I took the 3D printing class like forever ago but I haven’t used the space’s printers much because I own a couple of my own. However, I want to do a large print of a Mando helmet for myself to mold and make some castings. I have a full 1kg roll of ABS I could use. Do you think that kind of thing would fit on the bed of the smaller polyprinters or would I need to use the big one? I don’t really want to split the model since it’s a lot of extra work and I need it perfectly smooth for casting. Also can I use Cura and bring in GCode or do I need to use a specific slicer?
What size is it in mm or inches? What size do the PolyPrinters fit? That should tell you.
My suspicion is that it will require splitting and since you’re going to need to polish whatever you cast I would personally go that route.
Does Cura have a PolyPrinter profile? I suspect not. Generating one from scratch is a little daunting unless you’ve done a deep-dive into the PP specs (degrees per step/sub stepping for the motors, print dimensions (229 x 229 x 229mm), where is the origin, et al). I’d expect you’d have to make several test gcode files and run some calibration tests to nail down all the details.
The PP slicer also runs some post processing on the generated gcode which would be missing from the Cura toolchain.
If unfamiliarity with the PP slicer is pushing if you to try to use Cura, consider that you can download the PP slicer for free off their web site and get more familiar with it at home. The current version is 1.6: I’m not sure what is installed in 3D Fab at DMS, or how long 1.6 has been available.
I don’t know what printer you should use, but some people use XTC-3D for post-printing finishing when smoothness is important.
@Haley_Moore gives some specific advice in post 4 of that thread.
The PolyPrinter download package does seem to include an older version of Cura and a configuration file for it, but does not install either. I haven’t yet tested it.
One caveat: For something like a Mando helmet, I’d recommend the old-fashioned sand-polish-clearcoat path. XTC 3D doesn’t handle hard edges that well, and can be difficult to apply evenly to a large piece.
1 Like
1 Like
That was a great video! thanks