Perimeter height

New to Skeinforge so any help would be appreciated! I recently discovered the "slow down perimeter" setting and it results in much better resolution for the exterior, however it got me thinking: instead of slicing a part into even layers, is there a way to make Skeinforge do half-steps on the Z height for the perimeter, then go back to original height for infill? For example: slice height is something like 0.6mm so the infill is performed at this height - however, the perimeter is comprised of two layers at 0.3mm. This would ensure good surface quality but reduce build times by having a different Z height for the infill. Thoughts?

This has already been done. Search for SFACT.

Yes, it's a plug-in called 'Skin'. More details here

It's not in a released version of SF yet, but I think it has found its way into SFACT.

JB

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Brilliant! I had heard of SFACT in passing but never looked into it - just downloaded and I'm pleased with the improved layout (and of course the ability to "Skin"). Thanks for the heads up!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/25/2011 11:01PM by impendingdoom.

Just for completeness, Enrique released Skeinforge 42 just the other day which also has the skin module now.

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I dont really understand how skin plugin works. Before skin appeared, and still now, there is a generic 1.5 WOT (width over thickness) for infill (Fill page), and another perimeter 1.8 WOT (Carve page). Having a perimeter WOT higher than infill WOT still meant the outside walls were slimmer than infill, e.g. if we set both WOT to 1.5 walls are thicker than if we set infill at 1.5 and perimeter at 1.8. I had it both ways. Would of tried more than 2.1 but i didnt because i though it kinda changes the object size a little.

My questions:

1) So basically that perimeter WOT tweaking, wasnt it doing already the job of finer outsides? or wasnt it good enough.

2) How is Skin going to work with perimeter WOT, does it take it into account, e.g. should we use now both WOT at 1.5? Or Skin only refers itself to infill wot and thats all?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/29/2011 01:57PM by NoobMan.

NoobMan Wrote:
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> ...My questions:
>
> 1) So basically that perimeter WOT tweaking, wasnt
> it doing already the job of finer outsides? or
> wasnt it good enough.
>
> 2) How is Skin going to work with perimeter WOT,
> does it take it into account, e.g. should we use
> now both WOT at 1.5? Or Skin only refers itself to
> infill wot and thats all?


1) It's not that it wasn't good enough - more like "could be even better!"

2) Skin does it all for you - just set the w/t to whatever you normally use, enable Skin, sit back, enjoy.

edit: and SF43 came out last night, which has a bunch of fixes and some speed improvements..

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/29/2011 03:59PM by Dave Durant.

Higher WOT should mean thicker lines.

In a previous (but recent) version of skeinforge adjusting the wot didn't correctly adjust the feed rates to actually alter the material deposited. You had to manually change your flow rate to match. this was a bug and appears to be corrected.

Altering the wot should not change your object's dimensions, as skeinforge accounts for the thread width.

The way the current skin works is it takes the 1 thread of perimeter and divides it into 4 threads (of half the height and thickness) to maintain the same volume of the initial thread.

So are both layers the same, i.e. no increase in Z resolution, just less ridges in the sides?

Why does it do 4 threads and not just two with twice the W/T?

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nophead Wrote:
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> So are both layers the same, i.e. no increase in Z
> resolution, just less ridges in the sides?

Same on the inside? Yes. I think the exception may be the top layer of infill on horizontal surfaces. An earlier version also quartered those threads - not sure if SF42/43 does too.

> Why does it do 4 threads and not just two with
> twice the W/T?

I'd also vote for that as it seems like it'd print more reliably. You can be pretty sure the un-Skinned thread width is going to be fine but not necessarily that the 1/2-width Skinned one will be.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/29/2011 05:26PM by Dave Durant.

I read the blog which i think its the original and it says it "replaces" the perimeter with the one defined by skin module. So i guess the setting of Perimeter width over thickness is obsolete now?

I just tried the new Sfact version of SF and my lines came out very thin and too far apart, I still struggle to get SF right so any pointers on what to change.

The lines are about half of what I was getting in SF41 so very thin indeed which would not be a problem if they were closer together. This is for PLA

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