3D Printing Software

[Jubbp]

What software would you recommend for 3D printing?

Just wanting to get organised before my printer arrives...

[seaton]

My Slicer of choice is Simplify3D , although is a paid version and not open source, running a close second is KissSlicer Pro (only $25) I mostly use Simplify, but sometimes Kisslicer. So I use both depending on the situation.

Slic3r and SFACT will work out of the box with the printer, but I find them a little cumbersome to use, not so much Slic3r but definitely sfact However if you want consistent prints of good quality, simplify is definitely the one.

[seaton]

...and if you haven't already got yourself a pair of digital vernier callipers then I suggest you do so, also a set of Allen Keys with the the ball socket at one end is also very helpful

[BeJay]

I use Slic3r as it rocks on linux anyway. This with FreeCAD 0.14 does all of my creation needs. Give it a go as it is open source and free to download and at least give it a crack.

[Jubbp]

Woohoo!!! It arrived today!! An the wife was even home, so I didn't have to visit the courier office.

Spent about 90mins putting it together tonight.

image.jpg (162.03 KiB) Viewed 12461 times

[parkview]

Stephen put me onto Simplfy3D and I get great prints from it. I do sometimes struggle with it's over hang control. There seems to be a bug with the manual control section, but hopefully the next version will fix that. I have had a look at Kisslicer, but it's pretty full on, so I am hoping Stephen can give me a quick demo on how he uses his.

I started designing in FreeCAD, but it seemed to crash out a lot for me. BeJay finds his to be rock solid though, so perhaps it was just my laptop? I have moved on the free version of DesignSpark Mechanical. So far it's handled everything I have needed.

[Jubbp]

A couple of weeks on, and I've just about printed everything that has caught my eye on thingiverse.

Tonight I thought I'd have a go at designing a project from scratch.

I downloaded and installed FreeCad on the MacBook.

It took a little while and a couple of video tutorials from YouTube but I finally got the hang of the software. Seems very similar to sketchup but obviously I haven't been through it all as yet.

I managed to get a print out this evening. I used the caliber holder I have previously printed as a model and used the caliper to measure the t-slot adaptor. I printed up a 20x40 tool holder with 6 holes for tools. I only made it 5mm thick as I didn't want to wait too long for it to come out of the printer.

I'm quite proud of the output. Snapped right into place and if I made it thicker, it would have had good z holding strength also. Didn't take a photo before shutting down for the night so I'll add a photo tomorrow, maybe after refining the t-slot clip a little.

[seaton]

A couple of weeks on, and I've just about printed everything that has caught my eye on thingiverse.

Tonight I thought I'd have a go at designing a project from scratch.

I downloaded and installed FreeCad on the MacBook.

It took a little while and a couple of video tutorials from YouTube but I finally got the hang of the software. Seems very similar to sketchup but obviously I haven't been through it all as yet.

I managed to get a print out this evening. I used the caliber holder I have previously printed as a model and used the caliper to measure the t-slot adaptor. I printed up a 20x40 tool holder with 6 holes for tools. I only made it 5mm thick as I didn't want to wait too long for it to come out of the printer.

I'm quite proud of the output. Snapped right into place and if I made it thicker, it would have had good z holding strength also. Didn't take a photo before shutting down for the night so I'll add a photo tomorrow, maybe after refining the t-slot clip a little.

Welcome to you new addiction...mwahaha