kmanstudios

It depends on what you want to do. I have experience in 3DS MAX (Former ACI) and am learning Blender and 3D Coat. I would imagine that Blender and 3D Coat would be able to either add thickness or some such. If the scan results present a contiguous surface, here are steps to fix in 3DS MAX in almost any version ever made. 1. Import model 2. Convert to Editable Poly. Much more robust than standard mesh type and better tools to work with. Z is the vertical axis in 3DS MAX and Cura. 3. Go to 'Element' Subobject and click around. If all of it gets selected, then it is properly welded into a single element. If it just selects portions, then do steps 4-6. If it selects all of the model while in Element Subobject, Then go to step 7. 4. Go into vertex mode and select all. 5. Choose the 'Caddy box' next to weld. The caddy is a modeless dialogue that allows you to change settings and test the result without having to try, undo and change, then try again. The Checkmark is the 'Accept and close Caddy' command. The red 'X' is the exit. The Green Plus symbol is accept and be ready for the next changes to try. I suggest check mark or red x until you are familiar with it. 6. Do a weld with the minimum distance threshold to make sure the whole model is one piece. Too high of a threshold and it will start to 'lump' vertices together and ruin the integrity of the scan. You basically only want to weld vertices that are either on top of each other or just really, really close. 7. Choose 'Border' subobject mode and click on the outside edge. This will select any edge that is continuous around a 'hole.' The outside edge will see the open space as a 'hole.' 8. With the Border (Edges around a hole) is selected, hold down the 'shift' key on the keyboard and move it downward away from the top. Clear a lot of area since you want to be able to grab stuff easily and then move to proper location. As a note, the shift and transform of anything in 3DS MAX is a cloning operation and will clone the edges/border while creating a connection/surface between the old and new edges/border. 9. With the new border (created during move and shift cloning) selected, go to the modifier panel and click on 'CAP'. This will create a polygon that seals the model into a manifold object. 10. Go to the Polygon subobject and select the new capped surface. Then navigate, in the modifier panel, to the make planar tab. This will make the polygon bottom flat. You can click the 'Make Planar' button or the x, y or z buttons next to it. Since it would be a surface scan as you linked to, I suggest the Z direction since it will flatten the bottom nicely. This is assuming that your new surface needs to sit firmly on the 0 (Zero) - Z axis point. I hope that made sense.

This is not a complaint. All things have been handled quite well. But I wanted to pass along a sort of 'Butterfly effect' that happened when I replaced parts. When I got my Ultimaker 3+, the feeders were odd. The tension indicator never moved and I could not understand why. I had to take apart Feeder 2 and, without knowing what I was doing, I sproinged out a small piece or two that affected that feeder. But, feeder 1 was not adjusting properly as well. The good people at Support (Ultimaker and FBRC8), have replaced my Feeder 2 and the Fan guard that I bent also. Both issues were replaced even though I messed up the parts. I changed the feeder last night. Before doing so, I opened it up carefully to see what it should look like on the inside as it would adjust the tension indicator properly. I wanted to see how it was supposed to be on the inside. What I found was the feeders were not properly assembled from the suppliers. For instance, both tension screw adjusters were on the outside and not inside. I made my feeder 1 match the new feeder 2 assembly and replaced the feeder 2 on the machine. So, the long winded setup is to state that it made a huge difference in how my material feeds and thusly, my presets I had been calibrating as I could properly adjust the tension for the differences in filaments, either by type of manufacturer. Therefore I spent from about 10PM until 3AM resetting and testing the new setup to remake a preset. And it made a difference. Little changes can make a huge difference. Just passing this along for all the noobs trying to dial in new settings. Keep the hardware in proper shape as it really is small differences that make a difference. I have not replaced my print-head cable or fan guard yet. Wonder what affect it will have as well.

As I have experimented, I have created that by what DidierKlein says. I have tried to push boundaries to increase speed without sacrificing quality and two things have affected the infill in my tests. 1. Infill speed 2. choosing a type of infill that has steps involved (Tetrahedral as an example) and setting them too high. Just passing that on and seconding the suggestion.

I would also suggest looking through the forum about that stuff. I, like others, have had mixed results with it. And I have three boxes as well as being disappointed with the results I got. But, it is worth checking out, hence search for the threads. There are a variety of people who have had success.

What was it supposed to look like? But, it would seem from the outset that if you could not see it in Cura using solid or xray, something was not right with the model. How was the model produced and did you convert it and if so, what software was used. I've never seen anything like that, and I have messed up a ton of prints experimenting.

