I think we'll get there. We always have, just a matter of optimization and getting to understand the principles behind every new technology. The next generation of 3D-printers will probably laugh at us old-schoolers with our planar slicing methods!
One possible benefit of conical slicing Stefan that you did not mention is part strength to a certain directions when printing technical parts. Maybe in the future we could adjust angles of force in the slicer and slicer would count angles based on that. Right now we design parts we are just dealing with the horizontal plane when printing and print orientation. Great video!
Although ironically the way the layers are angled in order to print the overhangs make the delamination far more likely at the stress concentration region of the interior corner
Applying a warping transform to your shape, then slicing, then applying the reverse-transform is a genius way to implement conical slicing. Amazing that it works with any slicing software!
Watching FDM printers behave more like CNC routers is encouraging. Certainly there is a large body of knowledge to draw from with regards to motion systems and optimal toolpath development. I wonder if it would be easier to start with CAM software and build in the constraints of layer stacking rather than starting with a slicer and building CAM-like motion control into it.
Ive always though the next generation of slicing would look more like a CAM suite, where you choose how to approach each feature of a print individually
I have had parts several times where I would have liked to print one part in lower layer height than other parts. Have asked myself why there isn't a easy funktion for sectioning the print and beeing abel to do different settings on each part. Even only altering the layer height can save lots of time and also make overhangs work better.
CAM is light-years ahead of current slicers. The vast majority of slicers can't even load Brep models and the few that do, typically just take the Brep and convert it to a mesh file.
@@scottwarner7349 thanks, I probably should update once again. Also it would be nice to set all parameters differently for different sections of the print, like lowering the print speed, layer hight and using more cooling on overhangs. Also possibly printing large uniform sections with more extrusion width.
Even a small slope on Z-axis would enable printing across the layers (e.g. the slightly inclined or even X-crossing infill and/or secondary perimeters) and would increase the strength along the Z-axis, which today is limited by layer adhesion only. So, looking forward for this feature not only for supportless overhangs.
This is going to be really useful when it reaches mainstream slicers. I don't have the time or inclination to spend the time to do this. Many thanks for taking the time to show what the future holds.
ich lebe seit 7 jahre in usa... muss immer meine infos auf englisch irgendwie bekommen und nun bin ich ueberrascht wie toll dein englisch ist obwohl du auch noch deutsch zumindest sprichst. prima keep up the good work
Nice! I've been messing around with this idea too. I used geometry nodes in Blender to distort the mesh. C++ program to edit the gcode. If a CNC machine can move in 3d, a 3d printer definitely should. I think 5 axis will probably be the way of the future for the most challenging prints though
As a CNC machinist I definitely believe non-planar not only is the future, but closer to being a norm than just a "test." It's very similar to surfacing tool paths on a mill. It's basically on the slicing and printer companies to decide when to make that switch. I'm sure soon here enough someone will have a "new cutting edge" machine utilizing this. Either with a standalone slicer or a compilation with one of the big slicer companies.
I see some potential in this kind of 3D printing technique however there are so many things that can go wrong. Mainly the print head colliding with the print it self like you said. I think the reason why no one ever did anything like this is because it would only be useful in some very specific situations. And as you can see cura can't even generate proper supports in some cases so I can't even imagine this yet.
Cura could totally make a 3d printer with this in mind and then add the feature to their slicer. Since they produce both software and hardware they have an advantage there. Definitely looks like an interesting possibility for the future.
I love the throat clearing at the end. HA! I do think that this is the "next big thing" in FDM, and like you, I don't have the math for it to contribute, but am perfectly capable (in extreme cases where I need the non-planar abilities) to push it through some python scripts. Thank you!
I already saw the print head that can move on it's own axis, which was cool as hell. But if we can get something similar just by slicing improvement? Game changer
A little late to the game. I have followed 3D printing for sometime but never in the detail I have over the last 2 or 3 months. I just pulled the trigger and ordered my first one, a Neptune 4. As some one who used to do machining, this technique seems like it would have been something sooner. I know that additive and subtractive manufacturing are two different beasts, but they can still be comparable. I'm just picturing all the tool paths made in CAM software for CNC machines. Its funny because this paths that are being used in the examples, remind me of doing multi-axis surface milling to create certain shapes and planes. This is pretty interesting, and I can see it becoming more mainstream up to the point where machines are built with this in mind.
