Translations:Import from STL or OBJ/4/en

Cleaning and repairing the STL/OBJ-File for preparing import
Basically, FreeCAD would import any STL/OBJ-File. But our goal is to have a solid which can be measured and changed (adding pads/pockets ..). For a successful conversion from mesh to solid we need to make sure that the mesh is “water-tight” (has no holes) or doesn’t have any other errors.

FreeCAD’s aim is not to be a good mesh modeler, it is designed to be a solid modeler. FreeCAD has some capabilities for mesh operation in mesh workbench and OpenSCAD workbench (some operations need OpenSCAD to be installed and configured in the FreeCAD-preferences).

Some users like to use third-party software for cleaning and repairing meshes, for example
 * Netfabb Basic (Windows/Linux/Mac) - free for personal use (automatic mesh repair available)
 * Meshlab (Windows/Linux/Mac) - Open Source

In this tutorial we will use the mesh workbench within FreeCAD to clean/repair/verify the mesh of our sample file.