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3d printing - which software?

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Brass_Machine:
I will be different here...

I run Alibre for my CAD design. Have been using it for over a decade. I have no complaints with it.

I use Cura for a slicer but I am not happy with it. Going to try pursa3D. Been playing with superslicer a bit.

Eric

ddmckee54:
When I first started 3D printing several years ago I had a problem with the first printer I ordered, it NEVER arrived - long story.  Anyway, while I was waiting for my printer to arrive I started playing with slicing software.  I would download 3D models of anything and everything, slice them using both Cura and Slic3r, then run them on a 3D printer gcode simulation software that I found, I don't remember the name of it but if you Googled 3D printer gcode simulator you could probably still find it.

What I found was that Cura seemed a little easier to use, but would sometimes miss the support for overhangs or features that would be impossible to print without support, like a corner in mid-air.  Slic3r always seemed to be able to catch these features.  For several years I used Slicer, and the Prusa version of Slicer, but I hated the way that that they did the support making it very hard to remove.  When using Slic3r I would go to great lengths to AVOID using support, I would sometimes put in a diaphragm that was only 1 or 2 filaments wide in areas that needed support and then cut them out later.

After a while I wanted a little more control of the slicing software so I bit the bullet and bought Simlpify3D.  If you are printing features with thin walls, 1mm to 2mm, and you can't fit an even number of perimeters in that width Slic3r will leave a gap in the perimeter, and I wanted to fix that.  I wish I hadn't waited so long to purchase Simplify3D, it would go back and fill the gap, either with infill or a single filament depending on how you set it up.  Consequently print quality was much better.  Simplify3D will also allow you to manually insert or remove supports.  Plus it allows you to decide when using support whether it puts solid layers on top of the support or not.

To be fair, the new version of Slic3r does ALMOST everything that Simplify3D does, and it does it with free software.  However the manual placing or removing of supports Slic3r still does NOT allow, but that was about the only difference that I could find between the latest Slic3r and my Simplify3D.  I'm keeping the Simplify3D because I manually add supports a lot.  I still haven't figured out how to tweak the support settings to get it to do what I want it to automatically.

Don

WeldingRod:
I run Simplify3d also.  The ability to adjust parameters by height is very useful for huge prints.
Sketchup is tricky to use for 3d printing; you have to patrol for inside/out triangles and added junk inside the model.

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ddmckee54:
Weldingrod:

My prints are normally on the other end of the spectrum from huge.  There have been many times when Simplify3D has asked me if I didn't just try importing an Imperial drawing because it was so small, and did I want Simplify3D to convert it to millimeters.  That happened a lot when I was printing spacers for the rubber band guns.

I gotta admit, that's a  nice feature for them to include.

Don

WeldingRod:
Oh, I get asked that all the time ;-)
I usually run Creo in inches...

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