So here's my little copy and paste rant on using a competent slicer...
Have a quick glance at the Slic3r Forum... [forums.reprap.org]
Nothing more than a extensive bug list that goes on forever and grows with every new release of Slic3r.
I used to read this Slic3r blog daily, then I got a clue... You can't circumvent crappy slicing software by manipulating your slicer profiles, modifying your firmware or blaming your machine.

FYI... NOT sure why anybody is still using Slic3R beyond v7.02b (v7.02b is a great simple and competent slicer).

I sadly laugh when I see people trying to fix problems with this continual problematic slicer >Slic3R v7.02b.
I finally gave up after Slic3R v9.8; recouped my life, and no more wasted time and plastic, and moved forward away from Slic3R.

Also glad to be done with random artifacts/bumps/blobs/warts/overhangs scattered about my prints, yesh... enough is enough !
You can easily spot a user that is using Slic3r by viewing their unwanted identifying extras added to one's print. Typically garbage output from Slic3r.

Every new Slic3R upgrade version has a new set of unresolved problems. I tried EVERY Slic3R version v7.02b - v9.8 extensively and utilized every smart so called fix for the problems... result garbage can full of melted plastic, hundred of frustrating hours endured/wasted, and saw my life passing me by. I'M DONE, DONE, DONE and DONE with Slic3R !!!

I used Skeinforge v41-v50 as my primary slicer for the last 2 years, but it has an internal memory limit which restricts you from printing more than simple trinkets and objects.

Using KISSlicer... I found new capabilities and no limitations... Finally I can do what my intentions were when I bought my printer, to print close tolerance high quality functional engineering prototypes.

Since using KISSlicer over the last year... I can now print very complex and close tolerance engineering prototypes (0.1mm Layer Height @ +- 0.05mm tolerance for all dimensional shapes; except slightly undersized hole I.D.s) all day long everyday using KISSlicer, IMO it is the best slicer solution out there. NO more Slic3r wasting my time and memory limitations using Skeinforge, I have my life back now and time to do other things other than melt plastic in to useless shapes and fill the garbage can.

Note : KISSlicer is seemingly and sadly going defunct it appears, and is no longer maintained by it's creator/owner, but is still the best overall slicer ATM.
Download from here:
www.kisslicer.com

Information here:
- Kisslicer Refugee Camp - Google Groups
[groups.google.com]

_____________________

IMHO I think Slic3r developers, at this time need to put a halt to Slic3r as it is known, take what they have learned and create a ground-up new version, and stop patching/upgrading the garbage. Personally I think they try to fix a bug, and then create 10 more bugs from the bug they fixed. I appreciate their endeavors, but the world does not need another Microsoft Vista.

Stop Chasing Your Tail Around... ditch Slic3r... an Your Problems should be all be history now.

Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 02/21/2014 02:29PM by ShawnT98027.

If you don't like slic3r, it's a good thing you didn't pay anything for it!!

Hi jbernardis

FYI... WTH are you talking about.

I also payed for it with hundred of hours of time, and hundreds of dollars worth of plastic.

My Family also payed for it, by my absence fiddling with the garbage.

Believe it, I PAYED for it big time, life lost and never to be replaced.

OBTW... Early on... I DID Pay for it (Slic3r) via PayPal donation.
[www.paypal.com]

Get a clue, and you may get your life back also, along with happy printing.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/21/2014 05:03PM by ShawnT98027.

There is no perfect slicer, not yet anyway. I have tried most of them (though not Skienforge) and they all have issues. I started to think Kisslicer was king until parts started breaking where they were thin, hard to explain but when a thin part intersects a thick part, the joint produced in Kisslicer is weak, you can see it in the gcode preview as well. Also I don't like it's support.

