Can I Submit My Model With Thin Wall Sections?

Discussion in 'Design and Modeling' started by Bill_B, Aug 29, 2016.

  1. Bill_B
    Bill_B Member
    I had an engine block printed a month ago which I had to remove all the bolt holes near edges, and thicken all the flange areas to get it to pass inspection. It took a lot of time to make an accurate template to re drill all the holes, and then mill all the flanges back to specs. It looks great, but If I have to do that much work to make the model acceptable I don't see how printing is gaining me anything. I was thinking of making the flanges at home out of metal, and then attaching them to the printed model.

    Is there some trick to making thin walls? I tried beveling the edges, but I still get the errors. I see other models that appear to have thin sections. How is that done? I have been trying to get 3 more parts past inspection this evening without any luck.

    Thanks
    Bill
     
  2. okaricraft
    okaricraft Active Member
    From what I understand the "thin walls" warning has to be taken with a grain of salt. As I understand it from someone explaining it on another post, shapeways software divides the model into a series of small cubes to check for thickness, if it finds any cubes with dimensions that indicate below limits it flags a warning. Meaning even if its just a detail it may flag a small section as too thin. Pictures of what your trying to print (with the thin wall warning) would definitely help us tell you if its a risk or not.
     
  3. Bill_B
    Bill_B Member
    Thanks for that information.

    Here is a picture of the thin sections.

    Making the flange thinner isn't really that much of a concern, but drilling holes inside small tubes is asking for a ruined part. I was going to try to make the holes very small, and then put a large chamfer on them so they would be more like a center punch mark.
    head and covers.JPG
     
  4. NoahLI
    NoahLI Well-Known Member
    it may be okay depending on the geometry, material, and the production engineer doing the manual checks. with WSF You may be able to get away with ~0.1mm under the specified minimum. Anything less you run the risk of uneven print or breaking during cleaning.
     
  5. Bill_B
    Bill_B Member
    Thanks Noah, but what is WSF? :) The material is High Def Acrylic. It had the fewest errors. The parts are small and solid.

    I'll make a few more corrections then just submit it.
     
  6. okaricraft
    okaricraft Active Member
    WSF is shorthand around here for White Strong & Flexible.