I am not sure what you mean by color it. Do you mean to paint it or something? As for finishes, that would depend on what you are looking to do. From what I have read (and this is not any sort of final word as I am a bit of noob meself), is that the usual methods for smoothing ABS does not work that well with PLA and not all PLA's are the same. If you are painting it, shoot it with some primer. I have tried Acrylic primers and Acetone based primers (Like Krylon) and that gives you a nice surface that you can sand on and spray paint. I have used acrylics, enamels and water soluble oils (Water mixable or Water Miscible, depending on brand) and they work well. I am using modeling painting techniques, so that is where that is coming from. I would avoid lacquers until you test them on ruined parts to see if it melts your material. Lacquers are very 'hot' and can eat through some materials. Thus, the old adage, You can paint enamels onto Lacquers, but not lacquers onto enamel as it can eat it and cause bubbling. If you are experienced, you can paint in very thin layers until it builds up a shield, but that is not advisable unless you have been at it a while. All of the methods I have mentioned are not food safe, but are skin safe. Wear protective masks in case you are spraying any paints, or have a spray booth.

Would your nozzle size also be a limitation as a restriction on the x/y axis? Kinda would like to know that since it could be a factor for me as well.

That sounds a lot easier than what I was doing! LOL I was breaking the model up into pieces, then setting parameters into each model part and then combining. While easy for some models, it would be very cumbersome for most types that I make. Much appreciated!!

I had that happen today. Burning the candle at both ends, I am a bit doofier than normal. I just keep hitting buttons until it is cycled through to the end and not actually doing any leveling. I do agree that there should be an abort option to properly exit, but I jut wanted to pass along this because you can just go "blip, blip, blip..." until it is cycled out to the end. Much quicker than what I used to do which was level anyway.

Here are my first prints with PC. I used my patent pending "Papa K's Slurry Slush" (yes, that is a joke.....) as the print bed adhesion. Put a nice layer down. As the plate cooled in open air, you could hear it release. Just came off like a charm :)I also used PVA as the brim. Printed as Draft and no supports. Here it is just after 'lift off'. The print was too fast to make clean spirals. Though.... I printed a smaller version with the same settings. But, I took the pokey things on top off the main model and used two separate models combined. This allowed for the Main Body and the Pokey things to have two different print speeds. These are images of the second version with only the pokey parts changed and it shows the nice circular bridging it maintained. And finally, my first tests of PC and PVA together. I did manage to get the PVA to allow the PC to 'sit on top' of the PVA like a raft as well as using the PVA as a brim. The test is a series of issues that could arise, such as, Long thin pieces that would tend to warp, different support structures and types of supports. Layers before PC is laid on top of PVA in circle region. And then the first layer of the PC on top of the PVA. It was a real &$!!#@&!!! to get the PC to not just drag around when laying that down. The print failed due to a different reason and I will get back to finalizing that as soon as I can. I just have to get some samples out and I lost time this weekend getting stuck on the PC/PVA problem. Dog without a bone and all of that.... One of these days, someone will hire me for those talents.....Asperger's does have its advantages :PLook at how much better the Pokey things look at this angle.

OK, so now I have the small print done and ready to show. It will be up soon for everybody to get the model, g-code and project file. Just juggling a few things right now.... This is sitting in a pan I got to let the PVA slurry and bottom of the print separate from the glass. Then, once it comes off, onto the bowl where all the PVA can soak. I really had to let this soak a while so it would let go of the pokey thingy on the deflector dish...... And here, I am harvesting all my PVA that I can. I even put all the towers in and get the bits between layers of materials. Squishes out like an accordion. But, taking the goo off helps the underlying areas of PVA get soaked. And, sometimes, it just pops off easily. Nice and clean now and on the stand. You can see a thumbtack in the background. Draft Print even held the Pokey thing at the front of the Deflector dish as it is smaller than the 'needle' of the thumbtack! But, I did beef it up a bit in the modeling program so that you would not have to use horizontal expansion as that would kill other details. The Deflector dish and Array up close. From the front: The underside where the Saucer, Engineering and Nacelles/Struts sat on the PVA. It even preserved the window and navigation lights And a shot of the top of the saucer to see the windows. Depending on how the windows aligned with the angles and print rez, you can see the windows. They are all cut in everywhere on the ship. Some areas are cleaner than others, but the ship is raw in these images to not 'pretty up the results'. All flaws are as the printer (and, I am sure, my settings) allowed. But, wow! What a difference between it and the Crappyprise on my first attempt: As soon as I can, I will get this up online. The project file will have it posed on the plate at 110% of model size. I just wanted to push the boundaries a bit. But at 100%, it fits really, really nice. As I got my support settings better figured, I managed to save time on the printing. I managed to get the Large model from 81 hours in my first sett of posts down to 68 just by playing with towers and conical supports. That is the main reason for including the project files when I upload. The large on should be done by the first of this week as I have to get some other prints out first. But I am fiddling with settings to maximize speed of print against quality of model. That is the biggest reason the first print failed so badly. Settings not optimized. Edit: At print size here, the Enterprise is right at 8 inches long. That is 110% of the model that will be included. I did test the model at 100% in the slicer to make sure the pokey thingy in the Deflector dish did not disappear during print. But it is very, very delicate.

