If you have an "real" 3D modeling program that manipulates 3D solids, rather than a mesh-modeling program that drapes meshes around the shape of objects (to produce lush "3D" renderings), you'll almost certainly get better results by remaining with the 3D solids as long as you possibly can. Perform...

Thanks, this helps for sure. After diving back into the CAD file, I first realized that I was still drawing the wrong kind of object/s. I converted the "solids" into meshes. And yes, it helps that they're watertight, though not all of them are, but they print just fine. Though my printed object was ...

Think I know the answer to this one, but thought I'd get some tips/advice along the way. I drew my first original object for printing, after some detours with a downloaded 3D Model from the internet that had a ton of 'free floating' meshes in it. S3D decided to just fill in everything inside the out...

Think I have hint on where the grit is coming from. The original desktop where I tried to apply new Kapton, looked clean, but was covered in, yup, grit. I think the grit stuck to the sides of the Kapton tape roll, when I set up the printer, and that is how this problem seem to follow me all over the...

I have a 5 1/2 year old MacBook Pro, and Apple's networking code needs a lot of work. Unfortunately, except for the most extreme bugs, Apple has all but halted support work for the I5 machines. My 2010 MacBook Pro (MBP) though running El Cap, is running an older version of FireFox and is networked a...

The only thing that intimidated me about the M2 was its placement in the "Enthusiast" category by most of the 3D printer ratings guides. But if you buy the factory built unit, it can appropriately be placed on the "Plug & Play" list. Its that good out of the box. Once I understood that I wouldn't ha...

if your going to print something then you should design the model for printing. everything needs to be 100% watertight. no stray unconnected surfaces, holes or bad triangles in the mesh. any errors will cause slicers to go a bit wacky and not know what to do. Of course I find this posting after I f...

Someone suggested that I sand plastic with wet paper and submerge the part in water while sanding, to avoid fine plastic dust in the air you are breathing. I have no idea how important this is, so it sounded sensible to me at the time, and that is what I've done the few times I've tried. I must say...

Not sure where to post my observations. This past weekend was the second weekend I had my M2 printing. <snippage> My own biggest frustration so far, was getting prints off the bed. I've been running with only the factory applied Kapton (at first) then applying hairspray (though not the highly recom...

I've been involved with the internet since the early days. No, not on Darpanet but I was sending e-mail and reading usenet news postings before there was even AOL. Indeed, there was a time when may of us "old timers" bemoaned the vast influx of freshmen in college universities posting gibberish or s...