Hi there. I think STL is fine for a lot of work, but it really isn't the best solution. STL is a "rasterized" file format, which contains only "blocky" shape information. This is as opposed to a vector format, which may be scaled or, in the case of machining, can be cut with the precision of the machine. This is like the difference between PhotoShop and Corel Draw. If I rasterize something for my crappy 9-pin Panasonic dot-matrix printer and email that to you, you can't get any better resolution with your whiz-bang 2400DPI Linotype. If I send you a file that says "draw a line from 1,1 to 2,2", then you'll get much better results on the Linotype.
STL works, and I use it, but it's not ideal. G-code is better for describing machining geometry, but also suffers because it doesn't have the shape information. (it has paths but not shape, STL has shape but not paths, and is raster) At this point, I don't think there's a perfect solution. - Steve Roland Jollivet wrote: >Hi, just a comment.. > >I get the impression that in industry .stl files are dismissed as 'for >prototyping' . >When I worked on a small cnc mill, however, .stl files were the easiest to >generate and move between programs. Also, for cutting fine detail on small >parts, I was using a 1mm bit with a 10u stepover. Repeatedly, the machining >scallop marks were visible before the 'triangles' were. >Admittedly, .stl files are a bit large compared to .iges, but who cares, >we're not limited to 640K anymore.(sarcasm) > >So I think .stl are perfect for machining with. Any comments? > >Regards >Roland Jollivet > >------------------------------------------------------------------------- >Take Surveys. Earn Cash. Influence the Future of IT >Join SourceForge.net's Techsay panel and you'll get the chance to share your >opinions on IT & business topics through brief surveys - and earn cash >http://www.techsay.com/default.php?page=join.php&p=sourceforge&CID=DEVDEV >_______________________________________________ >Emc-users mailing list >[email protected] >https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Take Surveys. Earn Cash. Influence the Future of IT Join SourceForge.net's Techsay panel and you'll get the chance to share your opinions on IT & business topics through brief surveys - and earn cash http://www.techsay.com/default.php?page=join.php&p=sourceforge&CID=DEVDEV _______________________________________________ Emc-users mailing list [email protected] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
