repairing files will destroy UV info, so if your models need to have UVs, make sure you get the modeling and repairing done first before texturing.

    Hexagon only saves STL as text (ASCII) files, which can be very large compared to the binary version, so it is also useful to use netfabb to save STL as binary.

  • jodprakjodprak Posts: 5
    edited December 1969

    Hi, there. This is my results of 3D printed object which was made in Hexagon. I exported the files into STL and OBJ format for backup. And later on after several set ups, it was successfully printed as long the file is perfect without holes, overlapping or multiple faces/edge/vertex. The model was divided into several parts to make sure the articulation works. So here are the pictures:

    Mecha-Troop-1-Printing-08.jpg
    1410 x 518 - 124K
    Mecha-Troop-1-Printing-09.jpg
    811 x 1000 - 118K
    Mecha-Troop-1-Modelling-04.jpg
    920 x 558 - 107K
  • cdordonicdordoni Posts: 583
    edited January 2014

    Awesome!

    If I had to guess I would say it is about 5in (12.7cm) tall?

    Did you need to weight it to stand properly?

    Post edited by cdordoni on
  • jodprakjodprak Posts: 5
    edited December 1969

    Thank you. It's 40 cm tall, mate! The articulation and the center weight were considered and designed carefully. I only used two types of joints: ball joints and hinges. As for the first trial, I printed the leg and the foot parts, and then I analyzed the assembly and made sure the joint will work properly. The bigger foot will also provide the stability of the standing pose. Feel free to ask me more when you need any further discussion on this. :)

  • polmearpolmear Posts: 33
    edited December 1969

    No problems printing from Hexagon .stl files using ReplicatorG. Just make sure your models are watertight. Your slicing software should warn you of any problems.

    Accuracy comes down to the resolution of your printer.
    The good thing about designing for print is that you don't have to worry about uv mapping.

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