Because i’m still waiting my printer, grrr …
I decided to give a try to the new internal support structure of preform 0.9. with one of my models.
But i always have huge read area no matter how i position my tree. How can i be sure that everthing will be printed? I put my model in order to have the most verticales branches and maximize the chance of succes.
I suspect also some branch will not print because they are too small : How can be sure that features are bigger than 0.3 mm ? I’m using a regular 3d software ( maya, max ) and i can’t measure all the branches …
I was thinking first that preform will told me if something are too small; or maybe this is just fine for the thickness of the branchs ?
Fill free to look at the .form here :http://we.tl/uiIEkfnSV8 and print it if you want ( it’s one of my work so there is no copyright ).
I think your best bet is to stand up that tree, add some minimal supports to the overhangs and print it that way. The automatic supports will destroy your model once you start pull them off.
Hi Giles-alexandre,
Preform doesn’t do a global check to see if parts of your model are below the minimum feature size. Anything that is smaller than the laser-width will not print. You can use the slider on the left to preview the laser paths. If a part of your model has no laser paths, then it’s too small.
I took a look at your tree and to be honest that is going to be very difficult to print. It’s mostly above the minimum feature size, but just barely. The twigs probably won’t be strong enough to hold up larger structures like the leaves. Generally, for something that needs to support itself or other parts of the model, there should be at least some raster fill (the parallel lines in the interior of slices). The twigs in this tree, for example, have only 2 laser outlines and it is unlikely that they could hold up the (much bigger) leaves. Also, this tree would be extremely fragile once it came out of the printer. Supports will also be hard to remove because even a single laser-width touch point would probably break the twigs on removal.
Once you get your printer, I would suggest doing some test prints with just the end of one branch to see how the leaves and twigs come out and how small they really are. Then decide if you can afford to increase the thickness of the twigs or decrease the thickness of the leaves.
Best,
Parker
Thank you so much for the input parker. It’s good to know that if something is too small for the laser, preform won’t even try to print it !
That’s a good suggestion to reduce the size of the leaves and increase the branches.
I have few questions concerning the path of the slicer, because it’s kind of tricky to find it on the help section.
Does the two outlines represent the lazer spot size of 0.3 mm ?
Why the infill line are not touching the second oultine ? Is it to represent something or just for readability ?
And something appear on my model, if i have only 1 outline what does that mean ? Does something will be printed ?