Now, Slic3r has issues with hole sizes but it can be adjusted for. v0.9.10b is the most stable of it's breed and support is good. V1.0.Rx has better top infill (no gaps) but it's support SUX, you can never remove it cleanly and still hole size is an issue. So, I currently use V1.0 R2 (R3 was just released) when I don't need support, but if I need support I revert back to v 0.9.10b

I make a few dozen parts a week, sometimes many more. I don't have buckets of junk plastic, nor am I pulling my hair out or spending lots of extra time trying to fight the software. But then again, I am knowledgeable about how and why the software works, I can examine the Gcode if needed and my printer is of good quality. 99% of all my prints come out very good.

I'm sorry you're having difficulty, but Slic3r works fine for me. It's not perfect, none of them are, but I am happy with the results I get. I run into an occasional item I have difficulty with and I switch to skeinforge or cura.

The fact remains slic3r is free of charge. Although I raise issues on the github site I don't feel I have the right to criticize software I haven't purchased. I understand the complexities of writing software; I'm just thankful these authors have provided these tools and hope they continue to do so. We've already seen two slicers - skeinforge and kisslicer - where it seems the authors have lost interest. I'm glad the slic3r team is continuing to develop the product.

Hi jbernardis.

Yes it is a shame that both the developers of Skeinforge and KISSlicer, have stopped development or just vanished off the face of the planet.

And your right, all the current slicers available all have their own pros and cons. With my extensive experience using Slic3r and Skeinforge, and in the last year KISSlicer, KISSlicer just has way less cons, and does everything better and smarter, but lacks a few convenient features such as multiple skirt loops, brim and bridge settings.

So yes, I keep hoping that someday Slic3r will get it all figured out (IMHO KISSlicer was way ahead of the curve on that), and hopefully Slic3r will stop releasing the garbage as they are wasting everybody's time and money (Slic3r maybe OK for printing low quality disposable toys & trinkets; but the bugs/headaches still aren't worth it for me).

Every month or so, I check out the blogs and forums regarding Slic3r hoping to see something positive from them (a semi-bug free/usable release), but its always just another bug filled version, it's just too ridiculous. I always liked the early simplicity with Slic3r over Skeinforge... but I need quality prints results.

So for now, all we can do, is wait, and hope they truly develop a more usable product.

It's a bit insulting to call it garbage. If it wasn't for these guys that put in hundreds of hours of work to give us something for free then there would be no slicers and no 3D printing! Thousands of people around the world use Slic3r, warts and all,so it can't be that bad.

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_______________________________________
Waitaki 3D Printer

Quote
ShawnT98027

IMHO I think Slic3r developers, at this time need to put a halt to Slic3r as it is known, take what they have learned and create a ground-up new version, and stop patching/upgrading the garbage. Personally I think they try to fix a bug, and then create 10 more bugs from the bug they fixed. I appreciate their endeavors, but the world does not need another Microsoft Vista.

[/b].

Garbage????
You are always free to use the code and create something better - I mean it is open source.

---

You only learn when you change your mind.
[www.deltaprinter.co.za]

I think that's the point at the moment, creating a stable and bug free release. Slic3r v1.0.0 has not been released yet, and Sound has said that he will only fix bugs when going towards the final version.

I must say that I have been fighting for days to get a damn bridge drawn good, due to small glitches in the behaviour of Slic3r (mainly, the extruded filament does not anchor properly). Nevertheless, I still have to find a good alternative. Reprapping is a young art and much refinement is required.

Reading this forums threads...

So it looks like the same ol' thing...

1.0.RCx versions continue the Slic3r legacy of MASSIVE BUGS, and producing sub-standard and often unusable prints.
______

When should one get a clue ?...
And move on to a better slicer, print quality objects, stop the endless blogging/threads about buggy-as software and most of all recoup your life.

As an end user (as most of us are)...
I don't get it, why are you continuing to use Slic3r, as you can't fix or circumvent screwed-up code within the software ...
Maybe your stuck or afraid to try/learn a better slicer like KISSlicer, Cura or even Skeinforge or get your life back ?

