Hi
Simple question for you guys.
I have to embed a body within a body so I can 3D print in a different colour. I thought simple but it has shown a few issues.
First I tried creating the first object - a disc 3mm thick, then add text to the surface of the disc and use offset face with new object selected to a depth of say 1mm. This appears to work but a weird surface effect occurs and it does not act like an embedded object. It does not show in wireframe view although it will show it to you if selected!
Second tried creating the disc again making it 3mm thick then hiding it then adding text and using offset face again making the text 2mm thick then showing the original disc again - that does appear to work as far as printing in colour but has to be exported on .obj but does not show in wireframe view.
Is there a much more simple approach to this?
Cheers
PeteM
Can you share a visual please.
This is just a test disc to try the principle. As you can see there are three bodies the disc, zero and one but the numbers are shown when selected (zero selected) but not even though they are 3D bodies. The 1 is the same depth as the zero. This when exported as a .obj does not show in the slicer software.
Cheers
PeteM
Various ways I use depending on what Im trying to do. But this works well for me:
Sketch or project or wrap the text onto the surface. Use the offset tool to make an outline slightly bigger. Also remember the inside of certain letters (triangle on the A, circle in the O).
Sink (pocket) into the face.
Use the original sketchy to make objects for each letter. Sometimes helps to isolate the sketch.
Set those into the pockets. Ensure they are touching the main object body.
Now you should be able to select each of the objects individually,
I use .3mf for the export into bambulab or Orca.
For the export I isolate the bodies I need, select them and output a single 3mf. The slicer will see these as individual bodies. Add them to the build plate as a single object. An option may pop up to this effect. You will be able to select the objects for colour selection.
I’ve shown a fairly big offset here (relative to the size of the lettering). You can make this as small as you want, even a perfect fit. I like to leave a little gap. Think it gives a better visual impact.
Thanks
I will try that. The separate objects should fix it.
What I do is use the offset face tool to the character but instead of letting them recess I check the new body option. It looks ok but it seems to confuse the software. Which I suppose is understandable. A solid object inside a solid object doesn’t make sense. Except when there is a colour difference.
Cheers
PeteM
For simple colour inserts like this I often just project the edges on the surface and later paint it in the slicer.
What I like about this method is that you can round the edges. Looks like an inserted piece. Premium craftsman if you like.
Used this method on my ‘laundry buddy.
That’s very cool!
I guess it depends on what you need. If you need it to be completely flat, I find it easiest to just do a simple edge projection. Can be a bit tedious to paint in the slicer because you may need to paint by polygon, but in the absence of a real multi-color export option it’s as quick as it gets I find.
Multi-part export works as well of course, but for sharing purposes I do prefer to have pieces as actual single objects. Plus I like to be able to set the paint-depth in the slicer instead of pre-designing it in CAD.
Nice. I still have some of those disks (were they 3 1/4 or something) from back in the 90s.
