Save as STL ?

[Dontech]

Hello again, all.

I have very little experience working with STL files; the only ones I've ever dealt with were completed files supplied from other sources. The SW Design guy from upstairs came down a few minutes ago asking me if I could 1.) Find a pair of old (MC8/9) files for a set of mating parts and 2.) Save them as .STL so he could make some new models for the customer. Took a bit of searching but I eventually found them, updated their tool library files, etc, and then saved them as .Mcam files in Mcam 18. Next I tried saving them again as .STL files but got this error message for both:

" There are no surfaces on the screen or none have been selected."

Once I closed the error messages an .STL file was in each of the part folders but they were 0 Kb in size and nothing happened in Mcam when I tried to open them. So on a whim I dragged a selection box around all the geometry (2D, not a 3d or any kind of model) and tried saving as STL that way, but no dice. I figured it wouldn't work but gave it a shot anyway because blind squirrels and broken clocks and all that.

Finally, I went into Mastercam help and did find an entry for Save As an STL file but couldn't figure out what dialog box it is talking about when it says:

"Use this dialog box to select the output format to use when writing and converting a Mastercam part file to an STL file format"

Any dialog box like that hasn't popped up during my save attempts. I'm sure I'm missing something obvious but after looking through the tool bars I couldn't find anything that jumped out at me. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

[Chris In-House Solutions]

Is he model just 2D wireframe?  

[Dontech]

It's just a basic 2D drawing design with tools applied to it...doesn't really look like traditional wire-frame as I am familiar with, so not sure if that counts as wireframe per se.

[Leon82]

Verify it then save as stl in verify

Depending on complexity it could take a couple minutes to save

[Dontech]

Okay, I found some STL import/export options in the System Configuration \ Converters which seem to match what Mastercam Help was talking about.

Current WCS, Binary, and .001" Resolution are selected in the STL Export field.

[Dontech]

27 minutes ago, Leon82 said:

Verify it then save as stl in verify

Depending on complexity it could take a couple minutes to save

That did the trick. Thank you very much!

[sidolab]

I am trying mastercam 2022 hle and  using art when trying to save an organic art file as STL I get the same error message as the  original poster , have tried the fix its mentioned but not saving 

have attached file

any suggestions  thanks

Test.emcam

[JParis]

7 hours ago, sidolab said:

I am trying mastercam 2022 hle and  using art when trying to save an organic art file as STL I get the same error message as the  original poster , have tried the fix its mentioned but not saving 

have attached file

any suggestions  thanks

Test.emcam 859.45 kB · 0 downloads

I could be tilting at windmills here but I'm not sure the HLE will let you save out an stl file...it is limited in what it can & can't do..

[Pete Rimkus from CNC Software Inc.]

1) To clarify one point, the STL format is triangle-based, so no 2D data will get saved to it. That's why the message about "no surfaces...have been selected..." appeared.

2) We did start enabling saving of STL files in the HLE product a couple releases ago.

3) The options dialog is available when in the SaveAs dialog ... once the STL format is chosen from the dropdown in the lower right, an Option button should appear. Those same options are available in Configuration/Converters.

Edited June 20, 2022 by Pete Rimkus from CNC Software Inc.

[sidolab]

Sorry to bother you all about this save as STL file , I am trying to learn the art and following the steps  in mastercam art x2 tutorial downloaded from the net

the steps taken to produce the art file were

import design from library

create art base surface

then organic shape the design

try to save as test.stl  but no surfaces selected error still appears

have I missed a step in the process or what ??

have attached files of design

.test.stlTest.emcamAm using mastercam 2022 hle

[Pete Rimkus from CNC Software Inc.]

"...try to save as test.stl  but no surfaces selected error still appears..."

The Art functionality has its own 'export' function to dump a model as an STL.

It is called 'Export Base'

 

 

 

I hope this helps.

 

Edited June 21, 2022 by Pete Rimkus from CNC Software Inc.

[sidolab]

That command is greyed out on my program .

Have reinstalled mc2022 hle and that did not solve the problem .

I have no problems creating different art designs just this  saving as STL

I gotta be doing something wrong ????

 

[sidolab]

Hi Pete ,

I have got the save as STL solved by using a bit of a work around

I design the art then use the convert surfaces command in art with a tolerence setting of 0.05

Then go to file tab , save as and in options for STL  change resolution  to 0.02

it saves the file ok a bit rough but maybe a bit of tweaking will clean it up

Thanks for your help

[Pete Rimkus from CNC Software Inc.]

When we enabled export of STL's in standard MC, It looks like we did not enable it in Art.

I'll run it by the Product Team and see about the possibility of enabling it there.

Thanks for bringing this to our attention.