Noob Questions.
New Prusa i3 mk2 owner here. I think my printer works fine. I would like to ask some questions regarding the print parameters and if there is documentation I should read point me to that.
First of all for my prints I used TinkerCad and Prusa Slic3r. Everything with default values one print with optimal and one with the fastest settings. Prints came out alright mostly but I had some problems regarding combined pieces. Now to the questions:
1. Is there a better alternative to the software (more noob friendly perhaps or more automated) to the ones I use?
2. Is there a "golden" rule regarding walls in boxes ? I mean I usually print all kinds of boxes and enclosures are there specific thickness and other settings to increase sturdiness? (for PLA and ABS)
3. If I want to make pieces that can be combined one fits inside the other what would be a good offset in mm for the inner part? (If the inside of a box is 100mm x 30mm the inner cover should be 98mm x 28mm? Something else?
My first print didn't exactly slide inside the box (was a tad large) and the walls of the inner part were not solid.
Thanks for your help and sorry for the length of the post.
Edit. I have attached the STL files if you can find something I did wrong. It doesn't let me to attach .stl so here is the link https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B_R7SsNV6itwclVGdjdOWktNa3M
Re: Noob Questions.
1) TinkerCAD and the Prusa Slic3r is not a bad choice to get started. Personally, I am not very fond of the way TinkerCAD works and i do not like browser based tools, but that's mostly a personal preference. I would have suggested taking a look at 123Design by Autodesk, but i just heard that it is supposed to be discontinued soon. So i guess we're back to TinkerCAD.
2) Walls in boxes, lets see. When I design walls, I make sure the thickness of the wall is a multiple of my nozzle width. So when using a 0,4mm (as it is standard for the Mk2), I would not try to print thinner than 0,4mm walls. These walls are not terribly sturdy, so I usually end up with 3 times 0,4mm = 1.2mm wall thickness. If the walls get higher they also need to get thicker, cause thin walls tend to wobble the taller they get.
3) It depends a bit on how well you got your settings tuned in. I usually try a distance of 0,2mm-0,3mm between 2 surfaces that are not supposed to touch. But it varies..
Your .stls sliced nicely when i tested them. No problems found.
Re: Noob Questions.
Thanks for the reply Stephan. I too dislike browser apps but in Linux for a quick sketch it was the best at my time constraint. I would like to find something with not that steep of a learning curve but usable in Linux.
I will try your recommendations and see how it goes. Is there a problem if the walls are too thick? I think my .stls were for wall thickness of 2mm but could it be that it was not thick enough or not slim enough to be printed accurately? The result was something like [2x width wall] 1x width gap [1x width wall] again. It wasn't solid 4x width walls, but maybe that was some infill setting I failed to notice.
I will print some 2cm x 2cm boxes then and check what mm can I use for parts to slide through and have a somewhat snug fit.
Thanks again for your replies.
P.S. from my stl files I wanted that "mikro.stl" to slide inside the larger container with the surface upwards so I could run some cables from the hole, but I couldn't fit it in there so I had to break it and sand it down.
Re: Noob Questions.
When you slice the files, check the extrusion width (which is probably 0.45mm)
A 2mm wall would therefore have a gap of 0.2mm @0.45mm extrusion.
Personally, I use Tinkercad. I have found it to be the easiest to learn and it does produce some reasonable results. And yes, I don't like browser apps, but I made an exception for this one!
Peter
Please note: I do not have any affiliation with Prusa Research. Any advices given are offered in good faith. It is your responsibility to ensure that by following my advice you do not suffer or cause injury, damage…
Re: Noob Questions.
123D isn't going away if you have it, if not find someone with a downloaded install file if you want to try it, although you would probably be better if you are starting off, going with something current. I love 123D, hated Fusion360, and had troubles with Tinkercad, but everyone is different, some software just feels good to some people and horrid to others. Either way, there is no need to pay for any of them, including slicers, I have not yet failed to be able to do something with Slic3r and Cura