Non-manifold stl files

I have found a number of projects that I would like to print from "thingiverse" but "Repetier Host" complains that some of the STL files are non-manifold and when I try to slice with Slic3r the preview has holes and gaps in it.

I have tried repairing with Slic3r and various online services but often without success :-(

Other people dont seem to have problems printing these files - so why do so many stls have this problem?

Is it that Slic3r is more sensitive to this ? or that something like Cura could handle better ?

What do other people do about these files ??

Any advice very welcome.
Dave

It is worth trying Cura even if Repetier host reports that the .stl is not manifold. I found on the well known 3DBenchy files that the hull in both the multipart and dual part were problematic. They reported as non-manifold and Repetier/Slic3r was not ably to repair them. Microsoft 3D Builder failed to fix them as did Meshmixer and Meshlab. I tried a number of on-line services including Netfabb - which used to work miracles but failed here. In the end, I simply got Cura to slice it which it did without complaint. Although I haven't yet used the gcode and it does seem to give odd visuals when looking at it, a layer-by-layer examination looks good as does a dry run.

Mike

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/23/2021 01:23PM by leadinglights.

Thingiverse is full or trash like that. It was probably designed using Sketchup. You can try to repair the stl files using netfabb.

Two rules for happy 3D printing:

1) stay away from Thingiverse
2) stay away from Sketchup

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Son of MegaMax 3D printer: [www.instructables.com]
Ultra MegaMax Dominator 3D printer: [drmrehorst.blogspot.com]

I love Sketchup. Other options have too much of a learning curve. It is true a lot of models on Thingiverse are broken. It isn't true that all of them are created in Sketchup.

I just had to fix one that was not created in Sketchup. I modeled my whole printer in Sketchup. But alas, it won't print. But when I build it, it came together perfectly.