Hi Gaieus
Hope you are well.

I have printed my model on A4 and I'm happy to report that I puzzled the A4 pages together and it fitted perfectly. The model dimensions were Spot On.

2 Questions.

1. How do I now print the model onto an A0 page myself just the way you have done? I know you did mention something about layout but I didn't quite understand what it is?

2. Is it possible to print my model with hidden geometry on. I have some ideas in mind and it's got to do with Hidden Geometry being on, in the model and I want to print and see if it makes any sense.

Thanks
Regards
D0me

Thanks for the info on DPI.

I will print the model today and see how I can puzzle it together.
Wish me luck. Hope all goes well.

Thanks again for printing it to A0. As I said previously, anything I can get my hands on will really help and that's exactly what happened. It really did help with the A0 print.

Take Care
Regards
D0me

Hi Gaieus

Good News.
I've found a way to split the A0 1:1 scale print of the model into multiple A4 pages, 12 pages to be exact.

I've attached the PDF of the 12 pages. Please have a look and see if it look OK.
In one of your previous posts, you mentioned about DPI. What should the DPI be of this particular PDF?

Thanks
Regards
D0me

Dome V2 Final A0 into A4.pdf

Hi Gaieus

@gaieus said:

I tried to "print" it tiled from SU into pdf but in vain - most of the lines just did not show up.

Here is a pdf file printed the whole structure on an A0 page at scale 1:1. Maybe a Mac user could also export it as 1:1 pdf straight from SU either tiled on A3 or on an A0 paper (this is not possible from Windows).

I have also exported a png file at "1:1" but raster image files do not really have "physical sizes" - it all depends on the conversion between digital and physical through a value printers need to know; how many dots should they print in an inch. So to make sure you can do something with it, it is 200 dpi now (I tried at 300 but my system failed). I can send that to you - note that as an admin, I can have a look at your email address - too large to upload it here.

Thanks for trying to find a way around this problem. I really appreciate it.
I haven't had a look at the PDF yet as I am replying from my mobile but as soon as I get to my PC, I will. Just need to think hard of anyone I know that is an expert mac user and call in a favour from them.

Feel free to send through the PNG image. I'll work with whatever I can get my hands on. Sometimes, the solution lies in the most unforseen things.

A quick question. Chris mentioned to place the drawing on a Grid and then print the model to scale of 1:4. Then he said instead of Grids, just measure the Chord and so on. I found the idea with the Grid one that will ensure a great amount of accuracy. My question is how do I draw a grid and place the section cut over it? The horizontal and vertical lines creating the grid can be spaced 4CM evenly apart.

Thanks
Regards
D0me

Hi

@gaieus said:

One problem with the A3/A2 pages in LO that you cannot spread a model through them in 1:1 tiling. So if I use LO, I cannot use 1:1 but if I use straight SU output (for tiling the object), I cannot control tiling and SU will tile the model through an unnecessarily large number of papers.

If we print the model to a PDF file in A1 format, will we get it on a 1:1 scale and if Yes, is there 3rd party software to break apart the A1 model in to multiple A3 pages.

If not, are there any aternatives you can think of.

1 idea comes to mind. Is it possible to print my model to 1:1 scale in a JPEG image format?
The reason I ask is because maybe I can print it to a JPEG format and then crop out sections of the arc one at a time. The cropped size will be just enough to fit an A3 page. With a little bit of effort and a steady hand, I should be able to cut apart the entire arc and fit it onto multiple A3 pages. This is just a thought. I don't even know if it will work or even make much sense.

Thanks
Regards
D0me

Hi Guys

@chrisglasier said:

OR

More simply get SU to give you the dimensions of the chord and the distance between the mid points of the chord and the arc and mark those on the plywood. Use the plywood rule as above.

Sorry bit sleepy talking about a grid!

Thanks for the image which further clarifies your explanation. I now understand it much better and I am now on the same "Wave Length" as you. I will give your advice a try. Just 1 question. Since I don't have any plywood lying around, what else can I use to bend around the nails to create the curve?

As a tripple check, once Gaieus finds a solution to print the model Spanned accross multiple A3/A2 pages, I can place each curve over the ones I draw manually. This way, I can use chippies rule improvised a bit, Measure Thrice, cut once.

Thanks
Regards
D0me

@gaieus said:

OK, I see the reason for the 1:1. I'll see what can be fit on what kind of paper. The problem with the straight SU output is that you can never set the tiling normally and SU tends to print the model all over a whole chapter of papers.

Thanks Gaieus
I'll wait for you to come up with a solution.

Chris, I'm reading through your post, trying to understand what was said. I find it a little bit confusing but I'm sure after reading it a few times, ill make sense of what's said.

Thanks guys
Regards
D0me

Hi Gaieus

@gaieus said:

No Dome,

It seems that your whole dome would not fit only on an A1 paper in scale 1:1.

Would only part of the model, that is 1 quarter (slice) of my dome, namely the Sand and Refractory dome as described in my previous post fit onto an A1 page?

@gaieus said:

I happen to have LayOut, too, where it is much easier to place a SU model into paper space, align it and whatnot but even when I tried to put the model on an A2 landscape paper (like two A3 portrait side by side), it only fit at 1:2.

So we'll probably need 4 X A3 portrait Side by Side to fit it to a 1:1 scale? If so and can be done that way, it will just make my task of putting a puzzle together a little more tedious but possible which I am fine with.

@gaieus said:

Why exactly do you need it 1:1?

The reason for a 1:1 scale is because once printed, I can use it as is to trace out the lines of my dome straight onto wood to make my Curved Wood Spinner as well as other guides to help build the dome and from the section cuts you helped me create, I get all the info I need to make my task of building the dome easier.
However since this is the first time I am doing a sketch (not 1 of my forte's actually until you made the tutorial so exciting and vibrant that I couldn't resist but go further and further), I may be taking this approcach the wrong way and if so, please can you advise me how to do this the right way for example print my model to A3 on a scale that's maybe 1:4 and then sketch it out manually on a larger suface that can accomodate such a large drawing or whatever other ideas and advice you have?

Thanks
Regards
D0me

Hi Gaieus

I’ve managed to enable the Scale text box to allow me to input a scale of 1:1 but still something doesn’t seem right.

When I click print preview and then page through the pages and when I come back to my first page, my model disappears. I have to exit the preview and redo the print preview. Anyways that may be a bug in SU and not a real train smash to keep going back and forth.

Going forward is where I'm really having some issues. I’ve attached a PDF of my model to scale but every time I change my scale to 1:1, my page size increases by almost double and then when I change it back to the size of which an A3 page should be, my scale goes to, for e.g 1:1.5
I then measured my model to see if logically, it can fit onto an A3 page and I found it wont fit on 1 page but by overlapping it onto 2, it will fit perfectly, which is fine as I can match the 2 after printing almost like a puzzle but I cant seem to get my model to evenly spread over 2 pages. The brown dome for e.g is 12” (Width) X 13” (Height). An A3 page is 11.69” (Width) X 16.54 (Height).

Can we evenly spread both domes across 2 pages? The first half will be on the first page and preferably centered and not too much towards the edge as this can be a problem because my printer doesn’t print right at the end so we need to leave a slight margin. Same with the second half. It needs to be a little away from the edge.
Really appreciate your assistance.

Thanks
Regards
D0me

Dome V2 Final redone.pdf

Hi Guys

@gaieus said:

Who said that? I for instance scratch my head every time I have to count like 1' 3/16" instead of some "normal" metric...

Sorry Gaieus, it was my misconception.
I will check my views and camera positions and I'm sure that will sort my problem out.

I have been toying with the Volume plugin and need assistance on the following..

Firstly, when TIG first introduced me to the Volume Plugin, he mentioned that “Accuracy” can be set when proceeding with the volume calculation. Now when I right click on a quarter dome piece, and select “Volume”, I don’t see the accuracy option in there (Screenshot Attached). Do I need to enable it somewhere?

Secondly, when I tried to get the Volume of the Sand Dome at the entrance, I received the error (Image Attached). What do I need to do here to rectify this error?

Thanks
Regards
D0me

Hi Gaieus

Thanks for showing me how to make my section cuts.
I have successfully done so with no problems. I still didn’t get a chance to sort out the problem on my last dome (Brown) but as soon as I have some time, I will. For now since I am way behind schedule, I am using your model and will work on it further until I sort out the Brown Dome and Entrance not meeting on my model.

