Better slicer?

[GamerDarling]

If you could show us your settings (maybe some screenshots) of what you are printing with, I could try to help or maybe see the problem

Absolutely!

Here's pics of the latest print: http://screencast.com/t/sPqjSbEqTiv
Here's the factory file, which I think includes all of the settings, but let me know if that's not true, and I'll get you any screenshots that it doesn't include: https://www.dropbox.com/s/fp04ynvkiq...s.factory?dl=0

[GamerDarling]

I posted some of my settings in this thread on Post #33:

http://3dprintboard.com/showthread.p...mplify3d/page4

This is not a very good photo but here is something I printed yesterday that has overhangs and no support was used. It's about 112mm long and 10mm wide to give you some scale. Under that top part is a cone that has sides at a 45-degree angle. It printed well.

Frequent calibration is a must to get good prints from "any" slicer. I like to think I keep my printer well tuned. The other day nothing would print well. I spent hours testing and testing. Finally, I did a full ESteps calibration. I had done it a few weeks ago and it was perfect. To my surprise, it was extruding 123mm of filament when I called for 100mm. So it was overextruding nearly 25%. Once I had that recalibrated, things went back to normal. Once you get used to doing calibrations it's not very difficult and sometimes takes less time then repeated tests. So from now on, when things get stringy and just make no sense, I'll do ESteps and 1st layer height calibrations first so I at least know they are good.

Thank you! That's a great head start on the things to look at. I'll poke at the settings you posted and figure out how to do that calibration. Honestly something I hadn't even heard of, so thank you for giving me a place to start my research.

Good point Jim. Anything powerful is going to have a lot of settings. You won't find a simple and easy to use slicer that does a great job on everything...So far, I haven't found anything that S3D can't print well. So, take off those training wheels and dig in. What you learn along the way will make life so much better.

It's not that I'm not willing to jump in, I mean I realize that I'm getting into this a couple of generations before it's really consumerized. However I've always preferred working through things like this with the support of a community, and these conversations will help others know where to start when they hit something similar...and I don't expect to not have to tweak and play. But it's not at all clear how the settings will impact the print. I can't even find something in simplify that sounds like a feedrate to adjust.

[RobH2]

I have to say, your print of that weapon looks pretty good and given the small scale, it looks really good to me. I see a few imperfections but I don't think I've ever printed and not gotten some small flaw. What am I missing in the photo that makes it a problem print?

[King_Alistair]

I also cast my vote for Simplify3d. It's extremely reliable and the preview and render features are well worth the price tag. That said, if you're not up for the expenditure, I was able to get some decent results with Pronterface when I first got my printer.

[Mjolinor]

Does Simplify3D need an Internet connection to work?

[King_Alistair]

Nope! I run my entire software suite offline most of the time.