Just curious... Why are you still using or stuck on Slic3r ?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/26/2014 11:56AM by ShawnT98027.

Rather than moan about it, why not post a sample file you are having problems with, an image of how it was generated incorrectly, and a comparison with how kiss slicer or cura or skeinforge does it better/different? then you would be helping to solve this and getting something back for your “hundreds of wasted hours”. Slic3r may not be perfect, but it’s much better than what you or I have written (ie nothing), surely… the developers surely spend too many hours of their lives working on this project, give them a hand with clear bug reports.

Paucus

Paucus...

Nothing to do with any "file"... just poorly written software, why don't you get a clue.
Can't circumvent crappy slicing software... by posting a file for the clueless to comment on.

Why are you using Slic3r?... support your position with an intelligent set of reasons.

Shawn
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_{25+ Years Experience as a Manufacturing Engineer and New Product Developer
Three Years Experience... Printing 6-8 hours a day, 5 days a week, complex and close tolerance functional engineering prototypes.
Printing PLA @0.1mm Layer Height with +- 0.05mm tolerance for all dimensional shapes (except slightly undersized hole I.D.s).
No printing of... toys, trinkets, low quality prints, or other useless printed objects.}

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/16/2014 01:14PM by ShawnT98027.

So now instead of simply bashing slic3r, you have labelled this entire community as "clueless" - your words not mine.

Why are you so upset? You can simply use your favorite software, but why demean the work of people you have not paid for, and that despite any bugs it may have is still a very useful software? your attitude helps no one. Sometimes I use Cura when Slicer does not work, but in general I get very good results with it. What are you trying to print that comes out so wrong?

Paucus

Have a look at his signature - he obviously lives in a fantasy world!

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_______________________________________
Waitaki 3D Printer

Hello Waitaki,

You can speak to me directly (and not around me).

BTW... Quantity of posts does not equal quality of content, nor is an indicator of any knowledge beyond keyboard usage.

My 25+ years as indicated in my signature is accurate, I am proud of it, and won't deny my experience and expertise for any serial blogger or thread poster, or lesser educated or experienced individual.

Three things... that is my purpose as a contributor.

• To help one person a day actually fix their printer/prints (rather than like a lot of posters with less knowledge and understanding; that lead the unknowingly around to chase their tail around forever; screw-up their printer further, never fix the problem, and becoming just another serial blogger/poster).
• To steer just one person a day away from Slic3r, and free up there time/life, as so they can spend more time printing successfully, and more time with their family, children, wife, girl friend, friends etc. I shorted the people that are important to me, over the last 2-3 years of my time and being there for them, because I always had to try one more tweak or work-around in Slic3r.
• Give the unknowingly a clue... that you can't circumvent crappy slicing software by manipulating your slicer profiles, modifying your firmware or blaming your machine.

That is my goal, plain and simple.

Being in the field of Manufacturing Engineering and New Product Development all of my adult life, since the mid 90's, I have seen the demise of engineering schools/universities that actually educate their students, teach in-depth real world knowledge, real world skills, and real world understanding. But of course, even if one does get lucky enough to attend a great engineering school, you just can't teach common sense and logical thinking.

Sorry that you are offended by people of real world experience.

For All, hope my experience helps you... enjoy Happy Printing !

<sub>Shawn
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

25+ Years Experience as a Manufacturing Engineer and New Product Developer
Three Years Experience... Printing 6-8 hours a day, 5 days a week, complex and close tolerance functional engineering prototypes.
Printing PLA @0.1mm Layer Height with +- 0.05mm tolerance for all dimensional shapes (except slightly undersized hole I.D.s).
No printing of... toys, trinkets, low quality prints, or other useless printed objects.</sub>

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/18/2014 12:04PM by ShawnT98027.

