Part RefineShape

Description

Cleans unnecessary lines. After a Boolean operation some lines defining the previous form remain visible, this tool creates a totally cleaned copy of the original.

Use

1. Select the shape to be cleaned.
2. Click the Part → Refine shape menu.

• A copy of the object is created and totally cleaned, the original object is rendered hidden.
• The newly created copy is independent of the original.

Limitations

• The refinement algorithm only works on shells. Therefore it iterates over the shells of the input shape and then for each shell it creates a new shell with joined faces wherever possible. This means if your input shape is only a face, wire, edge or vertex then the algorithm does nothing.
• Opposed to RefineShapeFeature in OpenSCAD workbench, this feature won't update when the preceding shapes are changed.

Scripting

The Python command for refining a shape is the following:

shape.removeSplitter() 

Notes

• the function does not modify the existing shape, but returns a new shape
• the function is normally used as last step in the modelling history
• the function can help to get difficult fillets to work
• the function is intended to stop 3D printers from printing unwanted edges
• the function can be used after converting a mesh to shape to clean up the residual edges on planar faces.