Exploded model

[Leby-Bautista]

:(

I need some help, how can I union or make a 3d model the way it is before I explode it? I have exploded some of my 3d model or drawings and when I finished doing some revisions I cannot union it again to be one solid model.

Thanks,


Leby

[fuccaro]

Bad news Leby-Bautista: the explosion is an one-way road. The conversion from surfaces to solid is a big missing of the AutoCAD. The surface modeling tools are just for the cases when you have no other option. To use just few words: you will need to rebuild your model. The surfaces will help you, so do not delete them, just draw your solid in a new layer.

[robfowler]

Further to what fuccaro has said I always teach my pupils to regularly do a "save as" with a new file name when building up a 3D model. This way when you have unioned solids and later want them separated then you can go back to an earlier file where they were saved separately and cut/paste them into the latest drawing. Alternatively copy the separate parts to another part of the drawing before using the union/subtract/intersect commands on the parts.

I know this can be time consuming but in the long run it's a wise move as it can save a lot of tears and having to rebuild solids once the realisation that there is no un-union command.

Rob.

[fuccaro]

Leby
After my earlier post I played a bit with AutoCAD. To rebuild an exploded solid need some work but it is not so complicated.
I used two different methods and in few minutes I restored my solids. Sure the complexity of the model can be various.
METHOD 1. Set the shading mode to wireframe. Draw a sphere with the center approximately in the middle of the model and containing all your surfaces. Begin to slice the sphere using as slicing plane the points from the surfaces. If the solid is convex, you are done. But probable your model will be incomplete after this first step. So move the sliced sphere on a locked layer, construct an other sphere and slice it as needed. At the end apply a reunion to all the sliced spheres.
METHOD 2. Extrude all the plain faces, one at a time. Probable you will need several times to Undo and repeat the operation changing the direction and the height of the extrusion. After you worked all the plain faces delimiting the solid, apply a reunion. Check the solid, maybe you will need to adjust some of the edges by slicing the "plus" material. If you used small values for extrusion height, you have a “shell” of your solid. The inside is easy to fill-up by Solidedit > Face > Extrude or by constructing a sphere or prism inside and make again a reunion. A suggestion: if you use Solidedit, you may bring on the screen a button to “Extrude Face”
Is this helping you?

[Leby-Bautista]

:P


Thanks Fucarro, you made my life easier, hope someday I can have the same level of your knowledge, again, thanks to all who in one way or another try to solve my problem, I will be back for more question in the future.


Leby

[Mr T]

:(

I need some help, how can I union or make a 3d model the way it is before I explode it? I have exploded some of my 3d model or drawings and when I finished doing some revisions I cannot union it again to be one solid model.


You should be able to UNION any SOLIDS together. You should be able to UNION any co-planar regions together. Alternatively you need to draw some location lines befroe exploding, to enable you to re-locate the parts and reassemble them later. Maybe cutting planes will help you.

It's your drawing/drafting style that's holding you back. Adapt to meet the way acad works.

Good luck

Nick