STL Merge

[LucasGC]

Hello,

I was wondering if this is till a feature in mastercam? or the Xform-STL?

I have tried merging my STL so I can import the mesh and lines separately, but it doesn't give me the option.

For now the file is too big and cannot be manipulated without the computer freezing

Thanks

[Guest]

All of the Xform functions work on an stl now, has for several versions...as such xform stl was a deprecated function

Might need to save the stl at a greater tolerance to get the size down

[Colin Gilchrist]

Try opening the STL File, in a "new" Mastercam File (without any geometry).

When you select the "STL File Type" in the File Open dialog box, there is an "Options" button that will appear after you change the type to STL.

In the STL Options, choose the option to "import as lines".

Once you have imported the lines from the STL model into Mastercam, you should immediately perform a "Delete duplicates" command. That should significantly reduce the file size, as each triangle from the STL File will share it's 3 edges, with 3 other triangles. So Mastercam will end up creating duplicate entities.

Another thing that I'll often do is "Create > Endpoints", so I get a point entity at each vertex of the triangle. Then, I perform another "delete duplicates", and then delete all the lines. This gives me a point cloud that matches all the vertex points of the STL file, and that should be the smallest sized file you can get, that will represent the vertex points.

Once you have cleaned it up, open your original Mastercam File, and Merge in the Points. Then, Merge in the STL entity as a "Mesh entity". Now, you'll have a mesh entity that can be shaded, and you'll have points that you can use to construct the lines/arcs you'll need.