SOFTWARE: LYCHEE SLICER
Mike Griggs replies
It doesn’t mat ter if it’s a downloaded STL model from an art website or an expor t from ZBrush. When it comes to 3D printing, failure and success are determined by how well the printer is calibrated just as much as the intricacies of the geometr y being printed. Both FDM printers and resin printers have their own unique ways of calibrating. There are scores of online guides about the specific techniques, which can var y from printer to printer, even if they are both resin printers.
This deluge of information can be over whelming for those new to 3D printing, especially for resin printing, which has a more intimidating process for get ting star ted. Handling resin requires user care as it’s a skin irritant in a way that doesn’t apply to FDM printer filaments such as PLA, which are benign in use. So a test with a simple yes or no system in terms of a satisfac tor y result is a great way to get star ted.
One of the best calibration tests is The Cones of Calibration from Tableflip Foundr y, which is available for free online (w w w.tableflipfoundry.com ). The great thing about the cones is that they have a correc t state, while any other result is simply wrong.
The second par t of the calibration puz zle is finding slicing sof tware that is intuitive for the person printing. For many people, the solution is Lychee Slicer from Mango 3D, available free for Mac, Windows and Linux ( lychee.mango3d.io).
For 3D ar tists, Lychee Slicer is easy to understand, as the inter face is similar to a 3D application and has a logical, clean and easy-to-use work flow. It’s also great to use with The Cones of Calibration.
Because Lychee is commonly used within the 3D printing communit y, native Lychee files are supplied with a special prize model for when the cones have been successfully calibrated. For anyone new to 3D resin printing, The Cones of Calibration is one of the best places to start for those creating their first print on a new printer, or those ar tists wanting to try a new resin for the first time.