I bet Cura will include this in their experimental settings within few month (or at least i hope), awesome video. I will always be amazed about how far we can push engineering especially for little makers at home like me !
I would really like 2 things to be in future slicers; a) top surface improvements with conical slicing, so curved top surfaces go from horrible to very nice b) some form of layer interlocking or interweaving to improve strength in the z direction
I'm working on designing a fully articulating Z-axis where all 4 corners are supported by magnetic ball joints. The four vertical extrusions of the frame have to be rotated 45deg because the linear rails supporting the magnetic ball joints have to be rotated to maximize articulation angles.
I paid for Simplify3D for the same reason of automated support generation. I would pay again for such universal nonplanar slicing. The potential shown is amazing. This is way better to use Double extruder with washable material. It saves such a load of pre- and post-processing, that eats into busy peoples time. This would give FDM another huge boost in rapid prototyping.
I'd find it interesting if we had a software where we could specify how the printer should print a model as we modeled it. I know you can just manually write gcode, but what I'm talking about would still need a slicer. You'd just give general instructions for how elements could be done for a slicer to use, so it's more low-level then a regular modeling software. Think about it this way: if blender or fusion 360 or regular modeling softwares are python, and gcode is assembly, I want the 3d printer equivalent of c++.
I didnt often think about software optimisation being as important as hardware improvments in printing but innovations like these prove that there really is more room to improve in software than hardware. Klipper especially was just mind boggling, i cant wait to see whats next
I feel like a lot of issues relating to overhangs or flat angles could be perfectly solved by coordinated bed tilting - simply avoiding the hard-to-print horizontals by temporarily tilting the whole model a bit.
Maybe have a pause between passes to allow the filament to cool and be stronger to hold the next layer. It will take more time, but may allow for greater overhangs..
It would be cool if such methods could also tilt the print bed (which some printers can do for automatic levelling). That way it may be possible to get larger angles at the edges of prints. In the long term new printers might get longer nozzle designs for that purpose, which would allow more freedom for this while still keeping the same simple movement system.
Interesting! I think this kind of slicing would have work better if one can process step files which contain 3D shape data instead of simple polygons (as in prusa slicer). A crucial first step to a better geometry identification and non-planar slicing I must say!
I don't think non-planer slicing will ever be super mainstream, but I think if it gets integrated into slicers it will be a special feature explored by 3D printing nerds looking to create specific parts with overhangs
I def see potential - huge potential with non-planar methods. But I still think there will still be times the current planar support methods will work best.
I would like to see about the 4-axis printer. I think would the way to go. Just like advanced CNC machining centers with four and five axis capability.
I've given up on simplify3D. Once I got prusaslicer to work with my Makergear, it become obsolete. It's embarrassing how little it gets updated, while the free one gets insanely awesome upgrades every few months. I'm fairly certain that if I open prusaslicer right now it will offer to make me dinner.
this could also be a good option for multicolour printing to reduce wastage? print more layers with colour A before changing to colour B and going back to earlier layers.
I think combining this with arc overhangs has alot of potential, potentially to the extent of never needing supports again. We just have to wait for someone skilled and motivated enough to develop the software to do it.
The intro at 1:25 kind of shows that it would open a whole new set of possible problems... At that pass and the next, the end really flops around a lot --- you cannot expect that part to be within spec! The plastic clearly curls up where it shouldn't be, maybe something like surface tension the cause?
With a tilting bed like in a ratrig it might be easier to print without adapting the extrusion mechanism. However both methods might give more degrees of freedom...
This is amazing and I hope it gets more traction since I feel like it can have the potential to have even more benefits in the future. Also I don't know why I get the feeling that this type of slicing will work better on Delta printers. I imagine that there might be away to make the hotend tilt to get better angles and avoid some of the issues mentioned in the video.
There is no dedicated z axis so the z-layering is artificial already. So all plane angles are simply a matter of math and there is no "natural" stacking plane.
Thanks for sharing again! You should contact Jon from ProperPrinting to use this method with his so-called fdm resin printing - there you could probably reduce colision problems greatly.
What would be good is to use the same algorithm that cura or another slicer uses to "detect" where to put supports and to put non planar printng on top of there
its obvious that this will become a mode in every slicer. there are a million parts out there that could have been improved with this and less waste aswell.
