SoliForum - 3D Printing Community — What infill patterns should I be using

Re: What infill patterns should I be using

2013-09-16T00:33:34Z

jason_ wrote:

Some good information here.
Hunter Green wrote:
I've also tried honeycomb for things where there's already a lot of 45 degree angles. However, I have had very bad luck with using honeycomb; Slic3r almost always goes into slice-forever mode when I try it. So I just stick with rectinlinear and rotate it to 22 degrees.
So do you always rotate it to 22 degrees or are you trying to cut the angles of the object in half IE a part with a lot of 90 degree angles infill at 45?

What I mean is, consider a design like this one:

The default rectilinear style of infill means that, if the infill is at a 45 degree angle to the perimeters in the two pieces of this design that are at a right angle, the outer edges, then the infill will end up running parallel and perpendicular to the perimeters in the crosspieces, making them weak. If I rotate the infill to 90, it'll fill the crosspieces well, but it'll run parallel and perpendicular in the outer edges. Honeycomb would be a good solution, if honeycomb worked for me reliably. Since it always seems to lock Slic3r up for some reason in my settings, instead, I change the infill angle to 22. (I could, equivalently, just rotate the design in RH by 22 degrees, but making a Slic3r setting means I can do it more easily the next time.) That way the infill is never parallel or perpendicular to any perimeter in the design. I did the same thing with this design for the same reason.

Re: What infill patterns should I be using

2013-09-15T23:55:30Z

I print with honeycomb for just about everything, haven't had any issues and I like implied strength. If I start trying to push my speeds though I'd probably go fo something else to reduce shaking.

What I'd love to see is custom infills (sharks etc) like the Makerbot software has, especially when being used without top/bottom layers.

Re: What infill patterns should I be using

2013-09-14T22:29:52Z

Some good information here.

Hunter Green wrote:

I've also tried honeycomb for things where there's already a lot of 45 degree angles. However, I have had very bad luck with using honeycomb; Slic3r almost always goes into slice-forever mode when I try it. So I just stick with rectinlinear and rotate it to 22 degrees.

So do you always rotate it to 22 degrees or are you trying to cut the angles of the object in half IE a part with a lot of 90 degree angles infill at 45?

Re: What infill patterns should I be using

2013-09-14T21:05:56Z

I've also tried honeycomb for things where there's already a lot of 45 degree angles. However, I have had very bad luck with using honeycomb; Slic3r almost always goes into slice-forever mode when I try it. So I just stick with rectinlinear and rotate it to 22 degrees.

Re: What infill patterns should I be using

2013-09-14T16:08:56Z

Honeycomb for larger volume and low infill, because it's relative shakiness and time waste is less in those circumstances.

Rectilinear for general purpose.

Concentric only when I'm doing something which has a very cylindrical type of design.

Re: What infill patterns should I be using

2013-09-14T14:36:15Z

I like rectilinear for infill. The benefit being that it is easy for the printer to do. Straight lines and less shaking. The draw backs being that create lines on thin walled prints. Seems to be plenty strong when you need it to be. I am sure you could argue honeycomb for strength though.

What infill patterns should I be using

2013-09-14T13:24:29Z

Is there somewhere I can read up on the different infill patterns? I've read the Slic3r documentation and it doesn't really go in depth about what patterns are good for what situations.

Or is there a pattern thats serviceable for most situations and the rest is for cosmetic/print speed reasons?