How to slice and cut stl files for 3D Printing - 3DP 101 Video Lecture | What is 3D Printing: Basic Knowledge - IT & Software

so you've had your 3d printer for a few
weeks now and things are getting pretty
serious you've spent some late nights
with it
tweaking calibrations and getting some
awesome prints off it but you want to
try something different you want to try
something bigger you want to print big
parts on your 3d printer but your print
bed is only so large it's okay I won't
judge but don't despair because in this
3d printing 101 I'll show you three
awesome techniques I use all the time to
slice larger objects into smaller more
manageable chunks for your 3d printer
technique number one netfabb basic so
netfabb basic is a free program where
you can fix your STL files scale and
slice them into smaller parts for your
3d printer now I don't use netfabb basic
for fixing very much because it is quite
well basic but it is fantastic for
slicing files so to use netfabb basic
dump your STL file into the program and
make sure you scale it to the size you
want then move the object onto the
origin so when you slice it you can
enter precise dimensions and from here
it's actually pretty easy to simply
enter the distance you want from the
origin and to slice it at that point
either in the X Y or Z plane now it's
important to know that these planes will
slice in infinity in their respective
directions so netfabb basic is not very
good for slicing extremely complicated
files because you may slice areas you
don't want to however for simple things
it works really well and when you're
happy with the files that have been
sliced simply export them added netfabb
basic and stick them into your favorite
slicing program technique number two
mesh mixer so mesh mixer is my favorite
3d printing program of all time if you
have a 3d printer you need to learn mesh
mixer so to slice your files bring them
into the program and certainly make sure
you scale them to the right size from
there we can then use the plane cut
command to slice our file into sections
the plane cut tool in mesh mixer is very
freeform and you can move it to pretty
much any location you like and when
you're happy make sure you change it to
slice so you keep both sides when you're
happy click separate shells to break
your new STL file into its separate
chunks and export them out for 3d
printing and one awesome thing you can
do in mesh mixer is you can isolate
areas for cutting so if you have a very
complicated file for example in this
deathclaw rice slice not too long ago
you can isolate areas by selecting
triangles and slicing only those
triangles using the plane cut command
this works extremely well for
complicated STL files where you don't
want to cut certain other areas within
that plane if you're cutting normally
and it makes it far more powerful than
using netfabb basic if you're interested
in checking out that video click the
link here where I go into more depth of
using this slicing technique and finally
we have technique number 3 which is
actually a bit of a hack but it works
really well simply dump your STL file
directly into your slicing program
and lower it into the bed so when you
actually slice your file for 3d printing
it will start at the bed and obviously
ignores everything below it this
actually works really well I use it all
the time for files that have organic or
uneven basis I'll simply sync them into
the bed a few millimeters to make sure
they print with a nice flat base and I
can thank my buddy Joel over at 3d
printing node for showing me this
awesome technique be sure to check out
his channel so there you have it guys
three awesome techniques you can use to
simply slice your files into smaller
pieces for your 3d printer so you can
print massive things in pieces no matter
what size your print volume if you enjoy
this video and make us mears don't
forget to subscribe I do videos like
this all the time and these techniques I
use on a daily basis so if you're
interested I'd love to have you jump on
board I'll see you again very shortly
here on makers muse see you later