How can I print a first test bunny?
In terms of a "happy path walkthrough," how can I:
- Find a flat-based version of the Stanford bunny on thingiverse,
- Scale it, perhaps to 120% of original dimensions,
- Slice it with a 3 layer thick shell, perhaps 12% density, and hexagon filled, and
- Print it (on my MK3S+)?
If there is a tutorial that covers these bases, where is it?
I invite you to visit my website at CJSHayward.com and my bookshelf at CJSHayward.com/books.
RE: How can I print a first test bunny?
If I'm understanding correctly, you're after a low poly STL of the Stanford Bunny:
- You can find the STL here.
- You can scale it up in PrusaSlicer. (Scaling up generally works well. Scaling down can be tricky with small details.)
- You can set your desired perimeter count and infill density & pattern in PrusaSlicer.
- You can print it on your Mk3.
Ask here if you have more questions!
RE: How can I print a first test bunny?
There's a blast from the past...
Search for the .obj file, there are several repositories.
All of those manipulations are easy to discover from the slicer settings. Explore, experiment, come back if you're stuck - but hex infill can be a little noisy, try cubic or gyroid...
Have fun, and welcome to the forum.
Cheerio,
RE: How can I print a first test bunny?
Thank you.
I've loaded and requested reslicing from PrusaSlicer.
How do I actually send it to the printer (from my computer, not via SD card)? I've looked around PrusaSlicer's UI and haven't noticed a "Print now" button.
I invite you to visit my website at CJSHayward.com and my bookshelf at CJSHayward.com/books.
RE: How can I print a first test bunny?
Additional question: Do I use PrusaSlicer to print it via pronterface, or do I use something else? If I use something else, what should it be?
I invite you to visit my website at CJSHayward.com and my bookshelf at CJSHayward.com/books.
RE: How can I print a first test bunny?
@cjshayward
I save a gcode file from prusa slicer then load the gcode into pronterface
regards Joan
I try to make safe suggestions,You should understand the context and ensure you are happy that they are safe before attempting to apply my suggestions, what you do, is YOUR responsibility. Location Halifax UK
RE: How can I print a first test bunny?
Thank you.
The printer says, "All is done. Happy printing!"
I've loaded a gcode, first for a bunny then for a test print of a square, into Pronterface.
The "Print" button is greyed out.
I've attached a screenshot.
What should I be doing so that the print button is live? I've tried clicking on "Connect," and it says, "Connecting..." in the right square of the screen, but the "Print" button still remains greyed out.
What should I do so that the "Print" button is live and will attempt a print if I click it?
I invite you to visit my website at CJSHayward.com and my bookshelf at CJSHayward.com/books.
RE: How can I print a first test bunny?
It is really not a good idea to print to your Prusa from a PC using something like Pronterface. If you want to go down that road, look into OctoPrint. It's a Linux based tool running on a Raspberry Pi 3 or 4. E.g., Windows has just too many background housecleaning functions that will interrupt a 3D print and cause you issues, not to mention I'm not even sure printing from Pronterface hasn't been removed.
Learn the printer using the SD card. Sneaker-net is a bit of a chore, but it will help you learn the printer and is a better diagnostic when something goes amuck. When an external device is driving the process, like a PC, then there are all sorts of other open questions that can affect things and figuring out the real issue is challenging enough most of us will ask that you go back and use an SD card for diagnosing anyway.
ps: https://help.prusa3d.com/en/article/pronterface-and-usb-cable_2222/
I think the process to use print functions is to 1: connect to the printer; 2: load the file to print; 3: select print. Your screenshot shows you have not yet connected to the printer. Could be a port issue, or something else.
RE: How can I print a first test bunny?
As an additional postscript: understand that if your PC goes to sleep while a print is running, you just lost the print and all that plastic used so far. So make sure your PC power saver settings are set to NEVER. If printing from the SD card, the printer has a recovery mode that may allow a print to recover from a power mishap: this recovery is not available if your PC drops to sleep, and the printer will just sit there and wait, usually melting a hole in your part because the printer 'basically' runs gcode one line at a time, not really buffered like a normal 2D paper print.
RE: How can I print a first test bunny?
Thank you for the warnings; I shied away from buying an SD card adaptor because it is my experience that USB dongles flake out. But I have the SD card, and I have ordered a USB SD adaptor as mentioned in this forum ( https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B07GZYGVT8).
I invite you to visit my website at CJSHayward.com and my bookshelf at CJSHayward.com/books.
RE: How can I print a first test bunny?
@cjshayward
Some of us use Toshiba FlashAir-4 cards ... they are expensive and a pain to get set up right and maintain: Windows share mapping seems to not like them very much and will drop the share; but it's handy and semi reliable once you get it set up. It makes the printer SD slot a spot on your network where you can drag and drop files to. Read the forums before buying to learn the caveats and pitfalls. 16GB is the largest I'd recommend; the link here is what I purchased. The larger 64GB requires some more playing.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B072SN7QK6 16GB version
RE: How can I print a first test bunny?
BTW, my computer has Windows 10 as host OS and Mint as a VMware guest. I have already turned off sleep when connected with power; I would have liked to print entirely from the guest OS, but VMware, at least before I bought a Workstation Player license, exhibited a moronic behavior of not freeing up virtual disk space when significant disk space was freed from within the guest OS, and I was concerned that the repeated writing to disk and deletions of slices and other files from the guest OS would result in increasing disk usage, hence I ran it from the guest OS.
I'm not a Windows sysadmin, and haven't administered others' Unix or Linux for ages, but I think that I could follow instructions to get things working under Windows 10, if such instructions were provided to me.
I invite you to visit my website at CJSHayward.com and my bookshelf at CJSHayward.com/books.
RE: How can I print a first test bunny?
Don't try printing from Windows it's far too likely to freeze the print whilst doing something else which you probaby don't need. If you must print from a computer put Octoprint on a Raspberry Pi.
As a beginner you really are best advised to use an SD card for the first few months.
Cheerio,
RE: How can I print a first test bunny?
@diem
what diem said. I've had prints fail because some odd interruption in usb connectivity via pronterface. it's fine for sending a print to the printer and verifying small stuff or the first few layers, but you definitely don't want to start a 48h print via pronterface. I keep my printers on UPS as to if possible avoid even testing the resume print after power outage. but even if both ups and printer are on UPS, you could still get interrruption in USB flow that kills your print.