Slicing with Grasshopper

How to use dFab's grasshopper slicer

1. Launch grasshopper & open Lutum5M-dFab.gh

2. Set a Brep

3. Select Build plate you will be using

4. Move object to the desired printing position All objects to be printed must fall within the set build plate area and must be positioned at the correct z height.

5. Connect the contour component to the desired toolpath style & press ▶ on the data dam

6. Connect Point data to Points component this will create a toolpath visualisation & generated the instructions for the printer to follow -gcode

To Export gcode,

1. Right click on the last panel in your grasshopper script

2. Select Copy All Contents

3. Open a Notepad (windows) or TextEdit (MacOS) document and paste your gcode

4. Save file with the extension .gcode.

Alternatively you can save the gcode using grasshopper.

1. Right click on the last panel in your grasshopper script

2. Select Stream Destination

3. Set the Stream Destination by navigating to the desired folder location

4. Name your file and save with extension .gocode

5. Right Click and select Stream Contents to save the panel contents to your newly created file.

To prevent the loss of old gcode, we recommend exporting via Notepad or TextEdit.

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Script Breakdown

Layers

Once an object has been added to the grasshopper script, it is split into a series of cross sectional curves using the Contour component.

Object added to dFab grasshopper script

The Contour Distance value can be changed to modify the Z resolution of the print the Layer height.

If layer height is modified, the extrusion calculation must also be adjusted.

Points

The contoured curves are then divided into the individual points that the extruder will move between.

The Divide Distance value can be changed to modify the XY resolution of the print (lower value = more accurate reconstruction of Brep)

X, Y, Z & E

As the printer will not visualise the toolpath or understand XYZ coordinates, points must be broken down further into their individual X,Y, and Z values.

Extrusion values (E) are then calculated by measuring the distance between each point along the toolpath

All values,X, Y, Z and E are then rounded to 2 decimal places before being compiled into gcode - a set of text instructions that the ceramic printer can read and follow. In this compilation, a custom printer specific header and footer is appended to the start and end of the gcode.