Actualy this could be done by printing on a tilted support. The machine would still works on a planar path and only two axis would be involved per layer.
Non-planar printing is the future, but I think its implementation will require a multi-axis print head. It's just not what current hardware is designed for, and trying to force a 3-axis printer to do it (beyond our current narrow scope) would be harder and less effective than developing new hardware that fully realizes the potential.
Hopefully this eventually gets folded into open source slicing systems. It wouldn't even need to be as complex as the script based method, since instead of transforming and backtransforming the model wouldn't be necessary, the slicer could just use a non planar slice geometry directly (the complexity of true 3D slicing is due to the extra degree of freedom, slicing layers of conical surfaces is mathematically pretty similar to planar slicing since it's still limited to a single surface at a time)
I like having more options, but the problem already has two "better" solutions IMHO. (1) Well tuned conventional overhang support. (2) Dissolvable support filament.
Hasn't anyone thought of using machine learning to approximate suitable non-planar slicing algorithm yet? It seems like the ideal example for ML. It would just require printing simulator to give the neural network feedback without ruining tons of filament. Also this aproach would be absolutely awesome for use as an online service - not only for centralizing requirement for specialised AI hardware (NPU, RAM), but also for actual learning - the best way to approximate best approach has to be learning from the real-world examples that users provide... That could be also done by throwing at the AI everythng from thingiverse, but I belive, that user interaction would bring that to a higher level by also requiring some additional parameters - i.e. if that part is decorational or technical, speed vs. toughness vs. accuracy, etc... The ultimate dream would of course be non-planar slicer integrated into 3D CAD, that would take into account all simulations that had been run with the model to modify printing order, density, direction, etc., to provide desired toughness in all the right directions while saving time and material on non-essential parts 😉 Sadly, I fear that no one will ever try undergoing such a challenge, because most people who model engineering parts for living would have access to an SLS printer, and/or would print parts uniformly with 100% infill, and all the other people that would be able to use this simply won't be able to put enough resources together to make it happen. 😥
What about a dual toolhead approach where one toolhead prints a non-filament material or "pencils" the support pla where it touches the prints surface with something that that makes it easier to remove the supports. Such a material might not exist. Or just another filament that is easier to remove and is printed only at surface contact
I think the next big leap in 3D printing will be when robot arms become cheap enough to be used in consumer grade printers. After that one will be able to print rather complex geometries and even up-side down. This is if metal powder deposition printers dont over-take current 3d-printing technologies.
I personally want to see spaghetti infill (injection infill). i.e. First print perimeters of closed volume shapes with 0% infill. Then after a set height, extrude at max rate into the infill to fill the void. Not only would this be immensely faster than normal infill patterns, but it would give FDM parts more isotropic strength as there would be fewer aligned layer lines within the infill. While it would use potentially way more filament (akin to 80-90% infill), the strength of the parts would be huge in the z-axis compared to normal prints. Make it happen!
This is most likely the future of these types of 3D printers. They are currently limited to printing towers of 2D slices which can weaken the parts. A OEM implemented solution we will see a real step forward.
Question is.... how many people that are not really into tech and 3D printing but have one for some reason will... tilt bedding of their printer as "they will not gonna play with some code when they can just put device in angle" :D
I've been wondering for a while now.. why hasn't someone tried to use a laser for a heating element? If paired with a liquid cooled heat break, the profile of the print head would be a fraction of what it is now. For part cooling, a compressed air line might work. The point would be high clearance and possibly another axis of movement. All I found that came close was a custom printer at MIT for stupid fast printing that says it uses a laser to melt the plastic. Didn't seem like they reduced print head size or weight by doing it though. It would make sense, though right? How better to melt plastic than with a precisely applied point heat source?
If gravity is the issue why not make some frame with steper motors to rotate the 3d printer during work so in case when it needs to print some overhangs you can compensate gravity by rotating tha printer :P
Given that the python script exists, someone will figure out how to install that into a slicer. The problem isn't really software, it's hardware. how the nozzle fits needs to be reconsidered, Ironing may require another tool head, the entire shape of the head needs to be thought about for this approach. how much angle is actually needed to do most parts needs to be estimated. What does cooling airflow need to look like? It's complicated, but nothing is difficult, just takes time and brain space.
