OK, I'll try meters next 3D printed model.
Again, thanks for the help and advice.

jgb

Dave,
Thanks again. I never knew about using "tab" in Solid Inspector 2. And when I tried it on your first suggestion, I did it wrong.

It took 2 minutes to solidify both components using tab in SI-2.

That would have saved me a lot of time and hair if I had known it before.
Now I can go back and solidify some other "non-solid" models.

Next model I will try using meters instead of centimetres. Just that 10:1 is easier to work with than 100:1 as I have to visualize the model against a ruler to get some sizing correct.

Alternatively, just open the group or component and activate the tool. Saves you from jumping in and out of the object while editing.

Doesn't work for me. What am I missing here?

jgb

@Dave-R

I normally make front/back faces the same, as colour differences show up along edges.

Solid Inspector correctly orients the faces. Yes, in some cases I will temporarily change color on one of a pair of faces to easily see interference's and holes, but when fixed, they go back to a solid colour.

But when I am in the throes of design I keep the part in default "no" colour both sides and if needed, just colour the component as a whole.

When I went back to the model, I cannot see any difference in front/back face colours. How did you see that? How can I fix that?

jgb

@Dave-R

Thank you Dave. That helped a lot to clean up the parts.

However, not the problems I posted.

Solid Inspector never flagged those "overlapped circle" edges, and I never noticed them either. I was looking for red edges.

"Tab" doesn't work in SU 2015, but I'll keep tat in mind when I finally upgrade to SU-2025/26 and a 64 bit PC.

As for model scaling, I draw in centimetres, print in millimetres (10:1).

Any idea on the surface borders and internal face edges?

jgb

It's been a while since I visited this space, and things sure are different.

I was away from Sketchup for over a year and 1/2, but got back to design a prototype model to 3D print. Still with SU 2015 as my PC is still 32 bit.

It all came back to me, but this complex part simply will not go solid. It did at first but I made complex change and now it won't.

SOLID INSPECTOR 2 (which is really great) reports 3 surface borders and 3 internal face edges, but I cannot see any red whatsoever. I use x-ray, scaled up 10 times, close in inspection, but nada. Can't find any red.

I have 2 nearly identical models but both report the same problem.

I need a more experienced set of eyes or better tools to find them for me.

Please, do not fix it for me. Just show me where the problems are.
Swing Table - Lower - with problems.skp
Thanks, jgb

Rich

I tried copying the text of one layer, deleted it, then as you said, Paste-in-place.
I then grouped it with some other text (the screws) and made its layer "DOC"

Then I moved the camera, and all the text moved.

So, not really worth spending a lot of time on. I'll just add a Layer specific to each text block, and show it as needed.

Thanks again.

For some reason I am NOT getting notifications when somebody posts a reply.
I DO have "Notify me when a reply is posted" ticked on.
And yes, my email is correct in account settings.
Sorry I took so long to see your replies.

Anyway, Jean, Bonjour. My SU does not seem to have that dialog box. It is Ver 2015.

Rich, Thanks, I'll try it later in the week when I get a big file saved and cleared.

Anybody????

Yes still with 2015. Haven't upgraded PC to 64 bit.
Anyway, that worked except for what I'm trying to do.

I document some of my drawing layers with free floating text, ie: text without a leader, not pointing to an object.

I usually put it in the upper left corner, and it stays put however I pan or orbit around.
In some cases I will assign the relevant layer to that text so it is only visible when that layer is visible.

But now I need to do something a bit different. Stack a bunch of texts but in a group so I can layer that group (ie: DOC) so they only are visible if both layer DOC and that layer is visible.

The problem is stacking the individual texts in the same spot, because when I tried to do this, they are in different XYZ locations and only seem to be properly stacked from a specific camera angle.

And if I make them a grouped component, and select face camera, they do face camera, but move around as I pan or orbit.

I've attached the .SKP file. It is a set of modifications to an old table saw I have.
If you select layers 2 or 4 or 5 or DOC then pan or orbit, you will see what I mean.
Table Saw Mods

Embarrassed to ask. But it has been a lot of years since I did this.
How do I set "always face camera"?
Can't find the command nor is "F1 help" any help.

First, the lay of the land.

I have SU 2015, buddy has SU-8. Ignoring why neither of us will upgrade, here's the problem.
I created a model in SU 2015, saved in SU-8 format and emailed it as an attachment to him.
I am on a Yahoo ISP, he is on Gmail.

When it arrived, NO ATTACHMENT, not even the ref. to an attachment.

