I work in Prosthetics and this is my first try using 3d priting. We scanned an ear and obtained some skin like elastic filament to print it in.
Even the softer filament is stiff when printed so I would like to thin the STL file. Ideally the base would just be a thin sheet (because it will stick on with glue) and then everything above that is thinner.
Ive tried a few tools but not got anywhere near to getting the ear thinned (so maybe its about 1-2mm thick and not 4-5mm thick.
Would anybody be able to try and thin it and advise me how they did it? I would be very grateful and it will eventually help people
EAR_sample5172.stl (253 KB)
I could thin it later, but you just need adjust the thinkness.
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I would be so grateful if you could do it later, whenever you have time.
How do you reduce the thickess and what software does that?
Thanks
when you said thinned to make it less stiff, you might have issues with strength. what infill are you prinitng it in?
have you considered molding it in silicone?
not sure, in fact I have the flexi filament but not the printer yet, I was using a 3doodler pen to try it out. Was thinking maybe I would need a dual extruder for this reason? Not sure what other filament can act as filler during print and then “washed away”
The problem I really have now though is getting the model adjusted. I downloaded a number of programs like meshmixer, blender and I was struggling to do anything. The current stl shape varies between around 3mm and say 8mm, it would be so good to have it uniform 2mm thickness.
Im a real novice with this and its quite a learning curve. All my hand done stuff has been done with silicone in the past, and its a nice material but there are many stages to hand crafting a mold, and one error and you have to start from scratch!
