Practical 3D Printing: Slicing

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Slicing

11.03

00:00	In this module, we'll return to our brake caliper bracket we looked at in CAD and complete the cam work with our slicing software to prepare the part for printing and creating the toolpath.
00:11	If you need a refresher on these parts, be sure to head back to the CAD module at the start of this section.
00:17	At the end of that module, we use the 3D print function in Fusion to send our STL mesh file directly to our print utility.
00:25	In other words, Bamboo Studio, the slicing software for our Bamboo Labs printer.
00:30	So, let's continue to work within Bamboo Studio and the first thing that we need to consider is print orientation.
00:36	The part has two flat surfaces which are going to provide the best base on the print bed.
00:42	Using either of these will ensure gravity won't have an effect on the whole position, providing the best chance of an accurate model.
00:49	The surface finish of these surfaces parallel to the bed, either directly against it or on the top of the part, will be ideal.
00:56	And this also means that the side of the part will be vertical, so there won't be any steps between the layers, again leading to a good surface finish.
01:05	Either option will result in the same layer orientation in terms of mechanical properties.
01:10	And while this isn't overly important for this part as it's a prototype, we still want it to be able to support the weight of the caliper during mock up.
01:18	With the assembly in the upright position, the forces should be in line with the layers rather than trying to pull them apart, which is good.
01:25	But using the hardware and the nut pockets we added earlier, will also clamp the layers together helping even more.
01:32	The only choice between which side is best comes down to the use of supports.
01:36	Basically, if the back of the part is on the build platform, we'll need support material in the nut pockets.
01:42	And if the front of the part is on the build platform, we'll need support on the surfaces where the brake caliper mounts.
01:48	The surface finish will be hindered in the areas that have support material.
01:53	This will be less of a problem in the nut pockets, so we'll choose to have the back of the surface on the build platform.
01:59	To action this, we simply select the lay on face function and click the surface.
02:04	While we're at it, we can also print the brake disc hat at the same time because we're going to be printing with the same settings.
02:11	First we'll jump back into fusion and then send the body for the disc hat directly to our print utility.
02:17	The same ideals for orientation apply to the hat.
02:20	If we have the mounting surface for the wheel directly on the print bed, we can get the best overall surface finish and minimise support materials and, on the other hand, we can move the front wheel from the top to the back for a nice There will be a small amount of support required on the rounded edge of the mounting surface of the hat, and again also inside the nut pockets.
02:41	Then we'll just use the move and rotate tools to arrange the two parts on the print bed without any interference.
02:47	It's a tight fit in this case, but easily achievable.
02:51	With everything positioned on the print bed where we want it, we can move onto the print settings.
02:55	The first two of which concern the unit we're using, in our case a Bamboo Lab X1E with a 0.4mm nozzle and the smooth PEI high temperature plate.
03:07	Next, we have the material, and for this project we're going to stick with PLA, since it's so fast and easy to print with.
03:14	We can almost guarantee the parts will turn out great the first time, and we don't need any specific properties for these prototypes for more demanding uses.
03:22	We've got some Esun high speed PLA lids.
03:25	We've loaded into AMS number 3 already, and a preset for this specific material, so let's choose those preferences and open the material preset settings.
03:34	Here we can see the specific filament details, taken directly from the suppliers specifications.
03:40	A diameter of 1.75, and a recommended nozzle temperature between 190 and 240 degrees C.
03:48	The actual nozzle temperature being used is 220, and the build plate temperature will be 55 degrees.
03:55	We're not using the heated chamber in this case for PLA, as it's usually so trouble free and doesn't need it.
04:01	The settings on the next cooling tab mostly concern the fan speed, which can be set anywhere between 50 and 100% for PLA.
04:09	And since we're using high speed PLA, and therefore a fast print speed, which we'll get to soon, we've used 100% fan speed to keep up.
04:18	Moving on to the print settings under the quality tab, we'll keep the layer height at the standard 0.2mm, we don't need any more resolution than this, as our parts don't include any fine details, and the surface finish will be good enough due to our print orientation and the part geometry.
04:36	Side note, if any of these terms in these settings are unfamiliar to you, be sure to check back to the temperature and structural print settings modules in the previous section of the course.
04:46	We'll come back to the seam and advanced settings soon.
04:49	For now, we'll jump over to the strength tab.
04:52	As you'd expect, these settings primarily affect the mechanics, mechanical properties of the part, pasta design, material and print orientation.
05:00	The wall loops directly control the thickness of the shell outside the infill.
05:06	Low wall loops, say 1 to 3, help keep the density and material usage down for the parts that don't need to be very strong.
05:13	For parts that do need to be strong, we'll usually increase this to 5 or more.
05:18	For our part, 4 wall loops should provide sufficient strength for mockup.
05:23	We'll keep the top and bottom shells simple, with the default settings and a linear surface pattern, as this will look reasonable.
