Change resolution of print part way through print job

[andyru 0]

Hello everyone (This is my first post and i did a search before posting this question)

I am interested in the option to change the resolution of a print job half way through the job.

I have not unpacked my printer yet, we are camping and it will have to wait until i get home for that.

The idea is to rough print the base and walls of a side piece, and then fine print the hole, then rough print until i hit the next hole and fine print again, carry on etc until the job is finished.

I seems daft to me to print everything in fine when only the mating faces and bearing holes need to be accurate and smooth.

Have i missed something or is is this just not there?

Andy

[Labern 775]

In cura you can do this with the swap at z plugin and you can do it in S3D.

If you a printing a hole which is standing up ( or passing horizontally through the part then you don't want to thin of layers or the over hanging parts will not end up as smooth as when you use thicker layers.

Edited March 13, 2016 by Guest

[gr5 2,331]

S3D = simplify 3D. It's not free but it's not all that expensive and it does exactly what you are talking about. I've never tried it but I hear reasonably good things about it.

[andyru 0]

Thank you both for that.

The idea i had was to make the equivalent of a casting. two castings would form the 2 sides of the device. shafts would pass between the sides and the shafts would mount various devices forming a simple weaving machine. The only surfaces needed to be precision smooth would be the shaft mounting points. Cams on the outside of the vertical sides would lift the warp and weft whilst the shuttle flies between the threads.

I think i like the S3d route but it is a little pricey.

Thanks for the quick replies and think you both answered my question.

Yippee home soon and de-boxing.

[gr5 2,331]

Please make a quick drawing on paper and photograph it and post it here to make your point more clear.

if you want a print in 2 pieces one trick is to print the joining pieces flat on the glass as the glass will hold it in place and you will get consistent accuracy for the 2 halves and then you can glue them together. But PLA is a little bit flexible so you might be better off making pins and holes of some sort so that the halves can be glued but also held with pins.

many people instead use screws and nuts and there are other tricks.

For shaft bearings you can buy dozens of bearings for very little money. Also you can modify PLA after it prints by sanding or by gently melting - for example a shaft could be left in boiling water until it is above 60C and then inserted into the bearing/hole that it will be inserted into later and the heat from a metal shaft can shape the hole more accurately.

[eldrick 65]

Plan on finishing the holes with a primitive subtractive manufacturing tool called a "drill," using a hole-size adapter known as a "drill-bit".