I'm Tom and today i'm going to show you how
to set configure and use Slic3r. So let's
say you have your 3D printer all set up and
ready for its first print. The last thing
you'll need to do is to set up a slicer, which
is a piece of software that turns your 3D
design files into the gcode that the printer
reads to actually print the object. Now there's
a couple of different slicers available that
do that for you, for example Cura from the
guys that make the Ultimaker, or Kisslicer
or probably the most popular one, which is
simply called Slic3r - with a leetspeak "three"
for an e. It's free and when you set it up
properly, you're going to get really nice
prints from it. So let's get started!
You can download Slic3r from slic3r.org - again,
with a three instead of an e. For Windows
and Linux, you can choose between a 64-bit
and a 32-bit one, also called x86, and unless
your computer is already on its last legs,
you should choose the 64-bit one. If it doesn't
start up, try the x86 one instead. So what
you'll get is simply a zip file with the program
inside - unzip the whole thing to some folder
and you're ready to go. On OS X, you'll get
a standard dmg file, i suppose you know what
to with that.
Either way, open up Slic3r and it will greet
you with its configuration wizard, and you
can already see its main interface in the
back. Hit next and you'll get to choose how
Slic3r generates the gcode it makes, as long
as you're not using a Makerbot, you should
just leave it at the default setting. With
all of these settings, just keep in mind that
you can always change them lateron if you
want to. Next up is your printer's bed size.
Most printers have a 200 by 200mm bed, which
is 8 by 8 inches for the imperialists out
there. Next up, nozzle size. If you don't
know the nozzle size of your printer, you
can usually find it in the product description
of the printer or hotend that you bought.
On the next page, you get to enter your filament
diameter. You should actually measure your
filament and then use that value, but keep
in mind that that's only going to work in
any way if you have calibrated your extruder.
Next up, extrusion temperature - its unlikely
that the first temperature you try will be
the perfect one, but PLA will usually print
at 210°C, ABS at 240. Just start with one
and increase it if the layers of your prints
don't stick together well and decrease it
if your prints end up all mosten and soggy.
Next up, bed temperature - 60 for PLA pretty
much always works, but ABS might need a bump
to 120°C. If your prints don't stick, double-check
that your print bed is clean and has a surface
that is actually useful for your filament
type.
And that's it, the wizard is done! There are
couple more setting that you can tweak before
having your part sliced. You'll find those
in the settings tabs up here. The first one
is print settings, let's just go through the
options you can change here. The first one
is the layer height - the lower you set that
one, the finer your layers are going to come
out. Good values are 0.2 to 0.3mm. The perimeters
tell Slic3r how thick the part's solid shell
should be on each layer, and the solid layers
tell it how many layers it should completely
fill on the top and bottom surfaces of your
part. Keep in mind that the perimeter thickness
is dependent on your nozzle size, so a 0.4mm
nozzle will make about a one and a half Millimeter
thick shell on the part with three perimeters.
The solid layers, on the other hand are as
thick as the layer height, so three solid
layers will get you a 0.9mm solid shell on
the top or bottom of your part when you're
using a 0.3mm layer height.
Next up, infill, which determines the ratio
of material to air inside of the part's shell.
By default, Slic3r uses 0.4, which is 40%
infill and already on the high side. Normally
you'd use 0.1 to 0.5, but you'd only go above
about 0.2 if you'd need to make a really tough
part. The honeycomb-style infill is theoretically
very stiff and strong, but takes forever to
print. Rectilinear is a bit more popular because
it prints much faster and isn't that much
weaker. Your call.
Now, the rest of the setting on this page
are special-case settings that you'd use for
specific parts. Especially brim is useful
when your part wants to warp and peel off
of the bed - just set that to about 5mm and
watch the magic happen.
So in the next settings tab, you don't really
have too many options - these are pre-filled
with what we told the wizard earlier anyways.
The interesting one here is the extrusion
multiplier, which you can use to tweak the
amount of plastic your printer lays down.
If you parts, especially the top surfaces,
turn out over-stuffed, you might need to decrease
the multiplier, if they end up with holes,
increase it.
The last tab is the printer settings, again,
pre-filled with the values from the wizard.
One important setting here is the print center
- if you're using a delta-style printer, you
should set that to 0,0, for pretty much any
other printer, don't change them. The rest
of the settings are all good for any normal
printer, so you can simply leave them as they
are.
So that's it, Slic3r is one hundred percent
ready to slice. Head over to the "Plater"
tab and simply drag and drop the parts you
want to make onto the virtual build platform.
You can drag the parts around to position
them on your printer's bed, rotate them or
make them bigger or smaller by scaling them.
When you're ready, hit "Export G-code", save
the file and you're done! Slic3r will do its
thing and spit out a gcode file which you
can directly send to your printer.
Now, don't be afraid to change some of the
configuration settings as you see fit. That's
how you learn stuff, after all.
So that's it for the introduction to Slic3r!
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