Autodesk Inventor 2015 Dual Extrusion Alignment

[pcman]

D'oh! Apologies to you both. I didn't notice it was someone else offering help.

Rebekah_harper's method of hiding one solid to export the other is one way, and is the way I usually choose for this purpose. Another way is to select all the solids, then go to File > Print > Send to 3D Print Service. In the dialog that appears, select 'Selected' under Print Range, then click Options and in the 'Structure' dropdown, select 'One File per Selection'. This way, separate files are automatically created with '_SolidX' appended to the file name. This is far more convenient than the hiding method when you have many solids in your part.

@t2k3d: I opened your body.ipt file in Inventor and exported the separate solids. I then dragged them into S3D and followed the procedure that I outlined before, i.e. select all the parts and then choose 'Align Selected Model Origins' from the Edit menu. They aligned properly, so we know your construction and .ipt file are good.

So, I have attached both the .stl files knowing that they work. Please try them with your S3D installation. If they align properly, we know it's your Inventor settings or export procedure that is the problem. If they don't align, we know it's S3D. Either way, we should be a step closer to a solution.

[Rebekah_harper]

hiya,

sorted,

If you go to "TOOLS" then "OPTIONS" then go to the model tab. you will find a tick box for automatically arrange imported models.

un-tick this.

you will find it ends up in the wrong place how ever

select all the parts, and use the move function to move them. you will also find that they won't be orientated for printing so double click then select all the parts by selecting the first then hold shift and click the last you can then move them all in unison.

hope this was helpful

[t2k3d]

rebekah, thanks for the tip.... I found this one out a while ago, but am sure it causes problems to a lot of new people to S3D.

pcman. Your STLs work perfectly. I do know beyond the alignment issue, I have a sizing issue I just remembered when I imported your files into S3D. I have to scale all of my models to 1000% so they are the correct size. I have that automatically do that, so have forgot about it til now.

I tried the 3D Print services option, I did change the one setting from centimeters to millimeters, and that seemed to fix my regular save as stl method I use for single extrusion models. This method worked well, besides loading a website to send your STLs off for printing.

I then tried to just make one of the solids visible and save as, and then the other. For some reason, this method now works, when I couldn't get it to work ever before, unless it was a simple centered model like a tire around a rim.

Thanks to all who posted. Thanks for looking at my files pcman!

p.s. are there export setting besides in 3D print service window, that controls centimeters/millimeters? Even though everything is exporting fine, as I tried a few other models as well. I no longer need to scale them to make them the correct size. It would just be weird if this was the only location for this setting.

---->Also, wanted to add in that the 3D Print Services option also works on assembly files. Then again, so does disabling visibility on each part and then exporting(and naming) the files individually. ...still don't understand why this seems to be working now. Though as I am on my Surface, I need to double check setting, etc on my home pc as that is the one I usually print with.

[pcman]

Ah! It makes sense now, and I was able to recreate the issue you were having. If you scale the solids after importing them (or, in your case, with an import action), align selected models does not work as expected because, it appears, the origins are not scaled with the dimensions. This seems to be a shortcoming with S3D. Perhaps there's a good reason for it behaving this way, but I can't think of one offhand. As you have found, removing the import action in S3D and having Inventor export in millimetres instead is a better approach.

When changing .stl export options in Inventor, the settings carry over between File > Export and File > Print > Send to 3D Print Service methods. The 'options' button should also appear in the save dialog when you select File > Export and choose .stl as the file type. I set mine long ago and never worried about it again. Which export method is most convenient depends on how many solids you are exporting. As you say, the 3D Print Services method has the side-effect of opening a browser, but it's much quicker to just close it than to have to hide and unhide many solids for exporting one at a time. I almost always use the File > Export method myself because I mostly just export one or two solids for 3D printing and I also prefer to give them unique names.

Thanks for the update. I'm glad to hear everything is working for you now.

[t2k3d]

Thanks again! I would have got back on here sooner, but had to work on the garden over the weekend. I actually posted on here and on the Inventor forums. This posting was far more successful.