3D Printing Basics: The Slicer! (Ep6) 

An important tip, not just for 3D printing but in general: When troubleshooting or tuning your settings, do one at a time. If you change multiple things at once, you likely won't know which change or combination did result in what. So even if you solved your current issue, what you learned is vague at best and won't have much transferrable value to solving other problems later.

Whoops, bit of a mishap scheduling today's videos - Ep5 will be out in two hours!

you are SO awesome! I'm getting into 3D Printing and I was so overwhelmed by all of the options in my Bambu Slicer. This helps me tons and now I can actually get into 3D Designing and prevent failures! Thank you so much!!

I got my first filament printer yesterday this series of videos are amazing and extremely helpful you will be the one to thank once I finish my project

Great video series. I've been 3D printing for 3 years and I just got my best first layer using your tips. Thank you.

First off I cant thank you enough for all this good info for most of my prints I would usually stick with the default settings on my slicer but now that I finished watching I can tell you this opens up a whole new world. Thanks to you I'm going to producing way better prints and possibly even trying out new things. Thanks again Tom your the best!

I've been messing around with 3D printing off and on for a little while now. I couldn't even get a demo to print after reading a lot and watching a lot of videos. This video is the single most helpful thing I have found for a beginner. This video alone took care of most of the problems I was having at the start. Super big thanks!

Really useful information here--I especially found the discussion on layer height/width for first layer of interest.

Some GREAT stuff here Thomas. Thanks for producing all this.

Thx for the very good explanation and especially for keeping it general without going into too much details for various situations!

Thank you! Fixed my stringing issue. My MK3S is happy now :)

I’m no longer afraid of the slicer. Props to you man

Rectilinear infill!! Best material use, fastest printing, and according to some tests I've seen, also the strongest.

This is a very helpful series. Learning a lot as I get to know my printer!

Ty my prusha mini had some problöems but after your tips ist prints like a champ :D

Another great video full of useful information. Thanks Thomas

Excellent video Thomas! Would be really great to make a full tutorial video regarding all settings of PrusaSlicer and their function. Waiting for the other videos!

Brims and support interfaces saved alot of my prints

Your videos are informative and helpful. Thanks for sharing what you know. You've helped me create better 3d prints!

Bought the PRUSA MINI because of your videos. Used your link of course, great content and hope you get a commission on that!

should have waited until the next Prusa slicer update for this episode !! They are implementing so much new stuff.

Oh wow. you're wearing a Grim Fandango shirt. How can one be so cool and nerdly at the same time?

Tons of incredible information!

100% agree on the print speeds advice. The defaults are usually ambitious to say the least, first question I ask beginners with quality issues is what their print speed is and usually hear 100-200mm/s and I'm like "yeah... listen, I set my MK3S (that cost three times more than your chinese clone) at 50mm/s max.". If you want faster prints increase layer height, use a rectilinear infill, or tweak the orientation rather than trying to throw that head around like a F1 car.

I have a fairly noticeable stringing problem with my Prusa. I've never known where the setting was to adjust that! Thanks Tom!

Such a great video for a beginner. Thanks!

Excellent presentation as usual!

This was very helpful for my son ❤

4:00 Meshmixer creates very efficient support structures. This applies great for organic models.

Ill SUB as long as you deliver the crucial info and valid information

Great video dude. Appreciate all the usefull tips!

Fantastic video I learned so much thanks for making it.

These have been super helpful, thank you so much! 3D printers are finally starting to appear at reasonable prices that are from what i can gather really good, so my interest in them has peaked again. I've currently got my eye on a Creality Eder 3 v2. Which from what i've read and seen seems to be a really decent printer for the price.

Shell thickness makes a lot of since. I thought about it but never tried adjusting it. Would be great to cut down some print time. I wish cura was more intuitive, but I’ll keep doing what I can. Thanks for the video.

Lol. That intro was 🔥🔥🔥💪

Filament sausage lol. Also loved your stepper motor impression😂

Ya know... I've been 3D Printing for a few years now starting with a Formlabs Form², followed by a i3 MK3S with MMU2S, and later on a Form³ and I JUST NOW realized that the whole Slicing thing ( how you view it and how the 3D Printer applies the material on the build Platform ) is like the EXACT opposite to how they sliced ( DUH?! ) the corpses for the _Visible Human Project._

I needed tthis video

Loved the video. I was wondering if you could do a review of Tiertime printers. Like the UP Box+ and the UP Mini 2

Tom., do you suggest that the first layer height be set to 0.45 mm (i have a 0.4mm nozzle) manually in the slicer? The default settings are 200% of the first layer height. Is that good for obtaining small features in the first layer (like embossed letters or small lines) instead of squishing more plastic down?