When I look at the circle in the side of the case, I see the same 'boxy look' as I was looking at in the original post. I was looking at the curves of the vertical circle and not the sides as the sides or top. To do a fair comparison, it would ideally need to be a print of the two shapes in the two materials as each type of shape presents its own challenges. I ran into that using cubes to test lamination and such and it failed miserably on something with curves. Just curious of you could do a side by side comparison of the same shape with the two different materials. I ask because I just did two prints of my first PC materials and it came out as well as any other material. I did some tests this weekend with PVA and PC. Got it two work for the most part and will be trying to dial in settings and report issues. I even got the thing to print on a layer of PVA like a raft. But it had other issues. The hard thing is that some of this stuff is so reactive to the environment (Temps and humidity) that it can alter a lot of properties in the materials. I will be posting the print as it had no issues and bridged quite well in draft print. But I am on 2.4 and firmware 3.5. I am not good enough yet to test software as I am not always sure when it is me or the software. And, until I can replace the printhead cable, I wait to upgrade to 3.6. It has been shipped, so, soon.

Yeah...It should have gone to the filament area.....I was originally thinking that it would be a question of the new presets, but that seems to not be the case.

That is interesting. I've been playing with annealing the materials I am playing with. Thanks!

I am printing my first Polycarbonate prints and experimenting with PVA supports and such. Ain't no flex in Polycarbonate as far as I can tell. I will be posting a G-Code, Project file and models once I am satisfied with the results. Will that suffice? It will not damage your nozzle. Carbon Fiber can wear out a brass nozzle quickly from what I understand. Saving the sheckles for the cool new print cores that are now coming out to do Carbon Fiber and other brass killing filaments meself.

Click on the model you want to print in a color you have loaded. The go to the 'Per Model' Settings on the left hand side, at the bottom, just above the 'eye' graphic. There you can give each model in your build area almost all of the settings available. Just hit select and you can load all the settings you want. The top right of the flyout menu is where you change extruders. Hope this helps.

This is true. But, when you are using the dial to change temps and flows to make settings, it does mess things up a bit. :( But, as you say, better than nothing.

So far, I am testing materials just to see if I can get it to work. Thusly, I have not printed high objects in NinjaFlex. BUt from what I researched in the interwebby, it seems most are not high rez objects except gaskets (and that may just be the way it is as my gasket tests came out much cleaner...no real curves or angles). Once I make it through my material stashes, I will get back onto refining the technique whilst going for higher resolution for my own purposes. Just as an aside, I did find a way to make a solid rubbery surface with a bonded 'fuzzy' surface by just playing a bit.

Instead of an edit, I am making note that the large Enterprise is on hold as I print out a polycarbonite sample for the VA prosthetics division. First time printing PC and giving it a shot. As a funny aside, the box and spool are mislabeled as transparent, but is black. LOL PC is PC I guess and for experiments, does it really matter?