05:30	The other critical setting here is the infill density.
05:33	Just like our wall loops, a lower value here, say under 15%, is good for parts that don't need to be very strong.
05:40	And for those that do, we'll often increase this to 30, 40 or even 50%.
05:46	For small parts, we might even go completely solid at 100%.
05:50	Again, somewhere in between, like 20% is suitable for our part, and we'll use a honeycomb internal structure as it's a nice and efficient option.
05:58	Although, any from this long list of options would work well.
06:02	Moving on to the support tab, we need to enable the support as it will be required for a few areas on both parts.
06:09	Again, for efficiency and to minimise the surface area of the supports, we'll use the tree auto as the support type and maintain a threshold angle of 30 degrees.
06:20	This won't impact the support in the nutpockets, only the support around the rounded edge of the mounting surface.
06:26	The final tab, named others, contains settings related to the bed adhesion features, like the skirt, brim or raft.
06:34	As we're not expecting any bed adhesion issues, we'll skip this for now, as well as the other settings that are specific to the Bamboo Lab printer or multi -colour printing.
06:43	Before moving on, let's toggle on the advanced settings and quickly review the print speed settings.
06:49	On the non-visible inner walls, we're making full use of the high speed characteristics of this material, using the maximum printing speed of 300mm per second.
06:59	On the visible walls, we'll dial this back slightly to 250mm per second to ensure a good surface finish.
07:06	The speed for supports, small features or bridges are also reduced to more appropriate values.
07:13	On the topic of visible and non-visible walls, let's jump back to the quality tab.
07:18	Here we can control the order of the walls that are printed, from inner to outer, outer to inner, or starting at the inner walls and then doing the outer before coming back to the inner.
07:29	This can't be changed on all printers, but essentially if our design has a lot of overhangs, we want to print the inner walls first to gradually build up the overhang and then give the outer loops something to adhere to, preventing any sagging.
07:43	Because we have very limited overhanging areas and they're all well supported, we'll print the outer walls first as this will help with the surface finish.
07:51	Finally, we need to come back and discuss seams, which are currently set as aligned.
07:57	This means that the start and finish point of each layer is aligned vertically, so we'll end up with a slight ridge or raised line on the side of the part.
08:06	If we click the slice button, the output of the toolpath is generated and we've moved over to the preview workspace.
08:12	We'll come back to the details in just a moment.
08:15	But we can see that the seams are shown in white, indicating the position on the part that we'll have this visible raised line.
08:23	For our parts, the nearest and back positions will give the same result, just using a different position for the seam.
08:30	Another option is to paint the seam, which means we have full control over its position.
08:36	For this, we head back to the prepare workspace, selecting the seam painting tool, and then simply paint a line where we want the seam to be.
08:44	Alternatively, the random setting will distribute the start and finish points for each layer somewhat evenly around the part.
08:51	But the result can appear like many small pimples in the surface of the part, which will be obvious on parts with such straight vertical walls like ours, so we'll just stick with the align setting.
09:02	Wrapping up, we can click slice part again and review the output.
09:06	Here we can see a colour scheme representing all the different print areas of the part, like the walls, infill and support.
09:13	It also shows us the expected print time and estimated material usage.
09:18	Dragging the slider on the right hand side of the screen, allows us to view each slice as the printer builds up the layers.
09:24	The slider on the bottom shows us the toolpath for each slice.
09:28	From here, it's just a matter of selecting print plate, and ensuring that the material is set to the correct position in the AMS.
09:36	And then we can hit send to start the printing process.
09:39	Had we been working with a printer without wireless connectivity, like our Creality unit for example, at this stage, we'd save the toolpath on a memory stick, which we'd then insert into the printer, to share the file.
09:51	We'll come back to continue with this process in the next module.
09:55	With that, we're finished, so let's summarise this module before moving on.
10:00	Once we've transferred our models to our slicing software, the first step is deciding on a suitable orientation, and positioning our model on the build platform.
10:08	Then we need to ensure the machine and material properties are correct, and this will include all the important temperature settings, making sure these are suitable for the material.
10:18	From here, it's on to the print settings, and the material quality, with the layer height, seam position, and wall order, the strength, with all the wall loops and infill density, and also the support requirements, and the type of support used.
10:31	We can also add bed adhesion features, like rafts, skirts, or brims, or make changes to the settings.
10:37	In reality, there's an endless list of settings that we can modify.
10:42	Most of the time, the default or recommended values from the supplier for the specific material will be a solid starting point, and with some more experience and experimentation, we can dial these in for better results.
10:54	When we're happy with the setup, it's simply a matter of sending the file to the printer to start the printing process.