I have been resin printing for some time now and have that figured out reasonably well. I have a part that I am trying to make that just doesn't work on a resin printer as it is quite thin and flat and after curing, tends to 'potato chip' (warp) no matter how I cure it. So, I bought my first FDM printer (Elegoo Neptune 3). I love the printer but am still learning a lot of the specifics. I can print the part I need but brim doesn't work, I seem to need a raft in order to get it to stick. Yes, the bed is very level (less than .05 deviation, which I tuned in) but the issue I have is that the part looks like an infill on the bottom but smooth on the top and no matter what variable I change it keeps on printing the same. I tried changing several settings, one at a time but it still has the appearance of filament laid down in strings to make the shape on the bottom but is beautifully smooth on the top... I need it smooth on the bottom and top... I am printing it flat on the bed but on a raft with 55% infill and 40 mm/sec. temps are currently at 208 and 65. Layer heights are identical for top and bottom and that is what is confusing me... why does the top work and not the bottom? Any idea?

Love it !

Thanks.

900 like. Getting my first printer and I’m looking to learn and have fun

All useful information. I'm used to SLA printing but have an FDM printer coming soon. FDM slicers seem a lot more complicated.

@tom can you do a resin print best practices video showing the best ways to get the best results printing with resin - slicer wise

I had always assumed that adding z lift would increase stringing. I'm going to have to mess with this setting more now.

Thank you 👍😎👍

So serious at the beginning though 😅

Awesome videos convinced me that i am too dumb for 3D printing would not know how to change parameters and whatever.

40 works for me.

im new for 3d printing, i was just designing via maya and blender for animation and decided to print my own work but i never thought that this can include a lot of tweaking, tried to print some of my files and it looked ok though it felt like im missing a lot of things since theres a lot of settings that i have no idea what it does. as of now i am printing table top chibis as a noob but what im looking for is a good setting that doesnt have to use a lot of resin for the insides, time doesnt matter to me for as long as the designs are accurate so does it mean that printing slower means better design? ive read some forums that says tilting it is a good choice? btw the files are around 4-6 inches tall, chibis so supports arent that needed since it is a standing figurine though im considering adding a cape to see how itll be printed. btw why not have 1 layer outerwall? since we have the insides covered? if i added more volume inside would that be enough not to add outside support since it already has a solid block inside?

Hi Thomas! can you make a video with the best and the fastest printers comparison for flexi filaments? i had not good experiencee with flexi, i also bought a prusa mk3s, but lot of people like me had problem with prusa and flexi! my compliment for you work and passion

For what it's worth, gyroid infill is superior at high print speeds and accelerations (120+ mm/s and 1500+ mm/s^2). Gyroid infill avoids the nozzle skipping over perpendicular layer lines, which is a huge problem with cubic and other similar infill styles - this can cause layer shifts, blobs of material at junctions, nozzle buildup, etc. Assuming your machine can handle high accelerations without ghosting and other artifacts, gyroid is capable of running much faster as it doesn't ever cross itself this way. On the other hand, triangle, cubic and other related infills have a hard speed limit at whatever point your nozzle starts "skipping" off subsequent layers.

It's probably self evident but always use the exact same filament when testing against different settings/slicers... Changing one setting can affect (and effect) another... for example you may need to increase the extruder temp in order to increase speed or layer height, even by one or two degrees... I'm not happy unless my prints are flawless but I will settle with perfect ;)

Love the intro, deep voice, love it. Great video as always. Do you prefer Prusa Slicer to Cura. I have used Cura only, maybe I should look at Prusa slicer. Thanks again Thomas.

Will you do a video series on Advanced Slicer settings? Their is so many other settings in S3D. It would be nice learning how to use them...

so on this slicer Prusa or octoprint it's used to get the printer to slice into pieces but can you also design on it or do you still need to get CAD like freecad then transfer it to prusa??

Does 0.16 work better than 0.15 when the z axis lead screw does full rotations at 0.04mm?

I have been 3d modeling for over 15 years and just got my first printer. Does the slicing program create the fill area on a hollow model or do I have to go back and add it myself to the STL file? Current printer I have is a Davinci 1.0 Pro with the most recent software and firmware for now. Thinking of upgrading to repeater and Cura as other videos suggest eventually but stick with this to get started

That’s much better than cura I just started with 3D printing can you use Prusa with other 3D printers?

