Sectioning a STL file

[DavidF]

well to quote one of the things I hate "as the title says" ...
What do you guys and gals use when you want to section a stl file for printing? I would love to find a good program for free that is capable of doing this...

[Batteau62]

I use Netfabb basic for this. Look at this tutorial on trimming a flat base. You don't have to do the deleting and repairing part. (Although that comes in handy too)

http://www.3dgeni.us/trimming-objects-w ... dio-basic/

You can just do cuts in XYZ right where you desire using the measured sliders. Then select an area of the object. Right click and export the selected section as a discreet .stl

Hope this helps

[bvandiepenbos]

Netfabb basic is what I use for cutting up .stl files.
Works great.

[Captain Starfish]

I prefer to add locating pins, blocks or wedges to make the final part a lot more solid.

So I would (first choice) do the slicing in the modelling tool, then export multiple STLs from that.

It looks like you can probably import an existing file and do this (add pads/pockets to faces) with FreeCAD but I haven't tried it yet.

[DavidF]

Well crap!! I was told basic wouldnt do a cut, but I just tried it and sure enough it sliced it just fine. I feel like such a dope!
Then again this also means I may have been lied to..... not happy about that, but will give benefit of the doubt for now.