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Exporting STL/OBJ for 3D printing (by Rune)
Hi, I often find that importing groups using assemble will generate non manifold models which exported to STL/OBJ gives errors in later processing (slic3r). It happens when two faces are aligned. Sometimes the problem can be solved by checking the union instead of assemble, but in the worst case I have to separate the objects by a tiny space, say 0.1, which is really annoying. I wonder if there is a better way.
Can anyone clarify this issue please?
Tue Dec 2 2014, 03:52:26
(no subject) (by Jonathan Westhues)
"Assemble" means to superimpose the models, without performing any Boolean operation; that's the difference between "assemble" and "union". You can use "assemble" to check the assembly for interferences (Analyze -> Show Interfering Parts), which would not be possible if the Boolean were performed.

If you use "assemble", then your STL output may not be manifold (i.e., may be self-intersecting, or not vertex-to-vertex). You can check for this with Analyze -> Show Naked Edges.
Tue Dec 2 2014, 08:58:33
(no subject) (by Rune)
Thanks for your reply, so your suggestion is to use assemble first to check alignment of components using Show Interfering Parts. Then change assemble to union, check with Show Naked Edges, before exporting as STL.
Is there a deeper reason for this logic or is it difficult to implement assemble that exports STL/OBJ without errors when there are components aligning on planes?
Tue Dec 2 2014, 12:14:39
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