Fill is a script to fill the edges of a gcode file.
The fill manual page is at:
http://fabmetheus.crsndoo.com/wiki/index.php/Skeinforge_Fill
Allan Ecker aka The Masked Retriever has written the "Skeinforge Quicktip: Fill" at:
http://blog.thingiverse.com/2009/07/21/mysteries-of-skeinforge-fill/
Operation
Settings
Diaphragm
Diaphragm Period
Diaphragm Thickness
Extra Shells
Extra Shells on Alternating Solid Layers
Extra Shells on Base
Extra Shells on Sparse Layer
Grid
Grid Circle Separation over Perimeter Width
Grid Extra Overlap
Grid Junction Separation over Octogon Radius At End
Grid Junction Separation over Octogon Radius At Middle
Grid Junction Separation Band Height
Infill
Infill Pattern
Grid Circular
Grid Hexagonal
Grid Rectangular
Line
Infill Begin Rotation
Infill Odd Layer Extra Rotation
Infill Begin Rotation Repeat
Infill Perimeter Overlap
Infill Solidity
Infill Width over Thickness
Sharpest Angle
Solid Surface Thickness
Start From Choice
Lower Left
Nearest
Surrounding Angle
Thread Sequence Choice
Infill > Loops > Perimeter
Infill > Perimeter > Loops
Loops > Infill > Perimeter
Loops > Perimeter > Infill
Perimeter > Infill > Loops
Perimeter > Loops > Infill
Examples
Operation
The default 'Activate Fill' checkbox is off. When it is on, the functions described below will work, when it is off, the functions will not be called.
Settings
Diaphragm
The diaphragm is a solid group of layers, at regular intervals. It can be used with a sparse infill to give the object watertight, horizontal compartments and/or a higher shear strength.
Diaphragm Period
Default is one hundred.
Defines the number of layers between diaphrams.
Diaphragm Thickness
Default is zero, because the diaphragm feature is rarely used.
Defines the number of layers the diaphram is composed of.
Extra Shells
The shells interior edge loops. Adding extra shells makes the object stronger & heavier.
Extra Shells on Alternating Solid Layers
Default is two.
Defines the number of extra shells, on the alternating solid layers.
Extra Shells on Base
Default is one.
Defines the number of extra shells on the bottom, base layer and every even solid layer after that. Setting this to a different value than the "Extra Shells on Alternating Solid Layers" means the infill pattern will alternate, creating a strong interleaved bond even if the edge loop shrinks.
Extra Shells on Sparse Layer
Default is one.
Defines the number of extra shells on the sparse layers. The solid layers are those at the top & bottom, and wherever the object has a plateau or overhang, the sparse layers are the layers in between.
Grid
Grid Circle Separation over Perimeter Width
Default is 0.2.
Defines the ratio of the amount the grid circle is inset over the edge width, the default is zero. With a value of zero the circles will touch, with a value of one two threads could be fitted between the circles.
Grid Extra Overlap
Default is 0.1.
Defines the amount of extra overlap added when extruding the grid to compensate for the fact that when the first thread going through a grid point is extruded, since there is nothing there yet for it to connect to it will shrink extra.
Grid Junction Separation over Octogon Radius At End
Default is zero.
Defines the ratio of the amount the grid square is increased in each direction over the extrusion width at the end. With a value of one or so the grid pattern will have large squares to go with the octogons.
Grid Junction Separation over Octogon Radius At Middle
Default is zero.
Defines the increase at the middle. If this value is different than the value at the end, the grid would have an accordion pattern, which would give it a higher shear strength.
Grid Junction Separation Band Height
Default is ten.
Defines the height of the bands of the accordion pattern.
Infill
Infill Pattern
Default is 'Line', since it is quicker to generate and does not add extra movements for the extruder. The grid pattern has extra diagonal lines, so when choosing a grid option, set the infill solidity to 0.2 or less so that there is not too much plastic and the grid generation time, which increases with the third power of solidity, will be reasonable.
Grid Circular
When selected, the infill will be a grid of separated circles. Because the circles are separated, the pattern is weak, it only provides support for the top layer threads and some strength in the z direction. The flip side is that this infill does not warp the object, the object will get warped only by the walls.
Because this pattern turns the extruder on and off often, it is best to use a stepper motor extruder.
Grid Hexagonal
When selected, the infill will be a hexagonal grid. Because the grid is made with threads rather than with molding or milling, only a partial hexagon is possible, so the rectangular grid pattern is stronger.
Grid Rectangular
When selected, the infill will be a funky octogon square honeycomb like pattern which gives the object extra strength.
Line
When selected, the infill will be made up of lines.
Infill Begin Rotation
Default is forty five degrees, giving a diagonal infill.
Defines the amount the infill direction of the base and every second layer thereafter is rotated.
Infill Odd Layer Extra Rotation
Default is ninety degrees, making the odd layer infill perpendicular to the base layer.
Defines the extra amount the infill direction of the odd layers is rotated compared to the base layer.
Infill Begin Rotation Repeat
Default is one, giving alternating cross hatching.