Hey guys, this is a polite reminder to all involved in this interesting (but perhaps slightly heated) discussion:

Quote
forum rules
In order to maintain a positive atmosphere, no personal attacks or insults will be tolerated. While discussions may become heated, it is not an excuse to resort to attacks or insults. Moderators and or Admins will remove and warn users at their discretion.

I haven't seen anything out of the ordinary in this thread... yet. Just a reminder to play friendly.

So Shawn, why not tell us what slicer will improve our lives?

Please don't say Kisslicer or Skeinforge as they are both dead end products with no future. As firmware advances and features are added to printers these slicers will cease to work properly. Cura is an option but has as many problems as Slic3r and fewer features. So there must be another slicer out there I am unaware of, please tell me what it is so I can ditch Slic3r.

I use Simplify3D as my main slicer. It miss some small things, but overall it's alot better than Slic3r and Cura.
It's another workflow, but you can put many processes on the same part. Ex. Slice with 0.35 layers for the first 5mm, and the 0.1mm for the last.
It all so handle multi extruder very nice. You can all so setup manual support.

I only miss Honeycomb infill from KISSlicer
Combing AKA "Avoid Crossing Perimeters"
And separate filament profiles. Machine and filament profiles are the same now.

Jesper

Quote
Kenzu
I use Simplify3D as my main slicer. It miss some small things, but overall it's alot better than Slic3r and Cura.
It's another workflow, but you can put many processes on the same part. Ex. Slice with 0.35 layers for the first 5mm, and the 0.1mm for the last.
It all so handle multi extruder very nice. You can all so setup manual support.

I only miss Honeycomb infill from KISSlicer
Combing AKA "Avoid Crossing Perimeters"
And separate filament profiles. Machine and filament profiles are the same now.

Jesper

i took a look at that site for simplify3d, yes the software dose look good, but at 150/license i have better uses for my money, thats most of a new printer.

but yes i would very much like to see more work done on slic3r, between it and cura, i am covered. i will donate some money his way with his next update i think, but like so much in the reprap world i wish there was a way to pay people to develop for it more actively, but that the opensource problem.

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[mike-mack.blogspot.com]

Actually you can do that in Slic3r too, setting up different resolutions for different heights.

Quote
dissidence

Quote
Kenzu
I use Simplify3D as my main slicer. It miss some small things, but overall it's alot better than Slic3r and Cura.
It's another workflow, but you can put many processes on the same part. Ex. Slice with 0.35 layers for the first 5mm, and the 0.1mm for the last.
It all so handle multi extruder very nice. You can all so setup manual support.

I only miss Honeycomb infill from KISSlicer
Combing AKA "Avoid Crossing Perimeters"
And separate filament profiles. Machine and filament profiles are the same now.

Jesper

i took a look at that site for simplify3d, yes the software dose look good, but at 150/license i have better uses for my money, thats most of a new printer.

but yes i would very much like to see more work done on slic3r, between it and cura, i am covered. i will donate some money his way with his next update i think, but like so much in the reprap world i wish there was a way to pay people to develop for it more actively, but that the opensource problem.

Why pay 1000$ for at 3D printer / Hardware if the software you use makes your printer behave like a 300$ printer?

edit: For me, the software is just a big a part of my 3D print's as my 3D printer.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/21/2014 09:51AM by Kenzu.

Kenzu, my question to you is does simply3d make proper hole sizes? This is a major (in my opinion) problem with other slicers.

As far as cost, I would pay $140 for a proper slicer that does everything right.


Many people here though build there own printers on tight budgets and may only have a few hundred dollars invested, I can see why they would balk at that price that's half the cost of what they spent on the printer. Myself, I bought a pre made (in someones home) printer for $1,700 and it's worth every penny 'to me'.

Quote
tmorris9
Kenzu, my question to you is does simply3d make proper hole sizes? This is a major (in my opinion) problem with other slicers.

As far as cost, I would pay $140 for a proper slicer that does everything right.