Can a slicer software support both fdm and resin 3d printers? I don't relish the thought of having to learn 2 slicing software when I plan on my 3d print purchases.

I have a little problem mit prusa slicer. If I print with slic3r or with cura everything is OK. If I slice the same model with prusa slicer, the print is to small. approximately I miss a third of the heigth. can someone explain this for me? @Tom: as always a very good video ..keep going on with this series! regards Michael

If I'm printing some details (like words) should I make them facing up (instead down towards the bed), even if downwards requires less support?

Top!

I have a prusa clone,do I use the prusa pre sets on my slicer

I still don't know why the perimeters option is not part of the plater tab. I need this option more often then infill.

how do you use the slice tool in creality??

what slicer can I use for a resin 3d printer

Hi I am very new in 3-D printing I love your video I would like to support you but I really don’t understand how to go by and do so please explain thanks

Hello friend. I'm hoping you could help. I have the fokoos a d wbne I'm plugging in the Microsoft my computer is saying I don't have permissions? What do you think?

Where can I download this frog?

early hi top love ur vids very helpful

So sliced it, diced it and went to the shops for milk and still the printer doesnt even follow the layout of the slicer. It is weird, and using cura. Does prusa slic3r have a slicer that connects to the printer instead of just export g code? I'd look myself but I am totally devastated by my two month printing experience, i thought multiple times about throwing it threw the wall, cept the wall is useful.

What about with resin printers?

So you can't just print straight out of an SD card unless it's in g code file ?

Can you design from scratch 3D objects in slicers?

Can this be the video that gets me to switch from Cura?

c o o l

what happened to EP5?

tall frog tall frog tall frog

With all due respect to his work, even video 5 was in basic or beginner, but moved to a higher level. I'm getting to know printers, programs and other items to buy. The slicer, you don't show where this frog came from, was it opened, imported, is there a process? I understand basic notions and who is starting, knowing. I will skip this part and insist later, even the people who already have experience did not know these tips, imagine for those who have never seen. Still thanks for the time and work.

Either I don't know how to change those options, or Prusa Slicer is much better than Cura.

Is it me or sound is a bit strange?

I can't convince myself to Prusa interface. It reeks KDE ;P

HI Thomas, I can see what your trying to achieve but for a novice it's useless. Why don't you get yourself a basic printer (like a novice might get eg Geeetech i3 Pro ) built it and then try and do a good print. This will introduce terms and concepts to new users. Show how to tweak the settings of the printer, calibrate the extruder, level the bed properly etc etc do a test print what to do about corners bulges, snots on the start of new layers, holes not dimensioned correctly, what acceleration settings do, jerk setting etc etc etc You are talking to users that know what you're talking about not novices. I've been trying to get my printer to give good results for over a year now it's been horrific the learning curve is vertical. Is threaded rod better than trapezoidal, is this hot end better than that hotend, is this version of Marlin better than this version, is there a hidden setting which helps me (yes manual mesh levelling by the way) I could go on but I wont

Why do you cover the logo on your laptop, pretty much everyone can tell it is a Mac.

One maybe too advanced addition to this video: some printers are NOT able to print at layer heights of 0.15, but they can do 0.16mm. Why?: This is because printers normally have a leadscrew on the Z axis. These leadscrews have an amount of millimeters it moves each rotation. This is what we call the lead. It is also dependent on the minimal rotation the stepper motor can handle. Typically this is 1.8 degrees An ender 3 for example has a leadscrew with a lead of 8mm with a 1.8 degree stepper motor. The motor has to move 200 times to complete a full 360 rotation. Divide the 200 steps by the leadscrew lead and there you have the minimal resolution of your Z axis. So in theory you can only move in the increments of the minimal resolution you have calculated. In the case of our example, the ender 3, this is 0.04mm.

There were a lot of advertisements with your video so make sure you get paid.

Who is Big Becky? Your sweetheart?

wasnt this guy in home alone??

first!

I am a beginner!!! And I am still overwhelmed. You went way to fast, clicking on a bunch of drop down menus that I could not keep up. Putting it on pause did not help, because then I could not hear your comments. Try again. Try talking and clicking slower

Why didn't you explain skirt. To me it serves no purpose as it's not connected to the model. But still everyone uses it, so my question is why? If everyone is using it, it must serve a purpose, but what purpose? And you just skip any explanation of. ARGH! ;)