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KeyboardWarrior
Posts: 480
Joined: Thu Jun 19, 2014 5:02 pm

Tip of the Day 2- Save time, faster print settings

There are a few ways to get faster prints in Simplify3D, using all of them in conjunction definitely stacks the positive benefits and really help reduce the time it takes for prints!

1.Using Sparse Infill/Sparse Support:
I've grouped Sparse Infill and Sparse Support together since the idea is the same for the both of them. This feature is especially helpful to users who are printing with .2 mm layer height or finer.

For instance, if you are printing with a .1 mm layer height (fine resolution for details), it doesn't make sense that you would need to print the infill, the part that no one can see at such fine resolution. The standard method of printing goes as follows:

Layer 1:perimeter-->infill
Layer 2:perimeter-->infill
Layer 3:perimeter-->infill
Layer 4:perimeter-->infill
...

You could optimize this and have the following order:

Layer 1:perimeter
Layer 2:perimeter
Layer 3:perimeter-->infill (at 3x the resolution)
Layer 4:perimeter
...

Printing Sparse Infill or Sparse support can be a huge benefit on large prints that have long and tedious tool-paths for the extruder to follow. When enabling Sparse Infill (Infill tab), or Sparse Support(Support tab).

Setting these up depends on your printer and extruder type, my general recommendations for what work on my printers are if you are printing at .2 mm, I would recommend printing sparse every 2 layers. If you're printing at .1 mm, I would recommend printing sparse every 3 layers for maximum time saving.


2.Using Thick Infill:

This may be the easiest setting listed here, under the Infill tab you can change the extrusion width %. The software will calculate and keep your infill % the same, but you get a much more efficient toolpath because you are laying down much more plastic per second.

For instance, with a .5 mm nozzle and .5 mm extrusion width standard. If you set an extrusion width of 150% under the Infill tab, your perimeters will be printed at .5 mm thickness and your infill will be printed at .75 mm thickness, which will give a sturdier infill that takes less time to print, and doesn't change the part quality.

3.Sequential printing:

If you're printing two parts on your bed 100 mm tall (approx 4 inches), at a .2 mm layer height it will require 500 layers. With sequential printing on, you can decide you only want to move from model to model once every 10 mm, instead of every .2 mm. If you have more parts, on a bigger bed, this feature will be even more useful. To use this, you setup for a multi-part print by making each part have it's own customized process, then after clicking Prepare to Print! the software will prompt you whether you'd like to use sequential printing or continuous. http://www.simplify3d.com/support/tutor ... -printing/
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Last edited by KeyboardWarrior on Thu Jan 15, 2015 11:26 am, edited 1 time in total.
ghiom
Posts: 21
Joined: Sat Sep 20, 2014 12:06 pm

Re: Tip of the Day 2- Save time, faster print settings

Nices tips ! i will try Sparse infill and thick infill for sure !

thanks you a lot
jfhunt3dfe
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Apr 27, 2022 4:18 pm

Re: Tip of the Day 2- Save time, faster print settings

Thanks for the suggestions. I will use these. I do have another question. How does Simplify3d pick which next feature to print? It seems that there is a lot of wasted time for traveling way over to one side of a print and not right next to the spot it was just print. Is there a setting to determines to move to the next spot which is closest?
S3D-Jake
Posts: 1052
Joined: Wed Jun 20, 2018 12:45 pm

Re: Tip of the Day 2- Save time, faster print settings

jfhunt3dfe wrote: Mon Aug 29, 2022 2:35 pm Thanks for the suggestions. I will use these. I do have another question. How does Simplify3d pick which next feature to print? It seems that there is a lot of wasted time for traveling way over to one side of a print and not right next to the spot it was just print. Is there a setting to determines to move to the next spot which is closest?
Set the software to utilize: Layer tab > Start Points > "Optimize start points for fastest printing speed"
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