Many people here though build there own printers on tight budgets and may only have a few hundred dollars invested, I can see why they would balk at that price that's half the cost of what they spent on the printer. Myself, I bought a pre made (in someones home) printer for $1,700 and it's worth every penny 'to me'.

Sadly no. It had an arc feature in one of the early version, that did make really close to proper hole sizes. But that got removed in the last to version. Don't know why. :-(

Quote
Kenzu

Quote
tmorris9
Kenzu, my question to you is does simply3d make proper hole sizes? This is a major (in my opinion) problem with other slicers.

As far as cost, I would pay $140 for a proper slicer that does everything right.


Many people here though build there own printers on tight budgets and may only have a few hundred dollars invested, I can see why they would balk at that price that's half the cost of what they spent on the printer. Myself, I bought a pre made (in someones home) printer for $1,700 and it's worth every penny 'to me'.

Sadly no. It had an arc feature in one of the early version, that did make really close to proper hole sizes. But that got removed in the last to version. Don't know why. :-(

Funny, I had sent the question to simply3d and they finally got back to me. They told me about the prior version and also said the option was removed, here is their explanation why:

"These things were both options from the previous version 1.1.5 software. I believe the developers actually removed these options from the latest version 2 software, as many firmwares still do not support G2/G3 commands, and most of our users were getting very good dimensional tolerance for their holes, even without the extra compensation. "

Just stopped by for a visit... and I see nothing has changed with Slic3r... BUGS, Bugs, bugs and MORE BUGS !
Have a quick glance at the Slic3r Forum... OUT OF CONTROL BUG LIST

Slic3r... Out of Control bug list, time to get a clue...
Same buggy-as software, same typical posters chasing their tails around, looking for workarounds, producing sub-par prints and wasting their life away printing with bug riddled software.
_________________________

Just a note the BEST Slicer available at this time is KISSlicer... and is now again being developed by it's creator Jonathan Lonestock after a one year hiatus.
Download KISSLICER

Information here:
Kisslicer Refugee Camp - Google Groups
_________________________

So no more excuses for using garbage bug riddled software and producing sub-par prints.
Stop Chasing Your Tail Around... ditch Slic3r... an Your Problems should be all be history now.

Hope my experience helps you... enjoy Happy Printing !

<sub>Shawn
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

25+ Years Experience as a Manufacturing Engineer and New Product Developer
Three Years Experience... Printing 6-8 hours a day, 5 days a week, complex and close tolerance functional engineering prototypes.
Printing PLA @0.1mm Layer Height with +- 0.05mm tolerance for all dimensional shapes (except slightly undersized hole I.D.s).
No printing of... toys, trinkets, low quality prints, or other useless printed objects.</sub>

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/28/2014 12:54PM by ShawnT98027.

...both silly and funny at the same time.
If you want to help, just help. Otherwise, please enjoy your life somewhere else.

Have you had a chance to try Simplify3D? I'd love to hear your thoughts on that one.

---

Realizer- One who realizes dreams by making them a reality either by possibility or by completion. Also creating or renewing hopes of dreams.
"keep in mind, even the best printer can not print with the best filament if the user is the problem." -Ohmarinus

It's been 5 months since I have stopped by, to see if anything has changed with Slic3r, but unfortunately nothing has changed...

Unbelievable... as the clueless beat of an unusable slicer continues.
Sorry to see all of you still wasting your time, life and plastic.

FYI... KISSLICER is alive and well, and currently under development. BEST slicer available.

Hope my experience helps you... enjoy Happy Printing !

<sub>Shawn
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

25+ Years Experience as a Manufacturing Engineer and New Product Developer
Three Years Experience... Printing 6-8 hours a day, 5 days a week, complex and close tolerance functional engineering prototypes.
Printing PLA @0.1mm Layer Height with +- 0.05mm tolerance for all dimensional shapes (except slightly undersized hole I.D.s).
No printing of... toys, trinkets, low quality prints, or other useless printed objects.</sub>