But JPG and MP4 get through no problem. I even tried renaming the ext. to JPG or MP4, same thing. Attachment stripped away. I even sent it from my Gmail account to his. Nada.

I then sent it as a SKP attachment to his other ISP Yahoo, and it got through, but won't load.

So, 2 things to puzzle out.

1. Is Google stripping away SU files in its emails, maybe in spite that Trimbel now owns it?

2. Why won't a converted SU 2015 file to SU-8 load? Is Su 2015 to SU-8 faulty?

I can't use warehouse. It won't accept 2015 files.

Any other ideas??

I need some help. I am running SU 15.3.330 32 bit for now.
I'm getting a new 64 bit PC in a month or so and will upgrade to SU latest.

Why is irrelevant at this time, but if you need to know, ask me.

I ran SU 15 from my old installation but the Fredo Lib was partially corrupted and many tools do not work. I lived with it till now when a tool I really needed was not working.
I want to reload Fredo Lib but the only one I can find is for SU 17+.

Where can I find a copy of Fredo Lib for SU 15 32 bit?

I do exactly the same thing.

I just need to visualize the object in real size. If I needed to extrude something 6 mm I just pull up 6.

No mental math involved unless I have a real world object whose dimensions are in inches and I have to model it. Then I use a calculator, (inch to mm), again, no mental math.

Our methods are the same, just the scale is different. For what I am doing I need to mentally imagine the item at true full size from the measurements I see in SU. 10:1 is easier for me.

Yes, quite true, especially for really small printed stuff.
But for me, divide by 10 is mentally far easier than divide by 1,000.

Further to my previous reply, I forgot a very important parameter to set in SU.

Model scale.

For the size most printers can make, you need curves with very short segments, but SU doesn't work well with very short lines, especially at the high resolution most printers are capable of.

So you need to use a large scale for the drawing. Then in your slicer scale it down to life size.

The simplest way is to go metric for the drawing, and draw in centimetres, where 1 cm is 1 mm printed. A 10:1 scale that is easy to visualize and compute. It is just a simple mental moving of the decimal point in your measurements.

I know it is tough for North Americans to work in metric. Even for me, in Canada, which is supposedly metric, but not us old folks. I only use metric for 3D print designs. F.P.S everything else.

Then all you need to do is set the slicer at a 10:1 ratio and print. No complex ratio conversion math.

One other thing. For curves in your model, such as bearing mounts, gear teeth, use a high number of segments. That will allow a smoother fit. Same with bolt holes that are not threaded by the bolt. For screws and bolt holes that are force threaded by the screw/bolt, go with larger segments, I use 12 for a full circle. That will give a bit more thread bite in the final part, so fewer segments in the hole are not critical.

Where curve surface smoothness is not important, use large segments. That will also speed up the printing a fair bit.

Finally, you really need to experiment with practice parts at various segment sizes, nozzle sizes and slicer parameters before printing for real.

The top back edge is also smoothed. If you unsmooth just that line and the one below (in the back) then the top will not be over smoothed.

The only other way you can get less smoothed top surface is to create a small smoothed radius on the top & bottom back edges. The size of the radius will control how much smoothing you do want.

Turn "Show Hidden Geometry" on. Then using the "shift+Ctrl+erase tool" select the lines you want unsmoothed and unsoftened. You can play with combinations to get smooth unsoft or soft unsmoothed lines and that will take care of your over smoothed surfaces.

Then turn show hidden geometry off.

You can also select any line(s) and change the smooth or soft or hidden attribute in Entity Info.

Normally, my large models (250,000+ lines) saves in about 2 to 3 seconds to my SSD and autosaves are equally fast.

I started a new model a few weeks ago and some time back its save time went to over a full minute, averaging 70 seconds. Its size is about 110,000 lines. Autosave is normal, 3 seconds or less. This new model is similar to another model that saves normally, and that model is way larger as well.

I ran "fix problems" and after about a minute, no problems found. Copies of the model save the same way.

All my other big models save in the usual time of a few seconds.

Any ideas?

SU 2015, Win 10

I have been considering that path. Just too lazy to do it.

In the mean time, ver 2015 is up and "almost" working. A lot of KB shortcuts are missing.
And when I cold start 2015 I get a long list of load errors (attached). I have a long list of plugins and extensions some seem to work, others are MIA.

I know I have to reload some (hopefully not all) so if someone can tell me which plugins failed to load, I would appreciate that.
If you need it, I can screenshot the plugins directory.