Better slicer?

[RobH2]

Here's a better shot. Unfortunately I'm using glow-in-the-dark filament and it's translucency qualities make for difficult photographs. Also, with a microscope, unless you do a complicated multi-focal set, you can't get good depth of field and I don't have time for that right now. I will do one when I use a more opaque filament sometime soon though. But, you can still see the matrix that is formed. It's super strong and I think a superior method of infilling.

[GamerDarling]

You can duplicate and print multiples on ALL the slicers I've seen and used. S3d will (it says) optimise the parts for faster printing. I usually do them by hand as I can put them closer together :-)
But yeah duplicating parts is a doddle. (but then it is with makerware, cura and slic3r as well)

Hmm, maybe I just haven't been able to figure it out in rep g, but there really doesn't seem to be an option.

The flat bottom thing, yeah sort of. With s3d you can move the model so the base is below the print bed.
You can do that with makerware as will, but makerware still prints the whole mode (weird but true) S3D ONLY prints the part above the printbed.
That's useful.

That was what I was worried about. I thought the software might be too dumb to realize it shouldn't do the toolpath. It is free, after all. How much could I really expect?

[RobH2]

Just wanted to get back really fast as I said I would and post a better photo of the S3D infill. I'm calling it a "matrix" because each raft ties the layer above and below together and I think provides a superior method to prevent sheer.

I need a better video camera for my microscope but you can still see what it looks like. I used 'beerdarts' infill settings and it makes a very nice and solid infill. I did a 30 image merge (30 photos as you slowly focus lower and lower with each shot) to get depth of field down to the bottom so you can see what's doing on better.

20mm test cube:

[GamerDarling]

I'm not sure that the structural integrity is impacted enough to really matter for things like necklace pendants and cookie cutters(my primary usage) So I think I'm ok with that. However, the actual print quality coming out of simplify is pretty terrible for me. Overhangs that shouldn't be a problem are turning into spaghetti, and there are so many settings that I'm not sure what to alter. You guys have any ideas for tweaks?

[Bassna]

I'm not sure that the structural integrity is impacted enough to really matter for things like necklace pendants and cookie cutters(my primary usage) So I think I'm ok with that. However, the actual print quality coming out of simplify is pretty terrible for me. Overhangs that shouldn't be a problem are turning into spaghetti, and there are so many settings that I'm not sure what to alter. You guys have any ideas for tweaks?

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

[Wes@MachWax]

I just downloaded S3D last Friday. I haven't had much time with it yet, but I already like it much better than Makerware, or RepG. So far, it seems to be worth every penny.

[jimc]

I gotta agree with rob here on the infill. I have no problems getting super solid and strong infill in s3d. Almost everything i print needs to have strength in some way since they are functional and usually load bearing. S3ds infill is as strong as anyone elses. Its true it prints every other layer but it extrudes at double the dia so the walls are thick and solid. It seems alit of people complain about the infill situation. I just dont think that many people understand the settings. Of course s3d does have alot of setting so that not surprising really.

[dunginhawk]

i totally agree. ive used all the slicers out there, but for whatever reason this slices better and the results in the quality of my prints are BETTER...
i love it

[RobH2]

Overhangs that shouldn't be a problem are turning into spaghetti, and there are so many settings that I'm not sure what to alter. You guys have any ideas for tweaks?

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.

[RobH2]

I just dont think that many people understand the settings. Of course s3d does have alot of setting so that not surprising really.

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. There are just too many variables. To really excel at 3d printing you have to be willing to jump in and really learn the settings. I do a lot of reading and cross referencing to find out what settings do. I read help files from other slicers, read online, read technical documents and anything that will explain "exactly" what's going on. Sometimes the variables have slightly different names but in the end, it's all the same. If you want to really fry your brain have a look at Skeinforge. It's a GUI nightmare but there are hundreds of little settings. About 9-months ago I made the decision I was going to learn to use it. Man was that a chore. but, what I found out is that it can do about anything you can imagine, it's just daunting. During that experience I learned a lot about what variables we have that pertain to FDM printers like ours. I also learned in the end, that Skeinforge was way, way to complex for everyday use and I found S3D. I've never looked back and haven't touched Slic3r,Pronterface, Cura, Kisslicer, Repetier-Host or Meshmixer since.

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.