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perry  
#1 Posted : Monday, January 29, 2024 12:48:07 PM(UTC)
perry

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I have an object I made (attached STL file), and I want to expand it in all directions by 1mm. Is there an easy way to do this? I'm in ViaCAD 12.

I know I can use the Gripper to expand it, but the scale is relative to the current size. So it starts at 1.0. If I double it it's 2.0. Is the only way to do this to work out the math and enter it there? That's fine if so, but if there's a way to specify that I want it 1mm larger in X,Y, and Z, then that's what I'm looking for.

Thanks!

Edited by user Monday, January 29, 2024 12:51:39 PM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

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damhave  
#2 Posted : Monday, January 29, 2024 1:55:02 PM(UTC)
damhave

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Hi Perry,
I think the "Thicken Solid" tool will do what you want.
It is in SharkCAD pro, I think it is also included in ViaCAD.
see this thread
https://forum.punchcad.c...sts&t=6913#post25482
and the attached image for finding the tool
kind regards
Danny
PS If you use the tool with 0.5mm it will add 0.5mm on all faces around the object and thereby increase all dimensions by 1 mm

Edited by user Monday, January 29, 2024 2:03:28 PM(UTC)  | Reason: spelling

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BR
Danny

Windows 10 Pro,
SharkCAD v14 Pro (1653),
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perry  
#3 Posted : Monday, January 29, 2024 2:19:21 PM(UTC)
perry

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Hmm. well, that kind of works. You do have to drag-select the whole object which means you have to isolate it from other objects first. But it also scales up all the features like chamfers which I don't necessarily want. See the attached image.

The one on the left is the original. The one in the middle uses the Thicken Solid tool, which is adding 1mm thickness to everything (so for me, I'd want it to be 0.5mm). The one on the right uses the grabber.

The end result of what the grabber does is what I want, scaling the whole thing but not affecting the edges like thickening does. The trick is that I have to do all the math ahead of time and enter that as the scale factor, which is an extra step. Not the end of the world, but an extra step

Edited by user Monday, January 29, 2024 2:20:52 PM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

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thanks 1 user thanked perry for this useful post.
damhave on 1/30/2024(UTC)
24c  
#4 Posted : Wednesday, January 31, 2024 4:07:11 AM(UTC)
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Originally Posted by: perry Go to Quoted Post


The end result of what the grabber does is what I want, scaling the whole thing but not affecting the edges like thickening does. The trick is that I have to do all the math ahead of time and enter that as the scale factor, which is an extra step. Not the end of the world, but an extra step


That's all I ever do with very small changes in size, but as most of my STLs files are used in 3D printing via Orca Slicer (which incidentally accepts STEP files too aka smoother arcs), so I tend to use the scaling & tolerancing tools in this to compensate for part shrinkage, unless the model is inaccurate.

Mike
macOS 14.3.1 (Sonoma) - MacBook M1 Max 64GB 2TB SSD & external display - SharkCAD Pro v14.1.0 build 1654
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