Thank you. As i learn, and make many, many mistakes I want people to learn from my clumsy hands what NOT to do in a lot of cases and the things I discover. i am a very bad communicator on a social level, but I think, not so bad on the tech stuff.....maybe:P This piece was not designed for 3D Printing. It was designed to show things in my classroom. That is why I searched for very, very accurate plans and worked to make this as accurate as possible. These are the images it was created for: And an animation I made for the fun of it: And, by the way, I've been KmanStudios for almost 20 years, but, our lax internet policies and people without creative thought are aping the name a lot. And, google has let them get away with it, even to the point that some idiot got his version of the name on it just by making the first 'K' uppercase. So, with that in mind here is a follow-up. As things progress I will continue this thread until I am finished with the prints to, hopefully, share some interesting things I find. I used conical supports. That requires turning on the 'Use Towers' in the support area and then in 'Experimental', you will find conical support. It has some nice advantages other than just saving some support material. Here is the outline of a standard support: Then, this is the base outline of the conical support: This has the added ability to use "Touching Buildplate Only" to limit use of support in areas where not needed, but also allows it to 'lean into' voids where needed such as this area on the front deflector array: And then lean into it some more as it advances to help support trouble areas: This allowed me to play with angles and minimum support radius to get only what I needed to support the print without wasting huge amounts of PVA. Here you can see the support cone in the finished print: I call that the "Cone of Support" with apologiesto Maxwell Smart Using this method, I have found that I can use a decent amount of support density so that the support interface will not pillow and create 'dimples' in the model. I have several prints that has happened to me on as I try to push boundaries between software and hardware. And, speaking of pushing boundaries, it literally let me go to the back and front edges of the buildplate in the software and I told it to ignore the warning in the firmware. Here is the back edge. You can barely see, in my fuzzy pic, that the most outside line is right on that edge: And on the front, it just hits the edge of the triangle warning (That I always ignore whilst burning me fingers on hot bits) When the model is finished and ready to be posted (Just now dissolving the PVA) I will put it up on the 3D Prints, Youmagine and Thingiverse with the stand (both parts that can be united for single color or used as two color) and the modified model. The model is made for Cura as it does an incredible job of making a super clean shell out of intersecting parts. Mesh booleans just choke on this model. And, being designed for an image or animation, it did not matter. It is just repurposed for 3D Printing. The small scale model has had a few parts beefed up in width so that it is not needed to use 'horizontal expansion' as that would kill a lot of other small details such as the windows. I am still trying to find a way to make a clean shell that does not lose detail, but, that is a ways off as I explore things. I just may have to re-topo the model and I just do not have time at this point to do that. Hope this helps other noobs with this machine and the software. If they both can take the punishment that I give out, it is a machine and software combo that is worth it. Just gotta play a bit.

I've been making a few prints and I would like to change the speed when it gets to spindly layers to that it does not move the thin parts around so much. I have noticed that, say, when printing a very sharp cone, that a large base can be printed quite quickly, but that same speed will deform the thin parts at top due to the inertia of the nozzle. I figure it can be done in code, but I know nothing about gcode at this time and it seems it could be either a plug in or something. Yes? No?

Could you show a pic of that?

I will definitely look into that as I do get occasional printhead communication errors. LOL

It looks more like a print resolution issue on the top. Think of the layer height as if it was a low rez jpeg type image. The lower the resolution, the blockier the image. Same thing here. If you went to, say a 0.6 layer height, you would get a much cleaner surface and better 'curvature'. If you printed the ring on its side, you would get the 0.4 nozzle size as your x/y resolution while the Z resolution would not really betray any issues since it is a straight/vertical line.

Just a hopeful hint that the clumsy noob here can help others just learning like myself. OK, this is a follow-up thread on the Enterprise as it was chock full of surprises. A bunch of pics with stages of development. First, this is the Enterprise as I originally printed it with a working stand design (Third redesign). The Enterprise fails mostly because of the material I chose plus a detail or two were too small for decent printing. The material curled a bit on the leading edge of the Saucer and the Deflector Dish needed to be expanded to print at this resolution: 0.1MM/100 Microns. The Enterprise failed mostly due to the material choice (Matterhackers Nylon) as it is too flexible. You can see the nacelles starting to warp. The Stand was the worse thing to correct as material change did not fix the issues. This is the first attempt while the Nylon was soaking to dissolve the PVA. Really bad and too spindly to be printed with success as I did so. Just...so...BAD!! This one shows that the material change helped, but still too spindly to print well. And the print speed was too high to lay detail without swinging the thin parts around like an old car antennae in the wind. This shows that a better design (not too spindly) and a speed correction made a lot of difference. Over all, for the second color, I slowed the print in Cura, but also caught it when it was doing the small cradle parts and adjusted in the machine to 65% of that speed so that it did not whip around the thin parts while printing. Acceptable print with minimal clean-up. This design held the Enterprise snuggly while not being obtrusive to the overall aesthetic. The Ship print is still crappy. And a size comparison with a USD Quarter. During this, I worked on two sized ships. The small one I slightly beefed up the deflector dish and will reprint with a PLA next time. The small version is made to be printed on the bed in any orientation that can fit in 'flight position.' This is it in Cura at 100%. This is the large ship tilted to fit in the full print area on the UM3+ and a ton of support materials. This one measures just a bit over 14" inches, stem to stern and the deflector dish is at scale. These is the two ships and their stands in view in the 3D Package. Actual Stand Designs: The small stand printed well and am printing the large stand now. Both are printed at 0.1mm/100 microns. But the stand is about a 14 hour print and the small stand printed in about 3.5 hours. I will print the small ship next at about 41 hours and then the large one at about 81 hours. Small ship is 0.1mm/100 microns. and large ship is at 0.2mm/200 microns. Hope this helps all the other noobs out there. Edit: As soon as I get a decent print out and 'proofed' for public consumption, I will post the models for the large and small versions with each stand design separated for two color prints if desired. Just want to get it right before the go up.