LayerMechanic — Print-in-Place Motion Preflight

Check whether an already-modeled printable hinge or slider keeps enough geometric clearance through its full intended motion before you print it.

You model the joint. This add-on does not build it, rig it, or animate it. You pick two points for the axis, set the motion range, and set the clearance you need. It sweeps the real mesh with Blender's BVH and reports:

• PASS, REVIEW, or FAIL
• minimum clearance across the full travel
• the first bind angle (hinge) or distance (slider), when there is one
• the blocking object's name

The meshes are not modified.

Who it is for

Someone who already has a print-in-place hinge or a linear slider in Blender and wants a geometric check before spending the print.

What you set

• Mode: Hinge or Slider
• The moving mesh, and either every other mesh or the selected meshes
• Two axis points, in millimetres
• Start and end of the motion (degrees or millimetres)
• Required clearance, in millimetres

What a verdict means

PASS — clearance stayed above the required gap through the range you set.

FAIL — the required gap is lost. The result names the first bind pose and the object in the way.

REVIEW — the sample cap was reached before the sweep could finish. That is not a pass and not a fail.

Limits you should read before buying

This is a geometric motion-clearance preflight. Actual printed motion also depends on the printer, material, slicer settings, process variation, and print orientation. A PASS does not guarantee that the printed joint will move.

One hinge or one slider. No multi-joint chains, gears, flexible bodies, physics, or slicer compensation. Unapplied modifiers are not included. A closest approach that falls between vertices can be reported as larger than the true gap; real intersections are still caught.

Compatibility

Blender 5.2.1 LTS, Windows 11 x64, verified. Licence GPL-3.0-or-later.

Price

$25 list. $19 for the first 14 days. One-time. 1.x updates included.

Support: Mekora Labs Support, [email protected].