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I created this mesh and checked it for Scale, Doubles, Merge by distance and Face Orientation.

The mesh is 1 whole.

In my opinion it is, first make the mesh and only then Solidify, but when I solidify this mesh I get the strangest results.

What am I doing wrong" ? enter image description here

enter image description here

I want to solidify the entire mesh to the outside and 2mm thick.

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  • $\begingroup$ What do you think is strange about the areas you've got the arrows pointing at? $\endgroup$ Sep 5, 2021 at 16:02
  • $\begingroup$ You can add "check for ngons" to your list of things to check for. Also you can enable the vertex normals to see how solidify will extend. $\endgroup$ Sep 5, 2021 at 16:02
  • $\begingroup$ I did what you said but it still doesn't work. $\endgroup$
    – MIck
    Sep 6, 2021 at 8:25
  • $\begingroup$ Can you post a screenshot of your vertex normals? If the shape is extended along those normals, everything works. Of course I imagine you want the shape to be extended differently, but then aim for a quad based topology. $\endgroup$ Sep 6, 2021 at 8:39

2 Answers 2

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To elaborate a little bit more on Crantisz' answer...

Here's a reproduction of a part of your geometry, using solidify without fixed thickness:

Light blue area represents what you want and what fixed thickness will achieve. Notice how the solidify reaches exactly the tips of the blue lines - this is because, well, I adjusted the thickness for that to be the case, but I could achieve this with just one value of thickness for whole geometry. This is because the simple solidify modifier simply extends the vertices in a direction of vertex normals. The blue line coming from the bottom-left vertex doesn't reach the opposing corner of the red square - this is because in order to do so, it would need a length of specified thickness (which is the length of each side of the red square) multiplied by $\sqrt{2}$ (because a diagonal of a square has length $a\sqrt{2}$, where $a$ is the length of a side).

It seems even thickness simply calculates how much to increase thickness locally to deal with that. It does not, however, deal with "wrong" angles of vertex normals. An "incorrect" geometry (non-manifold, ngons) may produce such angles; here's an example from your geometry, marked red:

How can a vertex have a normal?

Keep in mind, the documentation says this about the Solidify Modifier:

Known Limitations

Even Thickness

Solidify thickness is an approximation. While Even Thickness and High Quality Normals should yield good results, the final wall thickness is not guaranteed and may vary depending on the mesh topology. Especially for vertices with more than three adjacent faces.

In order to maintain a precise wall thickness in every case, we would need to add/remove faces on the offset shell, something this modifier does not do since this would add a lot of complexity. The best option to preserve wall thickness is complex mode with constraints thickness mode, but it is also not guaranteed to work perfect in every case.

And finally a comparison between simple mode with even thickness vs complex mode for something similar to your topology:

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  • $\begingroup$ Thanks for your detailed answer, that makes a lot more clear. I've had serious problems with this before, and every time my design gets stuck on this (Solidify). Can you send the file of the example (the last picture/animation)? $\endgroup$
    – MIck
    Sep 6, 2021 at 12:45
  • $\begingroup$ @MIck I still had the project open so I added the file to my answer. $\endgroup$ Sep 6, 2021 at 13:01
  • $\begingroup$ Thank you very much, I will study it ! $\endgroup$
    – MIck
    Sep 6, 2021 at 13:16
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Solidify is not a perfect algorithm, which can handle every model.

For example, the things that you have pointed. If you solidify a plane, it goes like this (let's name it "plane"):

enter image description here

If you solidify an edge, it increases the thickness at the corner to save distance to face at same level (let's name it "edge"):

enter image description here

problem started then you try to merge "plane" with "edge"

enter image description here

Small extrude to keep "edge" solves problems like this:

enter image description here

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  • $\begingroup$ What do you mean, "Small extrude to keep "edge" solves problems like this" $\endgroup$
    – MIck
    Sep 6, 2021 at 9:48
  • $\begingroup$ Look at the screenshot, extruded edge is highlighted. $\endgroup$
    – Crantisz
    Sep 6, 2021 at 9:53
  • $\begingroup$ OK, I see, going to try it, thanks so far $\endgroup$
    – MIck
    Sep 6, 2021 at 10:09

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