Can I see dimensions on an imported STL file?

[Lincoln96]

I am a newb.
Is there a button I can hit on the pro3 software that will show dimensions on an imported STL file?
88081

This is not a flat surface, there is a contour to it. The center is about 5/8" thick, while the outside edges taper to more like 1/4" thick. It won't upload as is, I'm hoping if I see some measurements, I'd maybe have a chance of figuring out what's going on.
The imported files don't seem to react like the actual mpc files do. Can anyone please point me in the right direction?

[Lincoln96]

The reason I'm trying to import STL files is because I now realize the scanning tool will never be able to scan something as large as what I need to scan.
For example, I built my scanning sled the maximum width, and I can see it will never be able to scan something that's 12" to 13" wide.
88082

[fwharris]

During the import process you can see and change dimensions in the importer.

Yes, very wide items are hard to get a scan on. As you have found out you need enough clearance for the probe to fit even if you make the sled the full width of the machine. You can go a bit over the 14 1/2" width. I am not sure if you will gain any by taking the sliding plate out of the machine.

[Lincoln96]

I'll have another look at that importer. Thanks

[Lincoln96]

Well, I did some looking and some learning, got further than I've ever been before. However, I'm still having a lot of trouble up loading any file to the memory card that's over about 2000 kb in size. They just keeps crapping out on me. Any suggestions?

[fwharris]

In the preference settings increase the rendering cache size up to at least 256mb, the higher the better. Under the help tab turn off "file preview".. If you have a large amount of patterns or a lot of large stl files in your pattern list directory, favorites, try moving some out to another location on your computer.

[Lincoln96]

Thank you for the advice.
The directory is 23.5MB and 14 files after blowing away anything I didn't need to keep. File preview was already off, and cache was set to 256. I just took it up to 512, think I'll go back and bump it up to 1024 or more.

Edit: looks like 999 is the max for cache, so that's where I left it.
My wife suggests turning off my firewall during uploads. I can't see that having any affect, but I'll try almost anything once.

[Lincoln96]

with the firewall off and the other changes made, the upload crashed at 41%. It is a big file, 2600KB

[fwharris]

Is that an upload to the memory card for doing a carving or loading it into the stl importer?

[Lincoln96]

It's the upload to the memory card to do the carving. I got the importer all figured out. (I think)

[fwharris]

The only thing I might try is to contact CW and see if they might have any suggestions. They might want the project file to look at.

[Dale]

That is interesting. I use the STL Importer a lot and have had problems where the original STL File is too large and the program crashes but I have never had a problem after I create the file in designer and try to upload it to the card. Please let us know what you find out.

[Lincoln96]

I contacted tech support and got a reply back. I sent them the file I was having trouble with and they were able to upload it to a memory card without issue. They said the problem must be either the USB port I'm using, or the programmer, or the card not going into the programmer fully.
I've tried every USB port on two different computers and got the same result every time. The upload stalls at 40%, then crashes at 45%. We're working on a solution.

EDIT: I ordered a new card programmer. I'm hoping that's end of my troubles.

[oscarl48]

Good luck. I almost exclusively use the stl importer and it works fairly well for me. So hope your hardware issues get resolved. You will enjoy the add-on.

[Lincoln96]

Good luck. I almost exclusively use the stl importer and it works fairly well for me. So hope your hardware issues get resolved. You will enjoy the add-on.

I'm really hoping it's a bad card programmer/reader causing me grief. The STL importer worked really well once I took the time to figure out how to use it properly. It's a good tool.

[Dale]

Can you load any file to the card?

[Lincoln96]

Can you load any file to the card?

Yes, anything file under about 500KB usually loads without issue. It's the bigger files I'm having trouble with. At some point the up-load will stall out for about a minute, not progress, and then start moving again & crash 4% later.
And sometimes if I do get through the up-load process, I take the card out to my CW, and the CW will say the card is unreadable.

I really hope it is the programmer. If it isn't, I'll be looking at buying another computer and putting nothing else on that computer except CW software & files. There's nothing else left I can try.

[GuyT]

I have carved quite a few projects well over 500KB so hopefully it is your programmer! In fact I have a file that is 2,650KB in size. It does take a fair amount of time to load though. I am using a laptop with 16KB of memory and use a USB hub that supports USB version 3.

[Lincoln96]

Well, my new card reader/programmer arrived today and I uploaded the files I was having trouble with. They sailed right through. I'm about to try them in the machine. :D

[fwharris]

Glad to hear that was your problem. Did the people at CarveWright say what the issue might was with the other card?

Happy Carving!

[Lincoln96]

No, I haven't heard a peep out of them about my old card programmer. There might be a backlog of things for inspection maybe?

My machine is happily carving away, so all is good.

[Lincoln96]

I emailed support, my programmer was faulty. It failed testing.

[fwharris]

Thanks for the update.