File Prep for Laser Sintering Process
NW Rapid Manufacturing produces nylon parts and prototypes directly from CAD data using the plastic laser sintering process. Use this information to prepare your file for sls laser sintering.
Please submit your CAD files for consideration using our quote form. If you go not have files, we can design them for you. Please follow our SLS Laser Sintering Design Recommendations regarding minimum feature size, tolerances, etc..
The STL file type is the standard for 3D Printing Technologies and Additive Manufacturing in general. If you cannot provide an STL, we can create one using SolidWorks which we have internally to support design and engineering. We can accept SolidWorks parts and assemblies, as well as parasolids (X_T), STEP, and IGES.
Typical STL exporting parameters are based on length and angle. In our experience, an ideal length is about 0.02mm or 0.001" and as much as 0.05mm or 0.0025", while an ideal angle is 2 degrees and as much as 5 degrees. This is based on experience in SolidWorks and may not produce positive results in other CAD packages.
Better is to create the largest possible file (most triangles, highest resolution) possible without crashing the software. Triangles can always be removed through a reduction process but cannot be easily added.
Best is to visually check you file afterwards using one of the following software packages which all have free versions: Magics by Materialise, Netfabb Studio, and VisCam by Marcam Engineering. What you see is what will print.
