I’m about to start a very large project that is comprised of multiple stacked layers of 3/4" tall elements. Each element has been defined by a design company and delivered to me in a 3D STL file (there are about 80 of them). My goal is to cut each layer and assemble the total project out of those layers. They therefore need to be cut to the exact dimensions intended when the STLs were created.
Unfortunately for me, my shop is undergoing a prolonged renovation and I don’t have access to my CNC to do the trial and error that I would need to do. The customer is waiting, so, as soon as the shop is back up time will be of the essence, and I won’t want to spend a lot of time experimenting. I want to start back up in full force and complete the job as fast as possible.
So the favor is that I’m hoping for someone with experience to shortcut my learning curve and provide specific directions - rather than a lead on experimentation…if possible.
Specifically, What are the correct settings for the Height and XY Scale (and any other pertinent parameters) in order to bring this STL file in so that it represents a 3/4" tall element, with xy dimensions as specified within the STL file? 1.A.stl (131.3 KB)
If all the elements are indeed, 3/4" high, and they are all done to scale, then you use a height of 0.750" and a scale of 25.4 (assuming inch file). Or a height of 19.05 & scale of 1.0 if metric.
STL files are unitless, and the numbers only depend on the units chosen when creating the STL file.
CC assumes they are all metric, and imports them that way.
I’m guessing your sample isn’t supposed to be 1/2" long, rather about 12" long, so I presume it was created in inch, but being imported in metric, therefor use a scale of 25.4
P.S. I didn’t notice the shape on the bottom, so you’ll also want to choose “Bottom” view.
NX is the other CAD/CAM software I use. I can import & examine the STL data. The model in the STL file is 10.081 x 11.149 x 2.0. You are scaling it to 0.75 when you import it to CC.
I just tried it in CC again, and noticed that when I changed to Bottom view, it also changed the scale.
I set it back to 25.4, and it all looks good.
I’m really sorry to be so thick. I don’t understand this. The resulting object is going to get cut from 3/4" thick stock. But you’re saying that the STL is importing at 2". When you say it’s irrelevant, I don’t get what that means - does the object get truncated at 3/4" or does it scale the dimensions to fit 3/4"?
It seems that when you import an STL into CC Pro, the size of the canvas matters. It’s sizing the object to the width of the canvas no matter what I say. That’s not what I’m trying to accomplish.
Am I supposed to draw a bounding rectangle or something? If so, how do I determine the size of it?
@WillAdams You are the king. this is the kind of answer I needed. I get it. I hope the XY Scaling is going to be consistent for all 80 STLs, I’d hate to have to try to calculate that for each - particularly since I don’t know the actual dimensions for each layer and would need to get that from the designer.
Thanks for this. I’ll give it a try and hopefully get the same results.
I must not be explaining it well. I do that sometimes.
The model in the STL file is 2" thick. This is OK, because you are importing all your models at 3/4", and CC will scale the thickness to what you want. It doesn’t chop it off, it scales it down.
In the STL file, the model is the size you want (within 0.002"), so we know that’s good.
The file was saved in inches, so it has inch values. But CC imports it as metric, it doesn’t give us a choice. So the scale should be 25.4. I tested this & it works.
Ah, it happened to me too. I set everything at once, and it changes the scale back to fit the workpiece.
(it wants to scale to the workpiece, or a vector if selected.)
Set everything like this & hit Apply
Notice the scale change. Now change it back to 25.4 and Apply again. This time it stays, so you can select “Done”.
It still comes in a few thousandths undersize if you measure the vector. I tried using a scale of 25.41 and it’s closer. ??? Could just be the algorithm that traces the STL & creates the vector.
