Onshape

[Hans van de Burgt]

Hello, I am brand new here, and only 3 weeks involved in the Lego scene. After building a Lego Crocodile for my grandson, I studied a little bit on possibilities to motorize it. So I found Bricklink Studio, and designed already some train models. And as many other enthousiast I missed some essential parts, as thin rods for instance. Well I know you can buy them at Non Lego suppliers, but I want them also use them as digital parts in Bricklink Studio.

As experienced CAD designer I can make my own parts, and even print them on 3D FDM or Resin printers. I usually use Onshape, a very good and fully free online CAD program for hobbyists. See: https://www.onshape.com/en/products/free

So this week my question was, can I converse my part designs from Onshape to a digital part in Bricklink Studio. And I found Ldraw and stl2dat. In Onshape you can export parts to .STL in txt or binary format. As unit you can choose for mm. My question is, is that correct for a proper conversion?

Some designs:

       

[Philippe Hurbain]

Hello Hans, welcome here !
Stl2dat requires text (ASCII) file format. As for unit, LDraw uses ldu units with 1 ldu = 0.4mm. So you either need to upscale your parts by 2.5 before exporting to STL, or use scaling in stl2dat.

[Hans van de Burgt]

@Philippe,

Thx, a little bit strange for me to scale up the CAD model with a factor 2,5 but I will give it a try. I wil start with my alternative track. As you can see is it a solid version with sleepers of one stud, lenght 8 studs. It’s not compatible with normal Lego track, although the measurements are equal. The difference is the lenght of the coupler-sides. To make them in a different length, you get one sleeper in between, instead of two. At the underside the tracks are also solid. With a hole in it, you can use nails or screws to connect them to a plywood underframe. Bye the way, it’s only for private use.

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