File Hub - Rotating your STL file for proper import

Before importing an object in MillBox, it is best to check if the orientation of your file is appropriate for milling.

Occlusal orientation is imperative in CAM because the milling strategy / template has static operations that are meant to work from either the top (occlusal) or bottom (prep) side.

If the part is flipped, these milling operations can generate incorrect toolpaths that can lead to broken parts / tools.

While it is ideal for the orientation to be output properly from the CAD Software when it creates the .STL file, it is not always convenient or possible to do. In this case, we can use a free CAM Utility that is included with every installation of MillBox. This will allow us to rotate our parts prior to importing them into the CAM.

During the import step, we are able to see a preview of the object that is selected., if the orientation is wrong (like the object on the image below) we can click on the LAB3D Explorer icon (1) to open it.

After clicking, it will open LAB3D Explorer, select the object you want to rotate (2) and click on the 'Rotate the file' icon (3).

Select the option to rotate your part properly (4), in this case we will have to use the Y + 180 degrees.

After selecting the correct option, our object now has a proper orientation so we can close this window and continue the import and nesting process in MillBox - Take note, you will see the orientation in the preview windows are now correct: