I would like to 3D print the attached file. As you can see there isn't any wall thickness and while I've tried offset I have not been able to give it a wall.

Could someone please guide me?

Thanks :)
Gunter

Hi Gunter,

i believe that your object is a bit to small for 3D printing, when giving a wall size of a few mm, which is mostly used to do standard prints successfully. If you scale your object and then do a shell it should look good and should print.

Regards
Stefan

Hi Stefan,

I see. I'm happy to scale it but the problem is I haven't managed to create a shell. Could you possibly guide me?

Many thanks!
Gunter

Hi Stefan,

Actually I did manage to shell it after scaling!

Thanks :)

Gunter

Sorry for the late reply, Gunter.

Glad you managed it.

Regards
Stefan

Hi Gunter, one thing to watch out for is that your model has an area of it where the surface goes into a very tight bend across a short distance:



Surfaces with very tight bends in them like that can be generally problematic for shelling, especially to the inside of the bend. The offset surface will tend to bunch up and cross over itself in cases like that. Any self intersections in an object can potentially confuse the slicing mechanism that the 3D printer prep software will be doing.

If you run into that it you may need to manually make an interior surface doing another loft or sweep similar to how you did the outer one rather than using Shell on a shape like this.

- Michael

Hi Stefan,

Thanks for this. Yes you're right there was an area with an overlap. I have a Flashforge Finder 3D printer and, oddly, it printed surprisingly well, although I'm still refining the shape.
Gunter

Thanks very much!