When using the arc or circle tools, you can set the number of segments to whatever you need. The good news is that the more faces a curve is made of, the smoother it becomes. Sketchup uses a visual smoothing technique to make the flat segments look like a smooth curve on the computer screen, but when you 3D print a curved surface, the individual faces (or facets) may be visible. You can see this clearly by turning on Hidden Geometry (View > Hidden Geometry) while looking at a curved surface. Curves are approximated using many flat faces – for example the default circle in Sketchup has 24 sides. Sketchup is a “polygonal surface modeling” program, which means that models are made from flat polygon faces – flat surfaces and curves alike. Increase circle/arc segments to get smooth curves I typically use a scale factor of 1000 to keep the math simple. The workaround for this problem is to scale up your model to perform the work, then scale back down for printing. Apparently now it’s nearly impossible to fix the problem without redesigning Sketchup from the ground up.
![sketchup print to scale on one page sketchup print to scale on one page](https://i.imgur.com/I9mdUgs.png)
Since architects don’t typically need precision greater than 1/16”, the developers designed Sketchup to work best with geometry of about 1/16” and larger. Sketchup was originally developed for architects. There’s some interesting history behind this problem.
![sketchup print to scale on one page sketchup print to scale on one page](https://www.popularwoodworking.com/wp-content/uploads/swan_neck_template_19907A16.jpg)
You often won’t get an error message or any indication there’s a problem, but Sketchup simply doesn’t generate the geometry. If you design things with features smaller than 1/16”, you may run into trouble where Sketchup doesn’t create faces. Scale up by 100 (or 1000) to make small parts For example, some plastics may require a wall thickness of less than 1 mm, while 3D printed ceramics require a minimum of 3 mm. The amount of the offset determines the wall thickness, and the thickness you need will vary depending on the material you are printing in. Here’s an example where Matt demonstrates modeling a vase with a 1/4” wall thickness using the offset tool. Single faces in Sketchup have no thickness, so we need to simulate wall thickness by simply placing two faces a short distance apart.
![sketchup print to scale on one page sketchup print to scale on one page](https://aws1.discourse-cdn.com/sketchup/original/2X/c/ca1c22ded6d4a038f83ef1e53bde59fa45163d58.png)
#Sketchup print to scale on one page how to#
I’ll discuss how to determine what wall thickness to design at in just a bit. Wall thickness is a key element in 3D printing – walls need to be thick so they’re strong enough to work in real life, but also need to be minimized to reduce material costs. The most common errors (and the corresponding solutions) are: If you make your object into a group or component, Sketchup will indicate when its solid in the Entity Info dialog box (Window > Entity Info).Īnother way to define solid: Every edge in your model must be bordered by exactly two faces.If an edge has less than two faces bordering it, there is an adjacent hole, and if there are more than two faces touching an edge, there is an extra face that needs to be deleted. If you were to fill it with water, none would drain out, and the model must not have any extra lines or faces. Solid, sometimes called “watertight” or “manifold” simply means the model is a complete enclosure. Here are some examples of Solid Sketchup models.
![sketchup print to scale on one page sketchup print to scale on one page](https://i.redd.it/xch0ig2ls7u11.jpg)
This is by far the most common problem beginners have when modeling for 3D printing. Models must be “Solid” to be 3D printable. Make your model “Solid” in Sketchup to be 3D Printable Here are some common problems that I see beginners struggling with and how to address them.ġ. The process of modeling for 3D printing is much the same as 3D modeling anything else, but with a few specific requirements. With the rise of personal 3D printers like the Makerbot Replicator 2, and 3D print services like Shapeways and Ponoko, nearly everyone has access to this technology.īut how does one get started making awesome models for 3D printing? Its one thing to make a model look good on the screen, but quite another to make a model that looks good and actually works in real life. You send a 3D computer model to a machine and out comes a finished part, ready to use as an end product or as a prototype before mass manufacturing. 3D printing is awesome – we can all agree on that.