STP file -solid to 2d profile

[left coast lefty]

I am getting all kinds of nonsense when trying to create 2d profile from a solid that was an STP. It takes forever to process and the result is a mess. I'm a rookie in this area. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

X3- MU1

 

GeForce 9800 GT

[CNCme]

Good Day

 

Make sure that the axis of rotation (plane) is correct for profile you are looking for

 

Tony G

CNCme Engineering

X Beta Site

SO Almost Employed Senior Prog rammer

N.E Massachusetts - Southern New Hampshire

_________________________________________

End mills and tooling are like The "AMMO"

And coolant and chips are like the enemy

Under your boots as you advance in the

Manufacturing Battle

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[cqualls]

File open, select the stp file, click options and check the boxes solids and edge curves, ok and ok. After the file opens Delete duplicate entities, the icon with three erasers. If all you need is the outside profile and it is not already flat, click xform project and chain the entities that you want to be flat and type in the depth you want them at and click ok.

[left coast lefty]

Thanks, cqualls, I know how to do it that way, but I was under the impression that 2D profile would simplify the process.

 

CNCme- I have one solid, top view, a part which amounts to nothing more than a simple flat disc with a symetrical scallop around it. The process produced a wierd shape over only half of the part. Do I need to create an axis?

 

Thanks guys.

[Dan@home]

Have you tried the Sihouette Boundry .dll. or Create Boundry dll.? These are in your c-hooks.

[Snehal Shah]

Hi Left coast lefty,

 

Are you entitled to X4 ? If you are then X4 has new functionality "Turn Profile" which is an improvement from Solids - 2D profile.

[left coast lefty]

Thanks Dan, I'll check them out tomorrow.

 

Snehal- We have X4 ready to go but not yet installed. Thanks for the tip.

 

Once again, thanks to all!

[shazam/TPP]

hi-jack on

 

when I import a stp/step file as a solid I turn on in the Options field "Solids" and "edge curves", should i also turn on "use surface stiching to import Solids"?

 

using X4

[Pete Rimkus from CNC Software Inc.]

"...i also turn on "use surface stiching to import Solids"?..."

 

IMHO, you should only do this if the Solid you get when importing without it is problematic.

[left coast lefty]

Dan-

 

I tried Create Boundry, but when I set the resolution to .0005 the system crashed. It was .01 by default but it came out too disjointed. No surprise. Any hints?

 

Thanks in advance

[left coast lefty]

I spoke too soon. Silouette Boundry was the way to go. It wasn't perfect, created some partial circles with lines where arcs should have been, but way better than Create Boundry.

 

Thanks again.

[Bryan Johnson]

Create->Curve->Slice.

Tends to always create clean lines/arcs, BUT may require surfs.

[Dan@home]

[Hardmill]

Create-curve-slice is the way to go as

bryan said.

 

 

PEACE

[left coast lefty]

Thanks guys! I'll check it out ASAP.

[left coast lefty]

Create-curve-slice definitely requires surfaces here, the prompt says "select surfaces or curves". I imported the STP file with only surfaces and got a similar jumbled mess that I got with Solid-to-2D profile. My guess is that I'm doing something wrong with plane selection. Could somebody describe this process a little clearer than the Help file?

 

Maybe I'm holding my mouse finger wrong!

 

Thanks to all once again.

[Dan@home]

Create curve slice is more for say cutting a part in half at a designated point. Not so much for creating a boundry on profile like Silouette Boundry dll.

 

For Create Curve Slice; Select surfaces or solid you want to slice then select the Plane selection button and entering location you want to cut part at/green check OK and then click (Apply) then green check OK.

 

When I tried slicing STL all I got were points where normally would be lines.

[left coast lefty]

Thanks again Dan.

 

As I mentioned above, I tried Silouette Boundry,it was close, but the arcs were broken into irregular sections. I'll try again and check the settings.

[Dan@home]

Probably because the stl is made up of lines only, no arcs.

[left coast lefty]

It is an STP file, not STL. I can import it as a solid or surfaces similar to a parasolid. Tried it both ways, but still garbled. I'm about to try again here shortly.

 

Thanks Dan.

[Roger Peterson]

The silhouette boundary tool in X3 gives a profile that is usable for a containment boundary for surface toolpaths. It is not intended to give an accurate profile to be used for a 2d contour toolpath as it cuts corners and various other issues.

 

the X4 silhouette boundary gives much nicer results, get it installed and I'm sure you'll be happy.

[left coast lefty]

Thanks for the info Roger! We have X4 ready to go, just waiting for management to give the go-ahead.

 

Dan-

It actually came out close enough just now. My first try was on the Demo at home. I should have known better. The outside chained continuously like I wanted, and the numbers look good.

 

Thanks to all again!