Is non-planar slicing the future or just too complicated?
I think we'll get there. We always have, just a matter of optimization and getting to understand the principles behind every new technology. The next generation of 3D-printers will probably laugh at us old-schoolers with our planar slicing methods!
I think yes, It has some negatives but It can be the real deal for 3d printing,
Everything we do now was considered too complicated some time ago.
One would think this should add to print strength and stability.
If the past has proven anything, it's that "too complicated" doesn't exist given enough time.
One possible benefit of conical slicing Stefan that you did not mention is part strength to a certain directions when printing technical parts. Maybe in the future we could adjust angles of force in the slicer and slicer would count angles based on that. Right now we design parts we are just dealing with the horizontal plane when printing and print orientation. Great video!
Using stacking radial layers with angled axial layers would greatly increase part strength across layer lines.
oh that is genius
when I watch video I got same idea. not having flat layers can resolve weakness of layer separation
Yes! Achieving a greater strength perpendicular to the printbed is a great benefit of this method IMHO...
Although ironically the way the layers are angled in order to print the overhangs make the delamination far more likely at the stress concentration region of the interior corner
Applying a warping transform to your shape, then slicing, then applying the reverse-transform is a genius way to implement conical slicing. Amazing that it works with any slicing software!
Watching FDM printers behave more like CNC routers is encouraging. Certainly there is a large body of knowledge to draw from with regards to motion systems and optimal toolpath development. I wonder if it would be easier to start with CAM software and build in the constraints of layer stacking rather than starting with a slicer and building CAM-like motion control into it.
Ive always though the next generation of slicing would look more like a CAM suite, where you choose how to approach each feature of a print individually
I have had parts several times where I would have liked to print one part in lower layer height than other parts. Have asked myself why there isn't a easy funktion for sectioning the print and beeing abel to do different settings on each part. Even only altering the layer height can save lots of time and also make overhangs work better.
@@fabianbohnert120 adaptive layers are just starting to become a thing on Cura
CAM is light-years ahead of current slicers. The vast majority of slicers can't even load Brep models and the few that do, typically just take the Brep and convert it to a mesh file.
@@scottwarner7349 thanks, I probably should update once again. Also it would be nice to set all parameters differently for different sections of the print, like lowering the print speed, layer hight and using more cooling on overhangs. Also possibly printing large uniform sections with more extrusion width.
oh man, kanns kaum erwarten, das das für jedermann einfach verfügbar wird. Danke für das Video.
Even a small slope on Z-axis would enable printing across the layers (e.g. the slightly inclined or even X-crossing infill and/or secondary perimeters) and would increase the strength along the Z-axis, which today is limited by layer adhesion only. So, looking forward for this feature not only for supportless overhangs.
This is going to be really useful when it reaches mainstream slicers. I don't have the time or inclination to spend the time to do this. Many thanks for taking the time to show what the future holds.
ich lebe seit 7 jahre in usa... muss immer meine infos auf englisch irgendwie bekommen und nun bin ich ueberrascht wie toll dein englisch ist obwohl du auch noch deutsch zumindest sprichst. prima keep up the good work
Nice! I've been messing around with this idea too. I used geometry nodes in Blender to distort the mesh. C++ program to edit the gcode.
If a CNC machine can move in 3d, a 3d printer definitely should. I think 5 axis will probably be the way of the future for the most challenging prints though
I can't wait for Cura to add this. I would still use supports, but it will prevent some flat sections from sagging in to the support interface.
As a CNC machinist I definitely believe non-planar not only is the future, but closer to being a norm than just a "test." It's very similar to surfacing tool paths on a mill. It's basically on the slicing and printer companies to decide when to make that switch. I'm sure soon here enough someone will have a "new cutting edge" machine utilizing this. Either with a standalone slicer or a compilation with one of the big slicer companies.
I see some potential in this kind of 3D printing technique however there are so many things that can go wrong. Mainly the print head colliding with the print it self like you said. I think the reason why no one ever did anything like this is because it would only be useful in some very specific situations. And as you can see cura can't even generate proper supports in some cases so I can't even imagine this yet.
Cura could totally make a 3d printer with this in mind and then add the feature to their slicer. Since they produce both software and hardware they have an advantage there. Definitely looks like an interesting possibility for the future.
