Hello, thanks in advance for any help. I have a little project I am trying to do-- I would like to merge a “Mag quadsafe universal adapter” with a Galaxy Fold 3 case. I have both STLs and i began playing with blender yesterday, and it’s possibly a little above my head.
What it seems like the steps are from my (peprhaps simplistic) point of view:
- trim the openings on mag quad adapter to fit the camera lens and side buttons when it is perfectly centered on the case.
- delete a square the exact size of the magsafe quadlock adapter that is perfectly centered on the back of the phone case
- put the current model from the mag quad stl in thus square
The only thing I’ve been able to accomplish thus far is centering the mag quad adapter on top of the case. I cannot, for the life of me, figure out how to trim in to fit the camera and side button openings…
Any help is greatly appreciated, even if it’s just a starting point.
If you want to use blender for this you should be able to use a boolean operation to combine the two bodies you import. Your computer should do the second step for you in any reasonable modeling software.
Prusaslicer has some pretty good stl manipulation tools built-in these days. You can merge, split, add common shapes, subtract shapes, etc.
From the outside looking in, it seems like you should be able to do everything you want right in the slicer.
I’ve found this to be preferable for working with existing stl’s (not as useful for editing) if you dont have the actual step files or 3mf files available.
Does something like this works for you?
https://drive.google.com/file/d/15lq4Fz3rzJdIM7iXbC3JB79-IPjsTIzY/view?usp=sharing
I just imported the 2 stls in blender put them together, like in the same place as you wanted
Selected both as seen in the image, then File -> export -> STL. Make sure you have “selection only”.
Export it, open it in your favorite slicer, and that should work.
Blender can do a lot, I use it to design and modify a lot of things from thingiverse too, and I have learned a lot of tricks on blender too.
I also want to learn freecad to do stuff from scratch, but in the meantime blender does what I need.
EDIT: Most probably I did not understand the requirement correctly, is this supposed to have a hole? hit me up if you want, happy to help https://discord.com/users/poringo#6290
Another Edit: Oh something like this?
Something like that last image is exactly what I’m trying to do! I probably could have described it better.
I think it’s probably a bit more complex than I thought, and I’m not sure it’s doable it tinkerCAD (i couldn’t find any way to trim objects…perhaps i’m just missing it). I’m gonna play with windows 3d builder soon when I get a chance I think.
If you can’t make it work with other programs you could do this with the boolean modifier in blender. I’ll give you a rough rundown of the necessary steps.
To cut the adapter to the right size you first create a cylinder that has the correct circumference and place it in the centre of the adapter. Then you select the adapter object and add a boolean modifier that should look like this.
You can then apply the modifier (by clicking on the small arrow in the upper right corner of the modifier card) and remove the cylinder again.
if you are happy with the result you can then move on to the next step. You could now merge the adapter again with a boolean modifier (although this time you have to select union) but if you want it to be recessed in the case you have to do another step first otherwise it would just fill the recess in the adapter model you have. You simply add another cylinder and scale it so it is slightly larger than the recess in the adapter and remove it from the case again by using a boolean modifier but with difference selected this time.
I hope this helps a bit. I know that if you don’t know blender this explanation won’t be enough to do this but if you have any questions then feel free to ask.
I found windows 3d builder to be very beginner friendly for modifying basic shapes.
So, out of the box, blender is not a cad tool and it’s not a good option for anything that requires any amount of precision- there are extensions that will help, I’d just as soon suggests any other cad tool.
That said, if you can, link the files you’re using and the, we could give give you a more precise work flow.
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4935721 (right cover stl) and https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5704716 are the two files I’m trying to merge. I’m gonna try playing with windows 3d builder as someone suggested as well
The process is pretty simple. “difference”, “subtract” or “hole” (tinkercad. don’t ask me why they call it that.) all do the same thing. It’s a boolean operation that removes one shape from another shape.
you create the shape and subtract the middle bit (a square slightly smaller than the adapter part itself.) Then put the adapter centered in the gap, and use a second boolean operation (usually called “join”, tinker cad calls this “grouping”… don’t ask.)
Sometimes you’ll see a third option in there called ‘intersect’, which will cut both parts down to only where they overlap, FYI.
So the process is to import your files, remove the bits that need to be removed… then join the adapter to the case, and export as an STL. the reason it’s important that the block your using to remove is slightly smaller is so that the adapter joins in a solid manner.
if you’re willing to give tinker cad another go, this video, while basic covers everything you need to do to get it done.
ETA: I think you’re going to have difficulty printing the combined part. the case appears intended to print with the back against the bed. you might be able to print it on edge, but the adhesion is going to suck and the nozzle dragging is likely to pull it off. you could also add supports, but then… well… support removal.
Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I’m open-source; check me out at GitHub.
