Hi there!
I’m Hasan - the Product Manager for PreForm. Till recently, I worked on SLA software including the Form 4. As the PM for PreForm, I work on both SLA & SLS now. I’m learning about SLS printing and there’s a lot!
I’d love to learn from the community on how they pack their builds for Fuse 1+. What tips & tricks do you use? What do you wish PreForm did better? What other tools do you use?
Feel free to share here or DM me to set up a 1:1.
I’m glad to hear Formlabs is still looking to improve packing features for SLS. I’ll share my approach to packing and give some feature requests at the end.
For random parts and prototyping I often use the auto-pack feature. It’s helpful when a job contains many different or oddly shaped parts.
For production runs I almost exclusively use manual packing. My typical workflow for this is to first define which orientations are acceptable for the main parts (many of my assemblies contain small components, like a lid/cover or bracket, and I save these until the end). If I have aesthetic features or sealing surfaces, I try and face these down or towards any wall. When these surfaces point up, even minor dimpling can compromise the function or appearance.
Next, I view from the top/bottom and move the main parts to get an idea of the best packing layout. Sometimes I lock XY orientation and use auto-pack on the first layer.
Once I know how I want to arrange the first layer, I typically use the array feature to ensure equal spacing. This is the only way to define a set manual part spacing, and one of the major shortcomings of manual packing in my opinion (see my post here for more information).
Sometimes parts fit conveniently with each other, and I always make sure to take advantages of these fits, as seen in the examples below.
Finally, once I’m happy with the packing of my main parts, I lock them, import my smaller parts, and auto-pack them. The highlighted parts in the image below were added in this last step.
I’m sure every user has a slightly different packing approach, but this process has worked well for me printing in Nylon 12. Other materials probably have other nuances to keep in mind. I know some users also like to keep a buffer around the walls or maintain a larger part spacing.
Feature Requests:
Model Spacing in Manual Packing
“Avoid Orientation” in Auto-packing.
I’d be happy to jump on a 1:1 or answer any questions you have here!
I have an OMM feature request for the cost calculator.
My 3rd party powder does not recycle surface armor well and i wish i had an option to define the surface armor as waste in the cost calculator.
1- My larger models consist of hollow cones for the most part. It would be helpful if I could array these and they would automatically nest down to the 1mm clearance. As it is, I can array them but can only compress their z spacing so much. I then have to manually lower each into the 1mm spacing distance. Maybe there is a setting for this somewhere I missed?
2- Id like to edit labels after the print is saved, so I can edit batch numbers in subsequent runs of the same print. As it is I basically have to re do the entire build to enter in the new batch number.
Ill add more as I think of them. Happy to discuss 1:1 as well.
Regarding preform: We use the cage function quite often. In the first preform versions with this function, it was still possible to update a cage with new settings after it had been created. However, this function is currently grayed out, which means that it is not possible to update a cage with new settings. Instead, the cage must be deleted and a new one generated with the corresponding settings. I don’t know if this is intentional or possibly a bug.
Another feature idea for the Sift:
As far as I know, the Sift is also permanently accessible via the network. It would be great if the Sift could inform the user via a notification email when a build chamber has cooled down to a certain temperature.
At the moment, we always have to check the Sift at regular intervals to see whether the build chamber has reached the appropriate cooling temperature.
It would be important for this function that the temperature for this notification can be set flexibly.
For express build chambers, which we want to unpack as quickly as possible, we let the build chamber cool down to 35°C according to the Sift display. The inside is still quite warm, but acceptable. For print jobs with very delicate components, we wait until the Sift display reaches 23°C. For a standard print job, 29°C is a good average. These values are based on our own experience.
After all, the Sift temperature display does not show the core temperature of the build chamber.
This would definitely simplify the workflow and the division of work.
