Sketchup file import

[James RS]

Not sure if this a good place to post this, move it if I was incorrect.
Anyway, has anyone taken a 3d model from Sketchup and broken it up into its components.
And brought in to be carved part by part?

[oscarl48]

I haven't but imagine you can. You will need the CW STL add-on the way I did it.

I've played around with sketchup and was able to port to CW but its a cumbersome method.

You can export the sketchup object in a 3d format (I used DAE) which I then opened in Blender 3d as a 3d mesh. I then exported as an STL which I then used to port into CW designer with the STL add-on. I then used the pattern editor to clean up the pattern.

[Rocketman]

The newer version of Sketchup will export STL files directly. If your using an older and free version such as version 6 or 8 you will have to download and install a free STL import export plugin. The one I use will also let me export as a DXF file. Depending on how clean you model in Sketchup you may or may not have to run it through another program to clean it up. Many of us will open the exported file using the free version of Meshmixer and then export from Meshmixer to end up with a clean structure that will import with out too many problems if you have the STL import add on.

As to the rest of your question, the jury is still out on that one. I tried doing exactly what your talking about and had some angles that came out 5 degrees off for some reason. Rather than make more scrap I redesigned my project to have my lathe do some of the work. I don't like having to use two machines to finish a project but until I can work up my new strategy the lathe will be my fix.

If you have ever tried to glue up a multilayered STL file that has been carved you soon realize the need to draw added features to enable the layers to be properly lined up and also clamped. I'd love to see a feature added to the STL import that would allow you to add alignment keys to keep the parts assembled during gluing.

[oscarl48]

Nice. I'm off to download the latest version. You can tweak individual vertices or attempt to re-mesh to quads with blender if needed (new feature in blender but with so-so results).

I've tried multi-layer STL projects with the CW but so far none of them have lined up perfectly and usually entails a lot of clean up work. At this point I prefer the lathe but I like turning. Not super proficient with it but I find it soothing.