Aloha,
I got an Elegoo Carbon FDM coreXY printer and a roll of PLA from the same brand. I’ve read that some filament brands are better than others but I figured I’d start easy.
I’ve taken STLs to the library to print, but I’ve not done my own before. What’s all this slicer stuff? What other software and tools do I need? Thanks!
An STL file describes an object/shape. This needs to be translated into actual print instructions such as move to X/Y position, squirt plastic, move again, etc. This is what a slicer does: It “translates” from a shape to actual print instructions. I’m not sure, but I’ve always assumed that it’s called slicing because it takes the 3D object and creates many vertical slices with print instructions.
I don’t know about your printer specifically, but I guess it takes Gcode (which is what you get as output from a slicer) like most other printers? I suggest you grab PrusaSlicer as it’s very flexible and supports a lot of different printer defaults. Load your STL in there, slice it, transfer the result to your printer, and you should in theory be good to go.
Tip: Start with something small.
I appreciate the help! Starting small, aye.
I’ve not seen the steps between STL and plastic model before so that’s where I will be learning. I’m excited!
start out with a calibration print such as a benchy or XYZ cube using the default settings. if it looks wrong, Google the “symptoms” and go from there. modern printers take less fiddling than printers from 10 years ago so hopefully you won’t need to do much.
That’s what I’m hoping! I’ve got two friends that have printers and I’ll get more tips from them.
nice!
The only step you’re missing is basically what I described above. I recommend grabbing PrusaSlicer, load your STL, and play around with it, as it shows after slicing the various print instructions it comes up with. For starting out, the defaults should work fine.
Will do, thank you very much!