This Open Source mod to Slic3r allows terrain-following to the tops of the 3D prints rather than using planer slices. For relatively flat tops (e.g. the tops of spheres, shallow slopes, RPG terrain tiles), the printhead moves along the slope rather than laying down “contour lines”. This greatly improves the surface finish.
9 Likes
This is totally cool. I wonder if the added complexity to plan for the travel of the head will make this a less than useful for a majority of the prints we currently do, as many shapes will have areas that can’t be printed this way. But, for models that can allow for that travel, this will give much nicer surface finishes.
Thanks for sharing @HankCowdog
It’ll work best for:
- organic, undulating shapes like topo maps
- shallow ramps
- spherical shapes
- in general, any shape with a very shallow slope and enough room for the printhead and extruder mechanism to fit
There are limitations on getting the printhead in place, as well as trying to do too-deep a slope. I believe if, for example, you tried to make a triangular doorstop with this code, only the top X fractions of an inch would benefit from this non-planer filament placement. X in this case would be how far out from the extruder body the print-head sticks (perhaps 1/2" or so).
From the demo, it appears that it’ll only do the sculpting passes at the top of the print - not all the way along the print’s surface.
I could see this working especially well for 3D printed lithophanes.
Incoming 5 axis print heads.
1 Like
Really well, because there is no steep surfaces. No need to print vertically anymore ever for a rectangular lithophane
More like needle nose hotends.
1 Like
I was thinking the Volcano style heater blocks would have an advantage for this technique.
Doubt it. The heater block is just longer, so the angle would still be the same. However, something like our Polyprinters would benefit from it because the hotend is super exposed(not covered by fan ducts or anything) and the heater block is pretty small.
The heater block is turned on it’s side to bring the heater element parallel with the filament path.
In one axis at least, it would be about 1/2 the width.
I expect if the technique catches on, there will be inputs for nozzle angles from all sides.
Then the extra axis. Or two. 
There already are designs for multiple axis usually involving the bed being a turntable.
The hardest part is the slicer and firmware control, which is similar to generic 3d printer firmware, with thousands of designs but only 3 main firmwares(Reprap, Marlin, Klipper)