Not only can slicer settings make or break a build,

Not only can slicer settings make or break a build, but choice of slicer can evidently make a huge difference. It may still be just settings, but tuning a slicer without a known-good start point is prohibitive. When I commented “out of the box difficulties are many” (Sign in - Google Accounts), I neglected to state the good side of out-of-the-box experience with Ares 3D. From other communities I’ve heard a lot of chatters about tweaking and calibration. But Easy Arts’ recommended slicer settings are terrific for a first-timer.

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1700492/ (beauty3) is a curious model. It is only available in STL, but the original dimensions are puny. Shauki asked for 100mm builds (Sign in - Google Accounts), which is 10x the original dimension. This is the first time I scaled up a model and just built it.

I had to struggle with this mainly because I was fascinated with my initial success with CraftWare and thought I could build anything with it. But my first attempts failed miserably, showing not only the same broken arm as in Shauki’s PLA builds, but also other serious quality problems. (Details in 2nd photo and many inside the album.) Once I switch back to KISSlicer which Easy Arts recommend(ed), all problems are gone.

As to the big puzzle about general poor surface quality with CraftWare, I think the problem is in the bottom layer. The model has a curious concave bottom. Even with the same Z-offset, CraftWare generates a particularly weak first layer. Ever since I fixed firmware matching, KISSlicer has always delivered super first layer on Harbor Freight blue tapes. Even though time lapse video does not show significant shaking like in some “toppled” failures, I postulate that partial detachment of bottom layer is the cause if visible Z-hops way before the horrible dislocation of midsection.

The morale of the story: It’s not Ares. It’s the slicer.

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