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Move/Offset All Faces for 3D Printing Tolerances
MakotoNinja
Member Posts: 5 EDU
Aloha Folks,
My workflow for creating models intended for 3D printing is to model everything at nominal dimensions and only when the model is complete do I apply a "Move Face" to the end of the feature list to offset all the faces inward for 3D printing tolerances. This alleviates me from having to to make sure I include the tolerance offset in all of my dimensions as I am creating.
Now this seems to work well, however, I have to delete and reapply the "Move Face" tool, at the end of the feature list if I make any upstream changes that add or remove faces from the geometry which can be tedious. This is because the "Move Face" tool only allows the direct selection of faces and not a collection of faces by body or some other method.
Is there a native tool that I am missing or a FS that will move/offset faces by part selection so that the tool updates if any upstream changes end up adding or removing faces?
Comments
You can make a query variable for all faces of a body if you like, and then input that query variable in the move face. It will be stable to added/removed faces.
With query variables you can also make more smart selections automatically, for instance only faces that are not parallel with build plate.
Start with the support documentation or these two videos if you need guidance on query variables.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aNM5dsUnyw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGTHOXKgngE
How about Scaling the part? - Scotty
Scaling doesn't work as a clearancing feature because it moves all the faces different amounts or directions depending on geometric orientation. The above mentioned query variable and move face method is more true to design intent, and how I'd approach it.
Derek Van Allen | Engineering Consultant | Meddler