This is not just ingenious, but also your video and how you work out all this info is awesome!
You're awesome, too!
I love the throat clearing at the end. HA! I do think that this is the "next big thing" in FDM, and like you, I don't have the math for it to contribute, but am perfectly capable (in extreme cases where I need the non-planar abilities) to push it through some python scripts. Thank you!
I already saw the print head that can move on it's own axis, which was cool as hell. But if we can get something similar just by slicing improvement? Game changer
A little late to the game. I have followed 3D printing for sometime but never in the detail I have over the last 2 or 3 months. I just pulled the trigger and ordered my first one, a Neptune 4. As some one who used to do machining, this technique seems like it would have been something sooner. I know that additive and subtractive manufacturing are two different beasts, but they can still be comparable. I'm just picturing all the tool paths made in CAM software for CNC machines. Its funny because this paths that are being used in the examples, remind me of doing multi-axis surface milling to create certain shapes and planes. This is pretty interesting, and I can see it becoming more mainstream up to the point where machines are built with this in mind.
That is such an elegant way of acheiving this without having to create a new slicer.
I bet Cura will include this in their experimental settings within few month (or at least i hope), awesome video. I will always be amazed about how far we can push engineering especially for little makers at home like me !
I would really like 2 things to be in future slicers; a) top surface improvements with conical slicing, so curved top surfaces go from horrible to very nice
b) some form of layer interlocking or interweaving to improve strength in the z direction
Love love love the work you are doing to bring awareness to the vast improvements that can be had in the slicing/software realm!
I'm working on designing a fully articulating Z-axis where all 4 corners are supported by magnetic ball joints. The four vertical extrusions of the frame have to be rotated 45deg because the linear rails supporting the magnetic ball joints have to be rotated to maximize articulation angles.
I paid for Simplify3D for the same reason of automated support generation. I would pay again for such universal nonplanar slicing. The potential shown is amazing. This is way better to use Double extruder with washable material. It saves such a load of pre- and post-processing, that eats into busy peoples time. This would give FDM another huge boost in rapid prototyping.
I'd find it interesting if we had a software where we could specify how the printer should print a model as we modeled it. I know you can just manually write gcode, but what I'm talking about would still need a slicer. You'd just give general instructions for how elements could be done for a slicer to use, so it's more low-level then a regular modeling software. Think about it this way: if blender or fusion 360 or regular modeling softwares are python, and gcode is assembly, I want the 3d printer equivalent of c++.
This is such a great channel. It blows my mind that it does have more subscribers.
I didnt often think about software optimisation being as important as hardware improvments in printing but innovations like these prove that there really is more room to improve in software than hardware. Klipper especially was just mind boggling, i cant wait to see whats next
I feel like a lot of issues relating to overhangs or flat angles could be perfectly solved by coordinated bed tilting - simply avoiding the hard-to-print horizontals by temporarily tilting the whole model a bit.
Conical slicing also creates a higher chance for layer shifting within prints, due to the simultaneous movement of X and Y axis steppers.
I see a huge opportunity for this to become mainstream if implemented in a single package
Cant wait this option to be implemented into slicers and upgrades on 3d printers comes from manufacturers
LOLS, I'm lppking forward to CNC Kitchen"s non planar slicer!
Maybe have a pause between passes to allow the filament to cool and be stronger to hold the next layer. It will take more time, but may allow for greater overhangs..
It would be cool if such methods could also tilt the print bed (which some printers can do for automatic levelling). That way it may be possible to get larger angles at the edges of prints.
In the long term new printers might get longer nozzle designs for that purpose, which would allow more freedom for this while still keeping the same simple movement system.
Vase mode prints in existing slicers do use all three dimensions of motion.
Having more possibilities is always something good.
Interesting! I think this kind of slicing would have work better if one can process step files which contain 3D shape data instead of simple polygons (as in prusa slicer). A crucial first step to a better geometry identification and non-planar slicing I must say!
This is really a cool hack. I hope someone builds this code into a slicer natively.
I don't think non-planer slicing will ever be super mainstream, but I think if it gets integrated into slicers it will be a special feature explored by 3D printing nerds looking to create specific parts with overhangs
Seems so powerfull !!! I'm waiting for it in PrusaSlicer :)
awesome video again Stefan. Keep up the good work. I´m amazed how you can use multiple scilers. I use only Simplify3D.
