Cutting Model in Two for Print?

Hello all, very new to 3D printing. I do however have a background in SolidWorks that partially answers my question but I am wondering if there is an easier way.


Many of the parts that are on thingiverse require support material of some sort. I look at these parts though, and I can see that if the part were modeled in two pieces and then glued back together the support material would not be needed. My question is: Does MatterControl (or any other software) allow you to simply “cut” a part for printing? Imagine for instance a bucket with a brim. There is no way to print this as one without support material, but if I can cut it in half I can print the bottom in normal orientation and flip the top over for the brim, then use CA glue to glue together. Boom, no support material. I can do this in SolidWorks but if the ability exist within the print software I rather do it there. If this exists what is this functionality called? (I am trying to google search things, but it is difficult without knowing definitions).

 

You can do it with netfabb basic which is free. Or you can buy S3D and use support. Their support is very very easy to remove. I have done both and prefer the support method.

 

I concur with the support method as well. Using S3D's support correctly makes it a breeze to remove.

In some cases, I have used netfabb to cut apart STL files and then print them separately. I've also used S3D and positioned the part so that the floor intersects the model and slicing it that way. A little bit easier, IMNTOBHO, but not applicable in all cases (such as the bucket example you gave).

 

Thanks for the responses.

 

have you tried meshmixer? I believe you can do it in that program.

 

as a mater of fact I just tried it in Meshmixer and yes you can cut a part in half

 

Here I select plane cut

then, decide where to make the cut, in the top left pop up box under cut type, select slice

once you've accepted the cut go to edit,seperate shells

now you'll be able to select either have and do what you want with them

 

Unfortunately though, as with Nettfab, you can only cut in planes, unless you buy the full version (Nettfab that is, don't know about Meshmixer). I blew up a model of the Star Trek Enterprise and was too big for the printer, so I cut it up in Nettfab, but some of the parts had pieces that stuck out beyond the cutting plane, so I had to make multiple cuts along all 3 planes. Made for a lot more work, but I'm in no position to pay the megabucks for the Pro version.