This would be a real help for me, if I could use the new version of Preform. But I can’t because of the welding of the resin to the build plate.
Anyway, a feature of AutoCAD Autosketch is a function to create arrays either rectangular or circular. The rectangular array feature would be great to layout large amounts of the same piece on the build plate. With AutoSketch Array you specify the number of repeats vertically and horizontally and then the spacing between each piece in each direction.
I layup pieces on the build plate of quantities of 60 or 90 at a time. It’s very tedious doing this one at a time and guessing the spacing and number that can be placed on the plate.
Right now I have over 100 individual products to 3D print. You can see how much time this is taking just to do each layout.
I bet a lot of others could use this feature also. Just wish it was retro to older versions before the V4 change.
In the current version of preform the layout tool has been revised and while it doesn’t allow to create patterns per say it does allow to select how much space you want between the parts, whether the rafts can touch each other and whether the parts can be rotated. Its very effective at laying out a large amount of pieces.
I haven’t had any adhesion issue on my side with the new preform versions. Tested in Tough and standard resins.
John, won’t work for me as I can’t use the latest versions of Preform. I don’t use FL resin and lost two build plates because the resin got welded to the build plate and I had to use a steel putty knife and hammer to get them loose. FL helped me roll back all the software and replaced one of the build plates because of this issue. I won’t go forward with them on the software.
Now everything runs perfect. I alternate two build plates and print about as fast as I can. Both plates almost look like new after all these prints and the pieces pop off with little help. Also I haven’t had one piece pull loose and the bottom of the resin tray looks like new with no fogging.
We made a number of improvements to the layout tool, but I could see something that allows for defined X/Y offset and quantity to be useful, and I’ve forward this to our Software team. One workaround for some applications is to create the layout in your CAD software and then export as a single STL. This can make custom support setting challenging though.