I def see potential - huge potential with non-planar methods. But I still think there will still be times the current planar support methods will work best.
Wow this is awesome, like you say not perfect, but could be really helpful
Cool. This could be a huge step
I would like to see about the 4-axis printer. I think would the way to go. Just like advanced CNC machining centers with four and five axis capability.
This looks like something that would work really well on a Delta style printer
I've given up on simplify3D. Once I got prusaslicer to work with my Makergear, it become obsolete. It's embarrassing how little it gets updated, while the free one gets insanely awesome upgrades every few months. I'm fairly certain that if I open prusaslicer right now it will offer to make me dinner.
this could also be a good option for multicolour printing to reduce wastage? print more layers with colour A before changing to colour B and going back to earlier layers.
I think combining this with arc overhangs has alot of potential, potentially to the extent of never needing supports again. We just have to wait for someone skilled and motivated enough to develop the software to do it.
We'll still need a solution for overhangs above 90 degrees, inpossible to print without supports
Very interesting. I would love to see companies solutions to this engineering challenge.
Nice! 👍3d slicing breaks my brain 😅
We could build a delta printer where each arm can move independly -> 6 motors and we can use the normal nozzles
The intro at 1:25 kind of shows that it would open a whole new set of possible problems... At that pass and the next, the end really flops around a lot --- you cannot expect that part to be within spec! The plastic clearly curls up where it shouldn't be, maybe something like surface tension the cause?
It'd be fascinating to watch a delta printer use this slicing technique
With a tilting bed like in a ratrig it might be easier to print without adapting the extrusion mechanism. However both methods might give more degrees of freedom...
This is amazing and I hope it gets more traction since I feel like it can have the potential to have even more benefits in the future. Also I don't know why I get the feeling that this type of slicing will work better on Delta printers. I imagine that there might be away to make the hotend tilt to get better angles and avoid some of the issues mentioned in the video.
There is no dedicated z axis so the z-layering is artificial already. So all plane angles are simply a matter of math and there is no "natural" stacking plane.
Excellent video. Thank you !
Thanks for sharing again!
You should contact Jon from ProperPrinting to use this method with his so-called fdm resin printing - there you could probably reduce colision problems greatly.
3d contour milling software is capable of creating a toolpath profile that could be used for G code creation for printers
What would be good is to use the same algorithm that cura or another slicer uses to "detect" where to put supports and to put non planar printng on top of there
its obvious that this will become a mode in every slicer. there are a million parts out there that could have been improved with this and less waste aswell.
I'll go for whichever makes the fastest and most high quality prints
looks great, but I'll wait for an "stable" version ;) But many thanks for those informations
Let's do some special elongated nozzles. There will be a market for it in the future.
Actualy this could be done by printing on a tilted support. The machine would still works on a planar path and only two axis would be involved per layer.
Non-planar printing is the future, but I think its implementation will require a multi-axis print head. It's just not what current hardware is designed for, and trying to force a 3-axis printer to do it (beyond our current narrow scope) would be harder and less effective than developing new hardware that fully realizes the potential.
Hopefully this eventually gets folded into open source slicing systems. It wouldn't even need to be as complex as the script based method, since instead of transforming and backtransforming the model wouldn't be necessary, the slicer could just use a non planar slice geometry directly (the complexity of true 3D slicing is due to the extra degree of freedom, slicing layers of conical surfaces is mathematically pretty similar to planar slicing since it's still limited to a single surface at a time)
I like having more options, but the problem already has two "better" solutions IMHO. (1) Well tuned conventional overhang support. (2) Dissolvable support filament.
Hasn't anyone thought of using machine learning to approximate suitable non-planar slicing algorithm yet? It seems like the ideal example for ML. It would just require printing simulator to give the neural network feedback without ruining tons of filament. Also this aproach would be absolutely awesome for use as an online service - not only for centralizing requirement for specialised AI hardware (NPU, RAM), but also for actual learning - the best way to approximate best approach has to be learning from the real-world examples that users provide... That could be also done by throwing at the AI everythng from thingiverse, but I belive, that user interaction would bring that to a higher level by also requiring some additional parameters - i.e. if that part is decorational or technical, speed vs. toughness vs. accuracy, etc...
