CraftWare is very cool. Just beware of this feature that you cannot turn off. It may not be what you intended. Fortunately, it also has another feature to make the correction easier.
Originally shared by Yuan LIU
When a 10cm-tall tower comes out short by half, there has to be a lesson. This lesson is about CraftWare slicer.
CraftWare is a proprietary slicer software offered free by CraftUnique for its CraftBot 3D printer. They actually encourage everyone, not just their customers, to use it. And it is a very nifty piece of software as far as slicer goes. Despite its “beta” status over many iterations, everyone who uses it gives it high marks. So do I. I’m not as experienced about slicer functions, but a slicer review shows me that its user interface has some very unique visualisation capabilities. Even before I figured out how to use it with Ares 3D printer, I notice that I can manipulate objects, like rotate them, merging multiple STL files, etc. In fact, I used CraftWare to arrange parts of the phone adapter into a single build, even though I had to use KISSlicer to do slicing. (Sign in - Google Accounts) One function that I find particularly handy is “auto drop”. This allows you to align objects on the print bed without knowing all the details of the design. But I didn’t know the half of it.
Fastforward several months and I decided to try this cool tutorial Sign in - Google Accounts in order to determine the optimal temperature for my new filament. But this calls for some unusual settings in slicer. I really hate to disturb my optimised KISSlicer. What better first use is there for a new slicer than trying unusual settings? Forget editing temperature every so many layers. I just want to try CraftWare out.
David Cushing’s cuboid (http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:337957/) is 10cm tall, but the print comes out only 62mm. (2nd picture) I checked the G-code: Indeed it stops at 62mm. I tried, and tried, and tried again. The slicer always gives it only 62mm. CraftWare can even display dimensions in its “Scale” screen. It is 100mm! (1st picture) How odd can this be? I asked experienced CraftWare users. I even asked in CraftUnique’s very active forum. No one could explain this. For no one could see the red “belt” near the bed plane on the slicer screen.
Turns out that this is CraftWare’s way of telling that part of the model is below the bed. Then, I pulled the model out of the water, and CraftWare had no problem slicing its full 100mm height.
So why did the model sink half underwater? This has to do with CraftWare’s another unique feature. Upon importing the cuboid that is originally oriented upright, the slicer apparently performs a balance analysis like what MeshMixer would do, then it takes the liberty to drop the model down its belly. (3rd picture) Normally this is a welcome automation because doing so improves printability. But for this cuboid to be useful as a calibration tool, it needs to be upright. I had to rotate the model after importing. Because the axis of rotation is at the bed level, the natural result is a half sunk tower.
Isn’t it ironic that a helpful feature also cause misinterpretation of the operator’s intention? It would be if CraftWare doesn’t have another feature to counter this. After I corrected the model, I tried, and tried, and tried again to reproduce the incorrect rotation. Sometimes I was able to, sometimes I wasn’t. Till I could no longer reproduce the sunken tower. Every time I import and rotate, the model stands fully erect. What is the difference?
Finally, I notice that the “Auto Drop” option was selected. I thought it had always been. But when I disabled it and tried import-rotation again, the tower sunk again. Enable Auto Drop, and the rotation would not sink the tower. (4th picture. Note that the flip itself is not caused by Auto Drop and cannot be turned off.)
So, not only can Auto Drop help multiple imports, but it also helps rotations. Just make sure you intend to rotate at the model’s end. (This is the first of three parts. Stay tuned.)
