Slicing software can make all the difference to the final print

Dave Paine

Registered
Registered
Joined
May 10, 2014
Messages
819
This picture shows three different printed small threaded nuts. The background has 1in squares so you can see the size.

I am not trying to make a statement about a given slicing software application, just showing for folks getting into 3D printing that the slicing software can make a big difference in final print quality.

Each nut was printed with a different slicing software. I tried to tweak the settings to be similar, since difficult to make settings the same. The right most nut is a web based slicing software so limited tweaking compared to the other two.

View attachment 264590

I recommend paying attention to the "Preview" or equivalent menu/screen which shows the slicing result.

The nut in the middle looked like this in the Preview screen and ended up looking as bad in the final print.

View attachment 264591

I have not found a slicing software application which is best for all my prints. Some are better for certain prints and some better for others.

This post is just FYI that the slicing software may make a difference, sometimes positive, and sometimes negative.
 
Have you found a slicer and settings which produce acceptable results?

I have been able to get acceptable prints depending on the print size/shape/complexity and the filament with
a) Slic3r (not a typo, this is name)
b) Cura (version which came with the printer, not the latest version) which will not install)
c) Ideamaker
d) SliceCrafter (web based version of IceSL). I am not able to install the IceSL local version.
e) KiSSlicer

For the small nuts in my post, SliceCrafter gave the best result. This does not allow all the tweaking of other slicing applications, but the defaults work for many prints. Setting different layer heights and temperatures is a hassle with the web based design.
 
I use the latest version of Cura on a 64 bit PC running Windows 7, it gives very neat results on a Prusa I3 clone with PLA, ABS and Nylon.

It's not your slicer that's causing problems, otherwise thousands of others would have the same insoluble problem, and they don't.
 
Most slicing software has a lot of settings. If the settings are not optimized for the printer and print the resulting print will not be optimum or may not be acceptable.

I have some failed prints with a given slicing software from settings not being optimum. I later tweaked the settings and manged to get an acceptable print.

My thread title is that the slicing software does impact the print. Many settings may need to be tweaked for a given printer or print to achieve acceptable results. Slicing software is not one-size-fits-all or just install and print and not have to worry about changing defaults.

A big surprise for me was that some of my failures were the filament. One spool printed well, then did not print well, then did print well, then the same file/slicer settings did not print well. I think this was inconsistency in the filament.
 
Last edited:
I have been able to get acceptable prints depending on the print size/shape/complexity and the filament with
a) Slic3r (not a typo, this is name)
b) Cura (version which came with the printer, not the latest version) which will not install)
c) Ideamaker
d) SliceCrafter (web based version of IceSL). I am not able to install the IceSL local version.
e) KiSSlicer

For the small nuts in my post, SliceCrafter gave the best result. This does not allow all the tweaking of other slicing applications, but the defaults work for many prints. Setting different layer heights and temperatures is a hassle with the web based design.


I found I could finally install the lastest Cura version by installing the missing (?file--that showed up when trying to install). Sorry I don't remember exactly what it was. I copied that number and did a google search and found a download for it and then Cura 3.2.1 installed just fine.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top