Suggestions for web-based STL editing

[eag]

Hey everyone... I got into 3d printing mostly due to reefing - printing parts for my tank and WC station is great!

My laptop is a Chromebook, and that is where I do my modeling and printing. It has been slightly challenging finding a workflow that is 100% web-based, but I think I've managed to get most of it sorted over the last several months. There's only one challenge left that I haven't been able to effectively solve: editing STL files.

I primarily use Sketchup for modeling. I upgraded to a paid version so that I could import STL files, but it comes with all that extra geometry and is a real pain, and often a waste of time, to clean it up manually. I see that there is a plugin to do this, but it doesn't work with the web version.

I've also used Tinkercad once or twice, which is slightly better... it seems to clean up most of the superfluous lines, but it almost always results in holes and other imperfections in the model.

Does anyone here know of a better way to do this in a browser? Even if it's downloading the STL, then sending/uploading it somewhere for processing to download in another format... anything I can do to get from an STL file to a workable model would be supremely appreciated.

 

[reefinnewb]

I use tinkercad with no issues. A lot of what is modeled is in Fusion360 which as far as I'm aware doesn't have a web component. If you're going to be doing a lot, I'd suggest saving for a PC to do this with.

 

[NeonRabbit221B]

Fusion 360 will require a download but almost all of them will. The file manager is web based. Anything 100% cloud will likely be fairly crappy lol

 

[eag]

I use tinkercad with no issues.

Ok that's good to know, maybe I should give it another shot.

If you're going to be doing a lot, I'd suggest saving for a PC to do this with.

I run chromebook for security reasons, but of course it comes with its trade-offs... this is actually the only thing I haven't been able to do well with it (which I guess means they've done a good job!)

Anything 100% cloud will likely be fairly crappy lol

Heh yea, that's what I was afraid of. I'll try tinkercad again - thank you @reefinnewb and @NeonRabbit221B!

 

[rwreef]

I use Fusion360 and Autocad for personal projects. Web/cloud based will be challenging and limited in capability.

Source: I've been working with CAD for the last 20 yrs.

 

[rwreef]

You might try Onshape...not sure about cost etc...but I know my my daughter uses it for her High school Engineering class.

 

[eag]

You might try Onshape

Oh! Great suggestion!

I just looked into it and talked to one of their sales people. Unfortunately, they don't support working with imported STL files. So close!!

 

[eag]

Hey everyone, quick update here. I've been successfully using tinkercad for the times where I need to edit an STL I've downloaded somewhere. SketchUp and the rest were a dead-end on this front... but also I've started getting better at SketchUp, which both alleviates the need to edit STL and also makes it easier to replicate objects in SketchUp from scratch.

Thanks everyone for your help!