Slicing Engines

Using slicing software is the final step in the design process when breathing life into a 3D design that you created. Slicing engines convert .STL files to .GCODE files, which tell the 3d printer how to physically move in 3 dimensions and layer molten filament to create the object that has been designed. 3D printing is not yet plug and play like 2D printing is, and there are a multitude of settings that can be modified for various reasons when printing objects. Things like layer height, wall thickness, infill density, platform adhesion, supports and print speed can all be modified to alter the nature of the finished product.

There are many slicing engine options available to users, many of them are open source and there are communities of makers, hackers and designers that support each other in this nascent industry. I have been using two slicing engines, Mattercontrol software by Matterhackers (for our Robo R1+) and Cura (for our Lulzbot minis, Type A Machines Series 1 Pro, and now our newest additions, the Robo C2 and Robo R2 printers). Here are two introductory videos to help orient new users to the interfaces and basic features of these slicing engines!