Most everyone who has used Ares is very impressed with the machine. As I have already built the first two from @Maker_s_Muse 's “print-first” list, it befits to torture Ares with the 3rd, #3DBenchy . It did not disappoint.
The torture is as much on printer as on slicer. Before learning how paths can play tricks on 3D printing, I observed early on that slicer affects how first layer adheres to the bed. Then I watched Maker’s Muse’s slicer showdown and realised that slicer selection is a thing. Shortly after shipping the first Ares, Easy Arts ditched Slic3r and only supports Cura and KISSlicer; its manual only describes the latter. Personally I had better luck with KISSlicer. (On the other hand, OctoPrint only has one slicer plugin today: CuraEngine.)
After the build, I realise that the support of the hull is unnecessary. Although 46º overhang is a commonly used threshold, Ares is very capable of producing slow ramping overhangs. Its manual suggests 75º threshold, so that’ll become my future setting. On the other hand, as most slicers do not allow manual support adjustment, I feel that they should include some kind of weight analysis in addition to geometric analysis, like Autodesk’s Meshmixer does. Otherwise even mildly growing overhang could cause warp or even detachment if the top weight is too large.
In addition, angle-only threshold causes a circular support to be produced 1.4mm away from the chimney’s stem, presumably because its 0.3mm rim protrudes like a 90º overhang. I wonder how software could determine that such a support would never be helpful.
In the end, the build is very satisfactory for a 3D newbie.
Originally shared by Yuan LIU
Beautiful rendering of #3DBenchy after a couple failures on bare glass. Maker’s Muse lists this popular torture test as the third in “First things to print”. KISSlicer is used for slicing. In addition to Harbor Freight blue tapes, I also experimented with end stop tweaking, and found this site Escher 3D. Ares’ auto bed leveling data works great with this calculator. The only feature that did not come out crisp is 0.1mm-thick text. Even dimensions are all good where my caliper can reach.