By the way, my unit of measure I have been using is Inches though the standard unit of measure here is metric. I try and use inches only since it’s easier to understand and it’s a standard unit of measure used by everyone here.

My next part of the plan is to print this model to scale. I have been playing around with the print functionality and find it quite self explanatory though I couldn’t find my way around certain things.

For 1, I couldn’t seem to print my model to the exact same size and dimensions as it is on SU. What I am trying to do is print 2 pieces of my model for now. The 2 pieces are my Brown Dome (Sand) and Grey Dome (Refractory). I thought I should print only 1 pair of slices of my dome at a time, each pair on a different page. The 1 pair I speak of is any one of the quarters of the back side of my dome which consist of only the Sand and Refractory Dome. The other pair I need is the front portion of the dome where the entrance is and doesn't really matter at this time which quarter it is, left or right. I have attached an image of the pieces I wish to print as an example. From my measurements, I think and correct me if I am wrong, I may be able to fit one pair quarter dome of both the refractory and sand dome on a single A3 page but if not then maybe an A2 page. I have a printer that is A3 but if bigger is required, then I would get it printed by a print shop. I tried to change the scale of my print to 1 Inch on Model = 1 Inch on paper, but that part is “Grayed Out”.

Thanks
Regards
D0me

Hi Gaieus

@gaieus said:

What should I "instruct" now?

Sorry, when I saw this post , I replied back stating that I will wait for further instructions from you not realizing that you have already posted the instructions here .

@gaieus said:

How about those section cuts? Did you manage to get that plugin to work for you?

I haven’t got that to work yet.

@gaieus said:

Well, I did all the screenshots and commented them but later realised that they were useless as there was something else.

They may be useful/relevant fo another series but this needs to be fixed first.

You did mention above that we first need to fix the problem with the brown dome before the screenshots you created can be usefull. Any chance you can post instructions on how to “Place my section plane” and then use my “Section Cut” plugin to see what it does to my model.

In the mean time, I am following your instructions to sort out my Brown Dome. I guess the sharp curve you mentioned here will automatically get solved when I start to work on this Brown Dome

Thanks
Regards
D0me

Thanks Gaieus

I'll wait for further instruction from you.

Regards
D0me

Hi Gaieus

Did you have any luck with this problem on the entrance and last dome?

Thanks
Regards
D0me

Thanks a million.

Regards
D0me

Hi Gaieus

I'm sure you are working on a fix already?
I'll wait to hear from you before proceeding with any further.

Thanks and sorry for adding extra work for you.
Just don't know what went wrong and really appreciate all your help.

Regards
D0me

Hi Gaieus

Thanks for picking up the problem with my last dome. Didn't realise that myself.

Should there be need for concern on that last dome not touching the entrance?

@gaieus said:

So basically I have not done any useful now.

I didn't quite understand what you meant in the quote above. Did you mean that you haven't done anything useful?

Thanks
Regards
D0me

Hi Gaieus

Thanks for cleaning up the entrance further. May I ask how to sort out the sharp curve in the entrance as I’ve tried but continuously failed so I just left it as is?

@gaieus said:

Restart SU and when you placed a section plane correctly, right click and "Make section cut" (or something like that). It will add a group with faces inside which "cover" all the hollows for you.

I’ve added the plugin to my plugins folder in program files. I restarted SU but now I am a stage where I need to place my section plane and I don’t know how. Please can you assist me in placing my section plane and then use the section cut plugin to see what is does to my model?

Thanks
Regards
D0me

Hi Gaieus

Thanks for the step by step on how to add the pipe to my model.
I redid my model from scratch and incorporated the pipe from the beginning as you advised. All went well. I’ve attached my model. May I ask that you take a quick look at it too see if anything seems amiss.

Now I am ready to print my model to scale.

@gaieus said:

Now I also added a section plane to the model so that you can print the section cut to scale. Certainly the cut looks quite ugly this way but with some plugins we can easily fix that later

How do I go about adding section plane to my model?
The cuts on the model you posted in the above post did look quite ugly. Can you show me how to use a plugin to fix this?

Thanks
Regards
D0me

Dome V2 Final.skp

Hi Gaieus

The pipe is 2" diameter and about 5mm Thick.

Thanks