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by ravel-bar-foo 1231 days ago
Can FreeCAD save .stl files yet? Last time I tried it (2019) the exported models (made only from extrusions and rotations) were totally broken.

I want to script up these models in python, but if I can't print them then it's not useful to me.
5 comments
jstanley 1231 days ago
I've never had any problem with FreeCAD-generated STL files, and I've made hundreds, and I've been using it since 2017.

Can you share a FreeCAD project & the generated broken STL file and I'll see if I can reproduce the problem?

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JohnFen 1229 days ago
It is possible (and pretty easy) to use FreeCAD in a way that it will generate faulty STL files. It all depends on how you did the modelling in FreeCAD. I think it's an example of how there are many ways to accomplish something in it, but some of those ways are wrong -- and you won't know it at the time.

What I do when I get a faulty STL out of it is to use other programs to fix the STL. That gets me there. And many slicers these days (especially Prusa) are getting much better at doing this themselves, making it less necessary to do it as a separate step.

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TrevorFSmith 1231 days ago
Hey there. Yes, I've had really good luck with exporting STL (and STEP) files for slicing in Cura or Prusa Slicer. My STEP files have been imported into MasterCAM for generating CNC milling gcode and it seems good.

As mentioned in a previous reply, a lot has been improved in three years so it's probably worth giving it another go and filing a bug if you find an issue.

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regularfry 1231 days ago
I do a lot of this. Sometimes I do notice PrusaSlicer complaining about the geometry, but I can't remember seeing an instance where the export was broken beyond the slicer's ability to cope with it.

There might be something specific in your workflow that's running into a bug I see though. If you still see problems today it might be worth a bug report.

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regularfry 1231 days ago
Just to add to this: 0.18 was the first version of FreeCAD I ever used. 0.20.2 is dramatically better in several important respects, to the point where 0.19 and even 0.20.0 feel like major regressions if I ever have to open them. It's well worth giving newer versions a try.
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jononor 1230 days ago
Yes, it works fine since years. I have made around 200 objects (and many iterations on each) using the Part Design workbench, that have been 3d printed with Cura. STL export has never been a problem.
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tadfisher 1231 days ago
Hmm, I've definitely saved simple models in STL and STEP for EDA parts, and it seemed fine. But these were edits of existing models.
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