Hi All,

I have been working with this shape for quite some time. As you can see there are a number of operations in the tree. I am having some troubles with the object at this point because I cannot slice it long ways along the pointed edge without creating an error.

I was able to slice outside of the middle but that isn't much help toward the goal of shelling.

I can go to TC Surface and slice it but then I lose detail. If I go to ACIS solid with an explode I still have the same issues. If I could shell from the ACIS solid that would be ok.

I am trying to find some steps to take to get this object to shell out properly. Do you have any recommendations?

I'm using Turbocad 21 Professional.

Best Regards,
Dean

What size are you using for the Shell tool? I can use "-1/64" or "-1/32", but not "-1/16". I couldn't Slice until I exploded a copy, but it only sliced in certain areas.

Hi John,

I was trying to slice down the center. I see in the file that you attached that you sliced the object off center. It also appears that an artifact has formed. In the image the artifact  is in the middle bottom, it is also in your file that I downloaded. I was trying to shell with a wall thickness of 0.055" as that is the thickness that the material has to be. I have never been able to get the shell command to work properly with more complex than basic shapes.

Could you explain more about "exploding a copy". Is this more complicated than using the explode button? As I noted above I had to explode all the way back to TC surface before I could get the object to slice and this reduced the resolution to lower than an ACIS solid. Could you detail more here.

In some instances I have had to explode the object, Then shut down and restart turbocad to get basic tools to work right again. For instance if I am working in a file and draw a circle out in space somewhere and extrude it. It does not create a new solid file. It creates a an object that has a wire frame and a limited resolution.

Hi Dean,

All I did was make a normal copy of the original object, then explode it once. I didn't need all the baggage.

I tried this again with your "0.055" Shell thickness, but kept the PartTree info this time around. I used -0.055 (minus) to shell, otherwise the part gets larger if I use a positive number. It worked okay. Still couldn't slice or subtract, but I could subtract a box that was offset by 0.00001. I did this with two copies; one for the top and one for the bottom. I could then subtract a second box along the center for the bottom, but not the top. The leftover bit on the top piece is too small to worry about (at least for me). You have to zoom all the way in to see it.

I can shell the object, but I cannot slice it as you require. To shell it, I used the Facet Editor to select all the faces of the object, then applied Create Surface>From Face(s), and then shelled the resulting object.

Henry H

Had a quick look at your solid and one of the reasons for the problems is what probably should not have the central dividing line of the top and bottom faces... These are flat yes?

Even if they are slightly out of true the Fillet Tool Preview shows that the faces are not meeting up as you should not be able to fillet like this as it is not linking to the other face with a break..See attached..

> exploded object
> Sat Healing
> Sliced by current workplane
> Shell -.03

> exploded object
> Sat Healing
> Sliced by current workplane
> Shell -.03

SAT Healing seems to  be the secret. Didn't think of that.

Henry H

Thanks. I will try these.

Very odd.  Using 2018, the original object Shelled to -0.03, but TurboCAD crashed when I tried to save the file (didn't even drop down the File sub-menu items); this happened both times.

Re-starting the first time got a Windows Compatibility popup.  And the Open Last Edited option referred to an earlier file (but clicking on Open File defaulted to this file).

Third time was the charm, but I used the mouse to open the File / Save As requester instead of my usual <Alt> Menu selection method, so that's a bug of some sort.

Attached is the file after I 3D Sliced the object.  It failed when I V-snapped to the outermost vertices, so I manually clicked just below that vertex in Front view to get this result.


Jeff