About My machines

What is it?

Netfabb comes with a large library of manufacturers and models.

My machines is a local library for user-defined templates, or records, of machine workspace relevant for daily work, taken from Netfabb's built-in library.

A My machines record can include buildfile generation logic ("process parameters") or may simply be a definition for a buildroom of a certain size.

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When and why should I use it?

In My machines you define workspaces targeted at the machine or machines at your facility to load them into a new or existing project.

This is aimed at daily work on a range of machines that typically does not change between sessions. Managing workspaces for the same set of machines every day is a typical use case in manufacturing. Having a prepared list of favorite workspaces relevant to the machines at your disposal speeds up selection and reduces the time needed to get started with preparation for a new production run.

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What are its key features?

Saving time managing workspaces

• Select machine workspace records from the My machines dialog or from a dockable view in the Netfabb window.
• Load one or more machine workspaces directly at launching Netfabb.
• Assign templates: Templates are geometry to be loaded onto the platform when the machine workspace is loaded. For example: test or reference bodies, rafts, or sacrificial layers of material needed with every build.
• Assign scripts: Repair and support scripts saved with a My machines record are listed first in the respective dropdowns and selection dialogs.
• Group machine workspaces in the list for an organized view and for quicker selection and loading; for example, keep prototyping machines separate from production machines, or group them by material, by floor number, etc.

Customizing

• Choose from a wide range of already defined build platforms and machines.
• Assign repair and support scripts to be used preferably with the machines you defined.
• Switch behavior like forcing geometry to a certain height above platform, specify a network address for direct connection, or adjust or supplement custom no-build zones, buildroom sizes, and build platform meshes. (where available)

Sharing

• Because machine set-ups are stored in a database that can be located remotely, these become available for use by other Netfabb installations in your organization.

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When should I assign scripts?

Assigning repair and support scripts to machines makes them available more readily when you work with them. They are shown prominently for easy selection and application in places like the drop-down menu of the Scripts tab. If no scripts are assigned, the respective drop-down menu would default to the first available script. Typically, these are Netfabb built-in scripts.

Assigning repair and support scripts also stores a copy of the scripts directly with the set-up machine workspace, so that, if you share a configuration database with other Netfabb users and installations, these scripts become available to them as well.

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