What is slicing, how is it handled in
Netfabb for machine-agnostic buildrooms, and what are the UI elements to work with
Slicing dissects a three-dimensional part into 2.5-dimensional information, a collection of two-dimensional layers with a defined thickness, also known as a
slice stack. It also processes the slice information to generate the toolpaths, or exposure patterns, for the actual additive method – bitmap or vector images, essentially.
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Slicing in
Netfabb
There are two main ways to slice in
Netfabb:
- For the slicing done automatically with
machine-specific parameters, refer to the
machine workspaces.
- For manual,
machine-independent slicing, any plain buildrooms without a machine engine (without "process parameters") have a
Slicing section in the project tree. This section of the online help covers the machine-independent slicing.
Netfabb also
reads or imports certain vector slice files. However, this only imports geometric information; data such as laser power and speed is typically dropped.
Slicing in
Netfabb is also
parametric: Until you apply the calculations, intermediate steps with an effect on later ones can be modified without losing work on those later steps.
Example: From the original contour, generate an inner offset. From the inner offset, generate hatch filling. You can now modify the inner offset, and
Netfabb automatically regenerates the filling under observance of the modified offset.
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General workflow
- Drag and drop parts into
Slices in the project tree, or use
Slice parts from the main menu of a build platform. This generates the contours ("profile", "hull") from parts and support.
Tip: For supports, open and closed supports generate separate slice stacks to allow dedicated toolpath generation.
Alternatively, select the
Slices section and directly load a slice file with the contours only, using
Open slice file from the main menu.
- Optionally, arrange the contours on the platform using the bounding boxes as a guide.
Note: This is agnostic to the platform size where the respective parts originated and what target the target platform size is. The buildroom dimensions are only displayed as a guide. Unless adjusted in the slice export, the exported slice files are sized to the minimum necessary dimensions to enclose all bounding boxes present over the entire slicing height.
- If you're using a
vector-based exposure, such as for a moving source, generate new slice stacks for hatching ("infill", "core").
- Optionally, define
slice parameters like laser power and speed for the various slice stacks.
Note: Per slice stack, only one set of parameter values can be defined. Parameter values cannot change mid-stack, mid-layer, or even mid-trace.
- Export the slice stacks, containing the toolpaths, in the desired format.
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