how to add a wall thickness

[yllis]

Lo!
I'm a noob, so bear with me.
I have drawn a figure in Rhino. Its shaped a bit like a cigar cut in half. It is not symmetrical. Not even close.
Now I need to change the figure so that it would have a wall thickness (to print it with 3d printer).
Do you have any suggestions how to do this in easy way.
Thanks already in advance.
T:a

[flyinchips]

There is a web site just for you. It is called CADJUNKIE.com There are free RHINO tutorials on this site. It is basically a 6 week college course starting with the basics and ending by creating 3D objects. I think what you are looking for is in week 4. Here's a link:
<http://cadjunkie.com/1239/rhino-basics-week-04> Don't be shy, this is a good place to learn Rhino look around, you're certain to find exactly what you need.

Cheers

[Sixtyten]

Originally Posted by yllis Lo! I'm a noob, so bear with me. I have drawn a figure in Rhino. Its shaped a bit like a cigar cut in half. It is not symmetrical. Not even close. Now I need to change the figure so that it would have a wall thickness (to print it with 3d printer). Do you have any suggestions how to do this in easy way. Thanks already in advance. T:a

By 'figure', do you mean a solid? Or just one surface?

If it is as simple as a base curve that was extruded in an even fashion, then I'd just offset the base curve, extrude that, and just join up all the surfaces (may need to draw up some additional surfaces to link these two surfaces and, thus, define the actual 'thickness').

If it's a solid/polysurface then I'd probably just scale3d it from the center of the solid. Although, I'm not entirely sure if that'd work in your case, as you say that it's very asymmetrical.

[C.Logan]

I don't know how to do it on a NURBS object,

But if you cast a mesh over the object, there's a function to make a "shell", which will automatically form a new mesh with your internal geometry.

[tominaustin]

If you haven't tried it yet, the OFFSET command is pretty handy.

I used it to create a wall thickness on a cone-shaped part a while back. Works pretty good - you just have to learn how to "extend" and/or "trim" edges correctly in order to put final surface in (using "loft" command) prior to creating a .stl file. Here's some examples - http://www.wetbike.me/index.php/3d-g...-related-items

Here's the steps I took for my project - looked like a trumpet with a .10 wall thickness when done.


1. Create cone and "flare" on end
Make it all one surface (using join command)
2. Offset (to the outside) .10
3. Create surface (to be used to trim outer flare) and trim
4. Use Join command to create surface between outer and inner flare end
Then use the "join" command and the solid is created

Note: if you use the offset command and go INSIDE a cone, you'll get a titwangler at the point. It's geometry that cannot be solved - and you'll never get a solid made properly. I think you can change the resolution or something to make it work, but haven't been successful doing it yet.

Just my .02 worth - hope that helps

TomInAustin