Hello,
I have been using Shapr3D on my iPad to design pieces for a boardgame. I am trying to figure out how to create hollow cavities/chambers (specifically spheres) inside of the edges of hex tiles so that I can pause the 3D printer at the layer where the cavity is mostly formed and drop ball magnets in, then resume printing so that the magnets are captured within the tile so I don’t have to worry about orientation or adhesives. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. I am fairly new to this program, so the more detail, the better. Thanks.
I would just cut the ball in half and subtract what you need like the magnet.
Once you have a model complete.
Add a plane in the direction you will want to split the body, keeping in mind which way you are going to print it.
Position the plane at the height you want to split.
now select the split body tool and the model you want to split.
Select the plane to split the model.
pull the two halves apart.
now make the hole in the face you want to put the object in.
finally once you have your cavity (hole)
use the align tool to dock the two parts of the model back together
boolean add the two parts.
it is simpler than it sounds
You can draw the hole you want as an object
Position it where you want the hole
and then boolean the two bodies
This will just create a void inside
Actually you dont even need to union it, when you export as STL it kinda union it for you in the slicer, but not sure which slicer your using.
Thank you! I finally got it to work. As a follow-on question: is there any way to copy or move the move the cavity once it’s formed?
I’m using PrusaSlicer
Ok this is more of a time saving suggestion, you don’t need to union for Prussa Slicer. As long as you export as single STL Prusa merges upon import.
I used to import STEP files in the slicer and realized STL gets merged and STEP do not.
Thanks! I’ll make sure to do that.
This one I’m not sure if Prussa Slicer does it, but if you do not union and import as STEP, it automatically adds Pauses in Orca Slicer.
You do not have to split a body to subtract a cavity. In your case a cylinder would be ideal. You simply move the cylinder body to be subtracted into the tile body you want the cavity in and subtract it.
You can use the items panel to select bodies moved into other bodies where they can’t be normally selected. With good planning use the move tool to precisely move the subtracting body into the body.
Then the rest is done in the slicer.
The sphere cavity would have to be significantly larger than the sphere magnet or it will cause problems. The cavity has to be large enough to drop the sphere and not interfere with the nozzle path. And risky if your are using hardened steel nozzle.
You can move after subtract, you can do that from the history panel.
This is little tricky would have needed to preplan to make it work.
If your hexagon tiles are flat on top and bottom faces, I would print them in two halves and glue them together.
You can have locating holes and pins (Mortice and Tenons) for alignment.
The magnets can be dropped in before gluing the two halves together.
You will get the build plate finish on top and bottom.
I did this hinge design in halves, because it has captive M4 nuts and a 3mm Stainless shaft inside.
I have made simple 3D prints of pieces with hollow areas. I would pause the print and insert a part then continue the print. I also use Prusaslicer. Here’s a simple modeling method by using semi-transparency as a tool. Hope this helps.
And an easy to add a fillet radius if you like.
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