Now that Bambu has a LW foaming PLA, is there a way to do the thin wall slicing that is needed for most plane manufacturers files? The only thing I’ve had any success with is printing with a Cura sliced file on slower machines, but I really dislike doing that. In all honesty, I’ve just stopped trying to get the Bambu printers to do these. Has there been any changes to this problem?
Interested as well. Picked up a spool of PLA Aero and printing is tough. Material prints fine, but toolpath is not efficient for the material.
I haven’t even opened my roll yet, still working out toolpaths that work. I have found some options for the thin walls in Bambu Studio, but its not complete yet. Still getting some areas where the walls just don’t work in the orientation I want. But last time I tried slicing a model it was very close to giving me a usable slice. I think I may need to take another look at it and add some modifiers for the last few walls that didn’t work. I haven’t been terribly motivated but I’ll try again at some point.
I noticed their guide talked about removing the excess travel moves. I’ve found for 3DLabprint models it’s not possible. Wonder if using a different slicer and posting would be a feasible option.
I found some settings that allow me to get a slice in Bambu Studio. I haven’t test printed anything yet to confirm they work but, it feels like they do.
The settings I found are pretty basic, and only have one item that really ties it all together. The basic settings are Classic walls, Even-Odd slicing, and the last item which really changed things for me, 0 top and bottom walls. That last item really fixed a lot of issues I had. However, it requires you pay attention to two things. The first is the slicing orientation, with no top and bottom walls you have to manage the setup. The second piece is using modifiers for the top and bottom walls that are necessary for the plane to work. I found a few sections the needed those upper and lower surfaces, so I needed a way to bring back the surfaces I removed, so I set up modifiers and that seems to work. The sliced files look good but again, I haven’t made a print yet to confirm.
Hey Mike,
Looks like the model is really the deciding factor. The test model they include in the file for the filament toolpath looks ideal. I cannot replicate the same with the 3dlab print model. Retracts are the killer. If we could get a single layer with no retracts and a start and stop point for each layer at the same point that would really be the ticket.
Have you tried the “Avoid crossing walls” setting?
Also, Bambu looks to have added a Wiki to help, although I’m not sure it fully addresses your concern… but may.
Instructions for printing RC model with foaming PLA (PLA Aero) | Bambu Lab Wiki
Yes. It will drag the filament across the already extruded surfaces leaving blobs. The foaming action pushes from the nozzle even when it’s not extruding. This is why having no retraction and a single uninterrupted extrusion for each layer is ideal. Some features on a part may not be possible with this method, but as little retraction as possible is what we want.
That wiki should included a file to download with their settings. It will include a sample model which actually looks pretty good from a toolpath standpoint.
Yeah, an PLA Aero Plane profile would have been nice. But honestly, I’m just happy to have an option, even if its not perfect yet.