CW cannot print this STL file
Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2015 4:59 pm
I downloaded an STL from Thingiverse a few years ago and printed it in PLA; I want to print a small version in resin. You can find a copy of the file here
www.jonbondy.com/Voronoi_Klein_Bottle.stl
It is fairly large and complex. It takes CW quite a while to absorb it. I scaled it by 0.5 and then sliced it. This is where things get strange. I've tried it a number of times, with varying results, as reported below. I rebooted my computer (XP, unfortunately) and restarted CW, without fixing the problem. I am not running out of memory, according to Process Explorer (1.5 GB out of 2 GB, with a working set of 600 MB)
- prints the first 1/4 inch, and then stops printing. The printer is still going through the motions, but the projector is displaying a black screen. The projector is fine (I can see the red grid if I wish). So, the slice information is not making it to the projector
- printer goes through the motions but nothing shows up on the projector at all, ever
- if I try to inspect in the Slice View, I can see the first 12 slices, after which I see the 12th slice, no matter which slice I ask for (either greater than 12 or less than 12). It is as if the Slice View froze up.
- if I try to inspect in the Slice View, I can see the first 18 slices, after which I see the 18th slice, no matter which slice I ask for (either greater than 18 or less than 18). It is as if the Slice View froze up. That is, the location where the freeze occurs is variable.
- if I try to inspect in the Slice View, and drag the slider to the middle, I can see a reasonable slice (so the slice data is present). But nothing prints anyway (black projector output)
- BTW, I cannot get the Slice View to show the current slice on the projector at all (by clicking on the icon on the lower left)
My sense is that CW is overwhelmed by this STL.
Would one of you try this and let me know if this is a reproducible bug, or if there is something wrong here, please?
I know that the CW UI runs extremely slowly on this computer, so it is struggling. OTOH, I have made perhaps 20 prints so far, so the real-time aspects of CW have been working fine. I did not expect this kind of erratic behavior.
Jon
www.jonbondy.com/Voronoi_Klein_Bottle.stl
It is fairly large and complex. It takes CW quite a while to absorb it. I scaled it by 0.5 and then sliced it. This is where things get strange. I've tried it a number of times, with varying results, as reported below. I rebooted my computer (XP, unfortunately) and restarted CW, without fixing the problem. I am not running out of memory, according to Process Explorer (1.5 GB out of 2 GB, with a working set of 600 MB)
- prints the first 1/4 inch, and then stops printing. The printer is still going through the motions, but the projector is displaying a black screen. The projector is fine (I can see the red grid if I wish). So, the slice information is not making it to the projector
- printer goes through the motions but nothing shows up on the projector at all, ever
- if I try to inspect in the Slice View, I can see the first 12 slices, after which I see the 12th slice, no matter which slice I ask for (either greater than 12 or less than 12). It is as if the Slice View froze up.
- if I try to inspect in the Slice View, I can see the first 18 slices, after which I see the 18th slice, no matter which slice I ask for (either greater than 18 or less than 18). It is as if the Slice View froze up. That is, the location where the freeze occurs is variable.
- if I try to inspect in the Slice View, and drag the slider to the middle, I can see a reasonable slice (so the slice data is present). But nothing prints anyway (black projector output)
- BTW, I cannot get the Slice View to show the current slice on the projector at all (by clicking on the icon on the lower left)
My sense is that CW is overwhelmed by this STL.
Would one of you try this and let me know if this is a reproducible bug, or if there is something wrong here, please?
I know that the CW UI runs extremely slowly on this computer, so it is struggling. OTOH, I have made perhaps 20 prints so far, so the real-time aspects of CW have been working fine. I did not expect this kind of erratic behavior.
Jon