Laying or rotating something down to print



  • Hi

    I'm new to the forum and MatterControl software so please bare with me if this is an old subject.


    I have something I want to print, I can lay it down in the 3d view using rotate. But when I switch to layer view the object is stood back up - when I print there are some internal passages that get filled with support material and therefore block fluid going through it.


    My theory is lay it down and print half of the layers - stop it, then reset to print again what would be the other half and glue the whole thing together. (ideally Id like to cut the thing in half in a graphics package but I've only got sketch up and dont have the extension to import stl - only export, I may have a go at re-creating it in sketch up if there's no way to do what I'm after)



  • When you rotate an object you need to save it before switching to layer view.

    For printing half of it you can try using "bottom clip" which allows you to cut off a specified length off the bottom of the part. Sounds like that might not be what you are looking for though as it might still create support structure which you are trying to avoid. I wish the software had a function called "top clip" as well which sounds like it would be more what you are looking for.

    If you want a free software meant for modifying STL files try meshmixer. I've used it quite a few times to cut a part in half for printing as you are describing.


Log in to reply
 

Looks like your connection to MatterHackers Community was lost, please wait while we try to reconnect.