RE: STL file format units

From: SCHAEFER,NICK (HP-Boise,ex1) (nick.schaefer@hp.com)
Date: Fri Jul 18 2003 - 18:06:09 EEST


I don't know how many other companies in the USA do there designing, but HP
designs all products in metric (mm) and all tooling in inches. That might
make the percentage rate a bit less than the 99.99%.

--------
Best regards,

Nick Schaefer
   Hewlett Packard
   Boise Site Mechanical Engineering Services
   Phone: (208) 396-4884
  
================================

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Pieter.Bourgaux@materialise.be
> [mailto:Pieter.Bourgaux@materialise.be]
> Sent: Friday, July 18, 2003 12:29 AM
> To: rp-ml@rapid.lpt.fi; cwho@lgmmodel.com
> Subject: RE: STL file format units
>
>
> Hi all,
>
> As mentioned before, an STL-file is unitless and there no convention.
>
> However, there's a kind of unwritten rule that makes that
> 99.99% of the STLs
> are
> - in inch (mainly in the USA)
> - in mm (mainly outside USA)
>
> So when you load an STL and it is 25.4 times too big/small...
> you know what
> is wrong.
>
> Almost all RP-programs expects that an STL is in mm or in
> inch. Magics shows
> an alarm message when you load a part that is suspiciously
> big or small
> (depending of the used unit size)
>
> However, I just saw an STL-file with cm as unit size... (The exception
> confirms the rule, as we say over here :-) )
>
> Regards,
>
> Pieter Bourgaux
>
> Application engineer
> Materialise
>
> Tel +32 16 39 66 66
> Fax +32 16 39 66 00
>
> No time to fix a file ? STLfix.com does it for you !
> On-line around the clock STL repair and CAD to STL conversion.
> "No cure, money back" guarantee. http://www.stlfix.com
>
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>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Bathsheba Grossman [mailto:sheba@bathsheba.com]
> Sent: Friday, July 18, 2003 12:50 AM
> To: rp-ml
> Subject: Re: STL file format units
>
>
> On Thu, 17 Jul 2003, Charles Overy wrote:
> > Quick question. Is there any formal set of units in the
> STL standard? In
> > other words is there anywhere that the type of units,
> inches, meters,
> > millimeters are called out? Or is it defacto or by
> convention in one unit
> or
> > another? My understanding is that it is unitless and is
> usually defined
> > when you open the file.
>
> The STL format is unitless, and there is no convention: the person
> sending the file has to tell the receiver what unit to use.
>
> -Sheba
> --
> Bathsheba Grossman phone (831)429-8224, fax
> (831)460-1242
> Sculpting geometry
> bathsheba.com
> Solidscape prototyping
> protoshape.com
> Protein crystals
> crystalprotein.com
>
>



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