Manufacturing

Manufacturing is where the design stops being a design and becomes a piece that somebody has to print, cast and finish. The tab is laid out in the order the work actually happens: lay the models out, repair and lighten them, check they will survive casting, resize, sprue, and export.

The cards below follow the ribbon top to bottom, group by group.

Breakdown Settings

The costing and process setup the rest of the section reads from — metals, processes and the rules used to break a piece down.

• Breakdown SettingsMetals, processes and the rules every cost and weight comes from.

Import and Organize

Getting models into the file, laid out and multiplied before anything else.

• Import to LayersBring several files in at once, each one onto its own layer.
• DistributeSpread the models across the build plate without overlaps.
• CopiesMultiply a model into the number of pieces you need to cast.
• Quick CheckA fast pass over the selection looking for what would stop a print.

Repair and Optimize

Making the mesh printable, and making it small enough to handle.

• Automatic RepairOne click fixes naked edges, non-manifold geometry and holes.
• Repair step by stepRhino's Mesh Repair panel: check, review and fix each problem.
• Decimator by ToleranceReduce the polygon count while staying inside a distance tolerance.
• Decimator by PercentageReduce the polygon count by a straight percentage of the original mesh.

Analyze

Whether the piece will survive casting: thick enough, closed, sound.

• ThicknessMeasure wall thickness where you point.
• Show EdgesReveal naked and non-manifold edges, the usual reason an STL fails.
• Global ThicknessA thickness map of the whole piece, so thin walls surface on their own.
• CheckRhino's validity report on the object.

Resizing

• Scale RingResizes a ring without distorting its stones and settings.

Sprues

Identify each design on the plate, then attach it to the casting tree. The commands differ in how the sprue reaches the piece — from inside, from outside, as a tree, a helix, a spiral or along a curve you draw.

• Designs IdentifierEngraves a reference on each design to tell them apart after casting.
• Sprue SingleOne sprue on one piece, placed where you click.
• Sprue MultipleSprue a whole set of copies in one operation.
• Inner TreeA full tree built from the inside out.
• Inner BranchesBranches reaching the pieces from inside the tree.
• External BranchesBranches reaching the pieces from outside.
• Sprue CurveA runner frame that follows the piece's own outline.
• External FramesA rounded frame around the pieces, feeding them from the sides.
• Cluster TreeA tree that clusters the pieces around the stem.
• Sprue HelixCopies hung between the turns of a rising helix — made for chain links.
• Sprue SpiralCopies along a flat spiral held over the plate.
• Sprue TreeThe classic casting tree.

Export and Print

The end of the line: out of Rhino and into the printer’s own software.

• PreloadPrepare the models for export.
• Export from LayersOne file per layer, which is how most bureaus want it.
• Export All in OneEverything to a single file.
• 3D PrintSend the plate straight to your printer's own software.
• Asiga ComposerOpen the plate in Asiga's slicer, Composer.
• Formlabs PreFormOpen the plate in Formlabs' slicer, PreForm.
• Geomagic PrintOpen the plate in 3D Systems' slicer, Geomagic Print.
• Photon WorkshopOpen the plate in Anycubic's slicer, Photon Workshop.
• B9 CaptiveOpen the plate in B9Creations' slicer, Captivate.
• Elegoo ChituboxOpen the plate in Chitubox, for Elegoo and other printers.