Defines the number of layers that the infill begin rotation will repeat. With a value higher than one, the infill will go in one direction more often, giving the object more strength in one direction and less in the other, this is useful for beams and cantilevers.
Infill Perimeter Overlap
Default is 0.15.
Defines the amount the infill overlaps the edge over the average of the edge and infill width. The higher the value the more the infill will overlap the edge, and the thicker join between the infill and the edge. If the value is too high, the join will be so thick that the nozzle will run plow through the join below making a mess, also when it is above 0.45 fill may not be able to create infill correctly. If you want to stretch the infill a lot, set 'Path Stretch over Perimeter Width' in stretch to a high value.
Infill Solidity
Default is 0.2.
Defines the solidity of the infill, this is the most important setting in fill. A value of one means the infill lines will be right beside each other, resulting in a solid, strong, heavy shape which takes a long time to extrude. A low value means the infill will be sparse, the interior will be mosty empty space, the object will be weak, light and quick to build.
Infill Width over Thickness
Default is 1.5.
Defines the ratio of the infill width over the layer height. The higher the value the wider apart the infill will be and therefore the sparser the infill will be.
Sharpest Angle
Default: 60 degrees
Defines the sharpest angle that a thread is allowed to make before it is separated into two threads. If 'Sharpest Angle' is too low, the extruder will stop and start often, slowing printing and putting more wear and tear on the extruder. If 'Sharpest Angle' is too high, then threads will almost double back on themselves, leading to bumps in the fill, and sometimes filament being dragged by the nozzle.
This parameter is used in fill, raft and skin.
Solid Surface Thickness
Default is three.
Defines the number of solid layers that are at the bottom, top, plateaus and overhang. With a value of zero, the entire object will be composed of a sparse infill, and water could flow right through it. With a value of one, water will leak slowly through the surface and with a value of three, the object could be watertight. The higher the solid surface thickness, the stronger and heavier the object will be.
Start From Choice
Default is 'Lower Left'.
Defines where each layer starts from.
Lower Left
When selected the layer will start from the lower left corner. This is to extrude in round robin fashion so that the first extrusion will be deposited on the coolest part of the last layer. The reason for this is described at:
http://hydraraptor.blogspot.com/2010/12/round-robin.html
Nearest
When selected the layer will start from the closest point to the end of the last layer. This leads to less stringing, but the first extrusion will be deposited on the hottest part of the last layer which leads to melting problems. So this option is deprecated, eventually this option will be removed and the layers will always start from the lower left.
Surrounding Angle
Default: 60 degrees
Defines the angle that the surrounding layers around the infill are expanded.
To decide whether or not the infill should be sparse or solid, fill looks at the 'Solid Surface Thickness' surrounding layers above and below the infill. If any of the expanded layers above or below the infill do not cover the infill, then the infill will be solid in that region. The layers are expanded by the height difference times the tangent of the surrounding angle, which is from the vertical. For example, if the model is a wedge with a wall angle less than the surrounding angle, the interior layers (those which are not on the bottom or top) will be sparse. If the wall angle is greater than the surrounding angle, the interior layers will be solid.
The time required to examine the surrounding layers increases with the surrounding angle, so the surrounding angle is limited to eighty degrees, regardless of the input value.
If you have an organic shape with gently sloping surfaces; if the surrounding angle is set too high, then too many layers will be sparse. If the surrounding angle is too low, then too many layers will be solid and the extruder may end up plowing through previous layers:
http://hydraraptor.blogspot.com/2008/08/bearing-fruit.html
Thread Sequence Choice
The 'Thread Sequence Choice' is the sequence in which the threads will be extruded on the second and higher layers. There are three kinds of thread, the edge threads on the outside of the object, the loop threads aka inner shell threads, and the interior infill threads. The first layer thread sequence is 'Perimeter > Loops > Infill'.
The default choice is 'Perimeter > Loops > Infill', which the default stretch parameters are based on. If you change from the default sequence choice setting of edge, then loops, then infill, the optimal stretch thread parameters would also be different. In general, if the infill is extruded first, the infill would have to be stretched more so that even after the filament shrinkage, it would still be long enough to connect to the loop or edge. The six sequence combinations follow below.
Infill > Loops > Perimeter
Infill > Perimeter > Loops
Loops > Infill > Perimeter
Loops > Perimeter > Infill
Perimeter > Infill > Loops
Perimeter > Loops > Infill
Examples
The following examples fill the file Screw Holder Bottom.stl. The examples are run in a terminal in the folder which contains Screw Holder Bottom.stl and fill.py.
> python fill.py
This brings up the fill dialog.
> python fill.py Screw Holder Bottom.stl
The fill tool is parsing the file:
Screw Holder Bottom.stl
..
The fill tool has created the file:
.. Screw Holder Bottom_fill.gcode
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__author__ = 'Enrique Perez (perez_enrique@yahoo.com)' __date__ = '$Date: 2008/28/04 $' __license__ = 'GNU Affero General Public License http://www.gnu.org/licenses/agpl.html' absolute_import = _Feature((2, 5, 0, 'alpha', 1), (2, 7, 0, 'alpha', 0), 16384) |
Author | ||
Enrique Perez (perez_enrique@yahoo.com) |