Solid layers on top of infill are all messed up

[CompoundCarl]

I believe that S3D has a bug here and that the first solid layer above an infill should change orientation with respect to the previous infill layer.

They let you choose the directions of the infill layers. So if you want the first layer to print at -45 degrees, then you can enter infill angles of -45 and +45. If you want it the other way, swap them to +45 and -45 (do the positive angle first).

On some of my prints with different patterns, the prints frequently work better if the first infill layer is in the SAME direction as the last solid layer, so I'm glad they made it an option. You can choose whatever works best for your particular print.

[maddavo]

I believe that S3D has a bug here and that the first solid layer above an infill should change orientation with respect to the previous infill layer.

They let you choose the directions of the infill layers. So if you want the first layer to print at -45 degrees, then you can enter infill angles of -45 and +45. If you want it the other way, swap them to +45 and -45 (do the positive angle first).

On some of my prints with different patterns, the prints frequently work better if the first infill layer is in the SAME direction as the last solid layer, so I'm glad they made it an option. You can choose whatever works best for your particular print.

Yes, I see that you can choose the directions of the infill layers. BUT you cannot choose the directions of the solid layers - and there is no information on the orientation that S3D chooses for a particular solid layer (apart from it being alternated from an immediately preceding solid layer).

I'm not too concerned with transitions from solid to infill - as you say, it can be better in some circumstances for them to run the same way - I can imagine that may be the case. However the transition from infill to solid layers is the main issue - particularly for rectilinear fill.

Do the solid layer orientations always start one way and then start alternating OR is there some counter that makes all odd solid layers oriented one way and then all even layers oriented the other OR is it random start orientation? Consider a case where you have an even number of infill layers as opposed to a case where you have an odd number of infill layers. If the solid layer orientations always start one way then one of those cases the first top solid layer will align with the infill. If there is an even/odd thing going on, then again in one of those cases the first top solid layer will align with the infill. If it's random then there's no hope to control it. So what to do?

[CompoundCarl]

You can have a solid layer on every single layer of your part. Imagine a very steeply sloped wedge shape. So I'm sure the software alternates the solid layer directions on every single layer (or even/odd as you say). It wouldn't make sense to do it any other way. So if your using the rectilinear pattern, every even layer will have the same solid infill angle (let's say +45) and every odd layer will have the other (-45 degrees). So that's fixed and there's no way to avoid it since you can have prints where you need a solid infill on every single layer.

As I said, you can then choose the infill directions to be whatever you want. So if you want to start those at -45 for the first infill layer, you can do that.

[martinkopplow]

I have seen more consistent results if the solid layers and the infill are not both based on a +/-45° pattern. I usually use +/-45 infill on a 0/90° solid. That way, no matter what happens topologically, there is always an even angular difference of 45° between subsequent layers.

(Besides that, the S3D machine profile default bridging speed was too slow for my machine, too, just as the speed defaults were off by a long way in almost all respects. They were the major tweaking area. I use a Deltamaker. )

Martin

[maddavo]

It wouldn't make sense to do it any other way.

Mmm, I can think of another way - the way that Slic3r does it.

I acknowledge that a part can have solid infill on every layer, and in such a case then the infill would simply alternate orientation on each layer.
But if as you say the orientation is always that way - ie: even layers one way and odd layers the other way - then you can get a problem with orientations when there is an odd number of infill layers. Either the first infill layer will be oriented the same way as the last bottom solid layer OR the first top solid layer ill be oriented the same way as the last infill layer.

The way that Slic3r does it, is to force the first solid layer above an infill to change orientation - so essentially the alternating solid infill orientation is 'reset' after an immediately preceding infill layer. This is very good because no matter whether the infill has an even or odd number of layers, the first top solid infill layer is always oriented so it doesn't fall into the infill gap. There is no way for us to tell S3D to do that.

[CompoundCarl]

But if as you say the orientation is always that way - ie: even layers one way and odd layers the other way - then you can get a problem with orientations when there is an odd number of infill layers. Either the first infill layer will be oriented the same way as the last bottom solid layer OR the first top solid layer ill be oriented the same way as the last infill layer.

That is not correct. Even with an odd number of infill layers, you can easily make the infill always perpendicular to the solid layers on either side of it. They both alternate on their own. As I've mentioned, they even have options to change the directions in case you want the last layer to be parallel instead of perpendicular.

If you still don't agree, I encourage you to post your factory file. I would be happy to show you.

[dfowler7437]

TAZ5 has an active cooling fan which it seems S3D should turn on or speed up to help with bridging when it's doing solid over infill less then some X%. I have to print at 50% infill to get smooth surfaces at fine layer heights. It helps for me to set the fan manually. why not activate it automatically?

Also when I print a large flat surface, sometimes the heat is too much for the surface. It would be nice to cool when doing the very last layer on a large surface.

I'm not an expert so could be all wrong. Looking forward to learning though...

[CompoundCarl]

You can choose all your own fan settings (keep in mind it varies a lot for different materials). Cooling tab lets you automatically set the fan speed used for the entire print (or even define different speeds for different layers if you want!). The Other tab has fan settings for bridging if you want to use a different speed specifically for those regions. It's all configurable.