Anycubic Photon

[Chris333]

Looks good. FWIW Those Nn3 tippers of mine weren't drawn by me. And the first try looked too large so I had them shorten them as well. 

[narrowminded]

Looks good. FWIW Those Nn3 tippers of mine weren't drawn by me. And the first try looked too large so I had them shorten them as well. 

If you remember, I have some of yours.  They were higher than these, too.  These are basically .410" off the rails, maybe a few less.

[narrowminded]

And I made up a monument for my town scene next to the RR station.  It's tiny but it printed some words legibly.   In real life, if you have the vision, it has the words.

In primer:
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And for size reference:

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And where it will be placed and the scene detailed:

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[Chris333]

Today I did my first print ever on a USB other than the one that came with the machine. I've tried 5 other sticks that didn't work so I bought a brand name stick. 

[peteski]

Today I did my first print ever on a USB other than the one that came with the machine. I've tried 5 other sticks that didn't work so I bought a brand name stick. 

You're such a tease.    So you are saying that some generic USB thumb-drives did not work, but a brand-name one did?  That's weird.  How are they all formatted (the usual FAT32 filesystem, or NTFS)?  Sotell us all what brand is the one which worked?

What brand is the one included with the machine (assuming that it worked flawlessly too)?

[Chris333]

I first bought a 2 pack of 16GB (smallest they had) sticks at Staples, they were their own brand. Then I bought two 8GB sticks on e-bay, no name at all on them. Then I ordered a 4GB brand name stick on ebay that never showed up and the seller refunded my money. Now I bought a Kingston 4GB that is working for me now.

The stock stick is 4GB with no name, but they are known to not last that long. So far it was the only one that worked. I formatted them all the same to FAT32. They all work fine in my computer, but not the machine. So I don't know if it is the brand name or the fact that it is the first 4GB I've tried. It is very hard to find a 4GB stick anymore.

I did the machine software update that was supposed to let it use a larger stick. And folks on Facebook use 32GB sticks all the time. I guess we'll never know what the problem was.

[narrowminded]

I first bought a 2 pack of 16GB (smallest they had) sticks at Staples, they were their own brand. Then I bought two 8GB sticks on e-bay, no name at all on them. Then I ordered a 4GB brand name stick on ebay that never showed up and the seller refunded my money. Now I bought a Kingston 4GB that is working for me now.

The stock stick is 4GB with no name, but they are known to not last that long. So far it was the only one that worked. I formatted them all the same to FAT32. They all work fine in my computer, but not the machine. So I don't know if it is the brand name or the fact that it is the first 4GB I've tried. It is very hard to find a 4GB stick anymore.

I did the machine software update that was supposed to let it use a larger stick. And folks on Facebook use 32GB sticks all the time. I guess we'll never know what the problem was.

The only one I've used is a 32GB.  The packaging says SanDisk Cruzer Blade USB Flash Drive.  It is the first I've used one.  Beginner's luck, I guess.

[Chris333]

So I took my 20' boxcar and made it a 22' boxcar. That wasn't easy and I re-built most of the sides of the car. Load it up in the slicer and get the same triangles. I kept going back to the model to look for stuff to fix and I did find a lot of left over crap "inside" the model, but nothing at the areas of the triangles. I even uploaded it to the Netfabb online service (instead of the program) and it spit back a fixed model... still had triangles in it.

So the known problem areas are causing no problems at all. The problems are from un-known areas.

[lashedup]

So I took my 20' boxcar and made it a 22' boxcar. That wasn't easy and I re-built most of the sides of the car. Load it up in the slicer and get the same triangles. I kept going back to the model to look for stuff to fix and I did find a lot of left over crap "inside" the model, but nothing at the areas of the triangles. I even uploaded it to the Netfabb online service (instead of the program) and it spit back a fixed model... still had triangles in it.

So the known problem areas are causing no problems at all. The problems are from un-known areas.

Chris did you try using this to look at the file?

https://github.com/Photonsters/PhotonFileValidator


That won't explain why you are getting the extra triangles but i will allow you to fix those issues.  I had a passenger car shell that had a single layer that was solid (shouldn't have been there) and I was at least able to fix it. Most of the issues in files stem from the original program you created it in. Combining and subtracting objects, boolean operations that go haywire, etc., etc.  I've got some really complex files that inevitably have some issues that some validators will "fix" but still cause headaches getting through to the point that the printer needs to digest the sliced file. That file validator was written specifically to check that stuff.

In the end the attraction to printers like this are very strong. However when you consider the learning curve on a 3D CAD program, cost of materials, time, failed prints, hocus pocus and hoping it all stays together and doesn't break, it isn't for everyone.

[haasmarc]

When I went to install the photon file validator, my Norton Security said the file was unsafe.  Just a heads up.

[narrowminded]

I have no idea what goes on with the program but I have found that undoing push/ pull moves before to delete or edit them or mating/ intersecting parts has kept the drawings much cleaner and with fewer weird things showing up in the File (edited) Solid Inspector II add on after completing the edits.  I also found that editing a grouped part can get weird if the edit is extensive but is cleaner if I explode the group before to start the changes and then following the advice given above for the edits.  When completed, make and save a new group and export the new file.  It has saved chasing weird things for hours and is also easy to do. 

That has worked for me this far but I'm still a bit of a rookie so who knows if it's really needed.

[peteski]

I have no idea what goes on with the program but I have found that undoing push/ pull moves before to delete or edit them or mating/ intersecting parts has kept the drawings much cleaner

Not sure what that means.

[Chris333]

The validator needs Java to run so I haven't been able to open it yet. Doesn't Java mean the program is trying to access the internet? Cause the first thing I'll do after I open it is block it from the internet. 

In Sketchup I haven't used explode or group yet 

[narrowminded]

The validator needs Java to run so I haven't been able to open it yet.

In Sketchup I haven't used explode or group yet 

I was told somewhere in the instructions to make a group (or component) out of the drawing before to export as an STL file.  That's what I've been doing.  I'm only using the two add-ons from Sketchup, the STL exporter and Solid Inspector II.  And slicing I've only used the one that came with the machine, manually sizing and placing the supports.  So far that has worked.

Edit add:  And I am drawing at 10x for accuracy where Sketchup won't let you draw down at .010" holes and such based on advice picked up here.  It's easy to do 10X, just moving the decimal.  When done and converted to a group I then resize the group and save that.  If editing, I explode that, blow it back up 10X, and complete the edits.   When complete, rinse and repeat.

[narrowminded]

Not sure what that means.

It would be sooo easy just to show you, for both of us, but...  I'll try to think of how to demonstrate that without typing a book but when you're push/ pulling parts that intersect with other parts and then deciding to edit them where the intersection will be different it can start some weirdness.  Better to back one out, clean it up to the original if necessary, make the edit to the other, then reinsert the first, making a new, one time, intersection.  I don't know if that helps or not.