Simplify3d is new software and they are trying to rewrite the industry. They are hoping they will be the go to software for noobs and thus are making up their own definitions. Google 3D printing and Raft and you will see a different definition. Or checkout Reprap wiki.

The softwares that have been around know what it is for and describe as such.

These are a lot of plain claims. How do you know they want to "rewrite the industry"? How do you know they are "making up their own definitions", rather than maybe just using an old term (which is not even a new word created by reprap) for something new?

EDIT: This claim is poo. Other commercial printers use this kind of raft too...

As much as I admire the Reprap project, even they went a bit far with their own definition of "self-replicating machine", but that's off-topic as well.

This is also a huge claim. Out perform how? And what about the possibility that a software with certain features missing in another one might itself have certain features missing itself which is present in others?

I also like free and especially open source software, but I don't get why you're bashing a software and making too many negative assumptions about their team.

How will it cool unevenly? What they call raft is also ABS. And how is it not heating and cooling unevenly already? Its heated from the bottom by the heatbed and not the sides or top. How is it any different? And how is it any different from support structure?

Just think about it: the lifting of the sides of the model is usually less than few cm max. If you'll print few cm under the actual model that can be removed later, you won't have warping on your actual model, even though thats a lot of wasted filament.
Sadly this doesnt solve the problem of the print (raft or the actual model) lifting so much to get knocked off by the hotend which I currently experience.

This is what I'd like to discuss rather than the company behind Simplify3D. That's not helpful to me, this thread or the community as whole I believe.

Don't get me wrong I am thankful for the work done on slic3r but I fail to see a reason to criticize Simplify3D for making money on their product. Slicers are right up there with compilers in terms of software complexity (and I've contributed to and written a compiler). Besides that anyway, Simplify3D is a host, mesh repair tool and slicer. So it's not a trivial piece of software someone wrote just to make a buck--it was very expensive to make at a programmer's salary with a team of multiple people.

carl_m1968 wrote:

I think you are over analyzing. I have been printing 6+ years and a raft regardless of the software generating has always served two purposes regardless of it's design.

That is to aid in making a level surface and adhesion. Nothing more.

Not according to Simplify3D, which I quoted already.

Rafts are used primarily with ABS because they provide separation between the part and the heated bed. This separation helps to minimize uneven cooling that could cause warping or uneven shrinking on the bottom layers of your model.

Original link: http://www.simplify3d.com/portfolio-ite … and-brims/

Simplify3d is new software and they are trying to rewrite the industry. They are hoping they will be the go to software for noobs and thus are making up their own definitions. Google 3D printing and Raft and you will see a different definition. Or checkout Reprap wiki.

The softwares that have been around know what it is for and describe as such. You don't want ABS isolated from the bad as it will then cool unevenly. By their very definition and design they are defeating the purpose of the raft.

But hey who am I to question the pros that sell software for 150 bucks when there are free ones that out perform theirs?. Can we say Craftware?

I think you are over analyzing. I have been printing 6+ years and a raft regardless of the software generating has always served two purposes regardless of it's design.

That is to aid in making a level surface and adhesion. Nothing more.

Not according to Simplify3D, which I quoted already.

Original link: http://www.simplify3d.com/portfolio-ite … and-brims/

Thanks all.

It seems there are two types of rafts Slic3r and Simplify3D are talking about.
Both are the same in the sense that they are below the model's first layer.
Difference is however that Slic3r had in mind making sure the print sticks to even an uneven surface by smearing an overextruded pattern below the first layer to the bed to really stick it in place, while Simpify3D is more about controlling how heat goes from the model to bed or vice versa to prevent warping, though I still don't understand how that will work, even if the raft doesn't get knocked off from the bed from lifting itself (which is happening to my models right now), I'd personally need more than a cm or more of it in height so the warping wouldn't reach the model.

I think something more is happening with the fin-like pattern the Slic3r raft uses than the manual mentions to help with sticking.
Otherwise just overextruding the first layer would do the trick, right?

I think you are over analyzing. I have been printing 6+ years and a raft regardless of the software generating has always served two purposes regardless of it's design.

That is to aid in making a level surface and adhesion. Nothing more. The only reason for the different look is conservation. You can actually control the raft size and design in most software and make it solid or sparse, your choice. The other reason for a sparse raft is it is easier to remove once cooled.

It seems there are two types of rafts Slic3r and Simplify3D are talking about.
Both are the same in the sense that they are below the model's first layer.
Difference is however that Slic3r had in mind making sure the print sticks to even an uneven surface by smearing an overextruded pattern below the first layer to the bed to really stick it in place, while Simpify3D is more about controlling how heat goes from the model to bed or vice versa to prevent warping, though I still don't understand how that will work, even if the raft doesn't get knocked off from the bed from lifting itself (which is happening to my models right now), I'd personally need more than a cm or more of it in height so the warping wouldn't reach the model.

I think something more is happening with the fin-like pattern the Slic3r raft uses than the manual mentions to help with sticking.
Otherwise just overextruding the first layer would do the trick, right?

Looking at the Slic3r manual, it just says

The Simplify3d tells a different story:

I don't really get it. If you have warping, how is Raft any different to not warp itself and affect the actual print above it in the end?
How is it a separation if its also made up of ABS and connected to the print above it? At best it seems to slow down the heat distribution a bit.

I remembered something now, I accidentally enabled slic3r Raft few months ago and that unusual Raft shape resulted in my printed model being so stuck to the glass bed I broke a piece of the glass when taking it off. I don't get the magic behind it because it was just 1 layer tall. Maybe the finned, "heatsink" shape has something to do with it?
Or maybe it was something else I cant remember not related to that raftat all...

I could be very wrong,..but just trying to help.

I never understood the use for them myself. Why print on top of ABS when you can start on the glass?

But I see this a lot too:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o60-s0B3_30

Whats this? It doesn't look like a raft, it's only 1 (1st) layer and doesn't look like a skirt either.
Whats it good for and does it serve any purpose a "regular" raft or skirt don't do well themselves already?