The ultimate dream would of course be non-planar slicer integrated into 3D CAD, that would take into account all simulations that had been run with the model to modify printing order, density, direction, etc., to provide desired toughness in all the right directions while saving time and material on non-essential parts 😉
Sadly, I fear that no one will ever try undergoing such a challenge, because most people who model engineering parts for living would have access to an SLS printer, and/or would print parts uniformly with 100% infill, and all the other people that would be able to use this simply won't be able to put enough resources together to make it happen. 😥
What about a dual toolhead approach where one toolhead prints a non-filament material or "pencils" the support pla where it touches the prints surface with something that that makes it easier to remove the supports. Such a material might not exist.
Or just another filament that is easier to remove and is printed only at surface contact
Sounds like something that could be incorporated into a Cura or Octoprint plugin.
Parabéns , projeto de estudo fantástico , obrigado por disponibilizar dados do projeto. Ganhou um admirador e inscrito. 👏👏👏
I think the next big leap in 3D printing will be when robot arms become cheap enough to be used in consumer grade printers. After that one will be able to print rather complex geometries and even up-side down. This is if metal powder deposition printers dont over-take current 3d-printing technologies.
Use your lathe to make a longer nozzle
I think you use supports but only little to get better quality and angle also
I personally want to see spaghetti infill (injection infill). i.e. First print perimeters of closed volume shapes with 0% infill. Then after a set height, extrude at max rate into the infill to fill the void. Not only would this be immensely faster than normal infill patterns, but it would give FDM parts more isotropic strength as there would be fewer aligned layer lines within the infill. While it would use potentially way more filament (akin to 80-90% infill), the strength of the parts would be huge in the z-axis compared to normal prints. Make it happen!
that's genius! Thanks!
Lol, thumbnail basically told me the story. :)
Stephan, have you watched any of the arc overhang videos? And... how do you use a python script within a slicing program?
This is most likely the future of these types of 3D printers. They are currently limited to printing towers of 2D slices which can weaken the parts. A OEM implemented solution we will see a real step forward.
This is awesome!
What a young handsome man I get randomly recommended
Great idea!
It is interesting. But way above my knowledge
Question is.... how many people that are not really into tech and 3D printing but have one for some reason will... tilt bedding of their printer as "they will not gonna play with some code when they can just put device in angle" :D
metal fan ducts could allow for narrow and very close part cooling. unfortunately that'd be a lot harder to make at home :/
You have to turn off power off resume mode in your settings
I've been wondering for a while now.. why hasn't someone tried to use a laser for a heating element? If paired with a liquid cooled heat break, the profile of the print head would be a fraction of what it is now. For part cooling, a compressed air line might work. The point would be high clearance and possibly another axis of movement. All I found that came close was a custom printer at MIT for stupid fast printing that says it uses a laser to melt the plastic. Didn't seem like they reduced print head size or weight by doing it though. It would make sense, though right? How better to melt plastic than with a precisely applied point heat source?
Can you make a stepbystep guide video to use it with Simplify 3d ?
Current 2+1 axis printing is horrible for generic parts. 3 axis slicing/printing would make life 10x easier at least!
Honestly?
2.5D method works perfectly for most mechanical parts whom are square anyway.
3D method would be a blast for organic objects.
mindblown
is there any part strength gained when conical sliced part is printed vs planar
Did you make that term up? -Issa thing
If gravity is the issue why not make some frame with steper motors to rotate the 3d printer during work so in case when it needs to print some overhangs you can compensate gravity by rotating tha printer :P
Non-planar (as well as other types) of slicing is not future. It is present. We have been using non-planar slicing for many years.
OK, but can we made that straight vertical walls will print normally, but only overhangs will do magic?
Given that the python script exists, someone will figure out how to install that into a slicer. The problem isn't really software, it's hardware. how the nozzle fits needs to be reconsidered, Ironing may require another tool head, the entire shape of the head needs to be thought about for this approach. how much angle is actually needed to do most parts needs to be estimated. What does cooling airflow need to look like? It's complicated, but nothing is difficult, just takes time and brain space.
I feel like the air ducts on my vzbot can be modified to be more slim and in line with the nozzle
Can you guys wake me up when this can be done with just 3 clicks or less
Could we use delta printers to tilt the print head to avoid some of the problems with conical printing?
love this idea! seems like a great step in the right direction 🙌