CC Cyclone
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| posted on 29/3/17 at 12:06 PM |
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CAD format for 3d part production ?
Hello,
I have a 3d CAD model that a friend has produced for me for some parts and bodywork parts that I will likely outsource to get made. I imagine it will
be CNC produced.
He has asked what format I require the file to be and whether i need it 'smoothed' or not. Can anyone shed any light on the best / most
versatile format for the drawings for sending to companies t work from? I used 3d studiomax years ago but am behind the times now with formats etc.
Also anyone any idea of smoothed vs unsmoothed?!
Thanks In Advance...
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HowardB
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| posted on 29/3/17 at 12:51 PM |
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the most universal formats are STP and IGES, however these don't contain any more information other than the geometry.
No idea on smoothed vs non - not a clue.
Howard
Fisher Fury was 2000 Zetec - now a 1600 (it Lives again  and goes zoom)
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nick205
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| posted on 29/3/17 at 02:41 PM |
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At work we send files using STP and IGES for sheet metal and injection moulded parts.
When looking to have parts CNC machined it may pay to ask the companies what file format they prefer. I believe some CNC CAD accepts other file
formats an the analyses them to set tool types and paths etc. That said I'm not a machinist so there may well be some caveats on what's
possible.
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Bunje
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| posted on 29/3/17 at 03:50 PM |
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im a machinist in a tool room all of our files are iges files including 3d models. most places have the capability to translate the files inot there
own formats anyway so i wouldnt worry too much.
as for smoothing youd need elaborate slightly on what you mean. if a 3d model isnt smooth it will show in the machining process depending on the
tolerance used. if you imagin a radius is made up of lots of little lines they need to be smooth to mesh together to get a clean radius on the part.
if thats what you mean by smoothing then id say yes.
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tegwin
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| posted on 29/3/17 at 04:26 PM |
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All of the 3D printing houses I use accept various formats. I prefer to use .STL as its a pretty standard format.
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WesBrooks
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| posted on 6/4/17 at 03:44 PM |
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I'd avoid stl as it is a poor format often corrupted and not easily editied after generation other than simple scaling and offsetting. STL is
popular with Additive Manufacturing / 3D printing because it creates a faceted model which is needed for the slicing. When exporting most people
default to outputting at the highest resolution making the files needlessly large and causing increased processing time when working with the files.
Also no explicit conectivity information for the vertexes of the triangles means the slicing (or cnc path generation) software can add unwanted
features to your models which require additional time to clean up. Most service providers will be able to convert files to STL if needed from step at
a resolution that best suits their equipment. Its been a few years since I've been on the front line of CAD systems but I would look for a
feature based common format to work with.
http://doctrucker.wordpress.com
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