Randy, The free copy I have of Netfabb is too limited to be of use. It’s quite old and I can’t find an update, despite some effort. I think it’s gone, since Autodesk now offers the non-commercial Fusion for free.
I recently looked at it and found it a miserable experience, which would require a huge learning curve in order to do some pretty simple things. I just don’t think or work the way they do.
It’s kina a joke. There’s a really ernest and helpful advocate who chimes in to help online, with a “it’s simple, all you have to do is…”. And that “simple” is way beyond my abilities, It’s an amazing tool, but really for someone who spends his whole existance inside it. It’s not for ancillary use, like shells and holes.
I spent a couple of evenings on trying, with no luck.
Rob, try downloading the “free trial” of NetFabb from the Autodesk site. I dimly recall that maybe that is actually the “free” version - limited functionality but it never expires. But I can’t say it’s got any more features that the version you’ve already got. This is what the version I’m running reports:
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I have 5.1.0 and while it’s still a useful program, the free version still doesn’t do the more advance options like boolean merge or shell.
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Yeah. Mostly I use this, and MeshMixer and sometimes Meshlab to find my errors. Then I go back to the source object and fix 'em by hand. A bit more tedious, but it affords the ultimate level of control. And it also teaches me how to build my objects to minimize these types of errors. So it’s “self correcting” to some degree. 
PreForm uses some elements from NetFabb, apparently. I have on occasion let PreForm repair a model just to see what I get and generally, it does a good job. Some classes of errors produce a result that, while “watertight” really can’t be printed (the one I get the most is a through hole with a 2 dimensional surface bisecting the bore. Maybe the printer will ignore it, maybe it’ll print one layer. I don’t know, I’ve never let it go to the printer that way).
For those looking for the old Netfabb (before Autodesk got involved), here is a link to a repository that has multiple versions:
You can also register it here, to receive the Netfabb Basic key which gets around the wait time you get every time you run the program.
https://www.netfabb.com/netfabbbasic_register.php
Enjoy
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Unless you all are making a hundred thousand dollars or more …why not just get in on the Fusion 364 startups it’s free you just have to apply for it!
Far as I know they migrated the features from netfabb into fusion 360 anyway …so there’s a free option as long as you’re making under $100,000 a year…!
So you can apply for this only if you have a startup company that has less than 10 employees, has been in business for <3 years and does less than $100K/year. If you’re an individual, even if you are a consultant to one of these companies, you can’t apply for it.
So that leaves a whole lot of people out. I can’t think of many startup that have been in business for 3 years and do less than $100K/year. You wouldn’t be in business for very long.
Gross or Net could make all the difference here.
That’s why it’s only for startups with low income, to help them boost into the market.
Lets Keep this Topic alive
I agree…we shouldn’t have to go to a separate program for this!
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Please support this Feature… 
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Hey everyone, just wanted to update this thread and let you all know that the features you’ve been asking for, like Part Hollowing, Drain Holes, Model Texturing, and more, have been added!
Check out the full details in our latest forum post here. Thanks again for all your feedback!
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