Feature request: "Printing pad" as alternative option for brim

[3Dmaker4U]

Experimentally I found that printing a "pad" as the first layer, that would cover the entire area where the parts are placed on the platter is a good option for at least two reasons:

• it prevents issues with laying down small perimeters, especially when there are parts with lots of small holes;
• it helps preventing warping Currently, I'm preparing the "plates" off-line using 123D Design, arrange all the parts manually, add a one layer height box that would spread under all parts and then boolean combine everything. It's time consuming, but the results pay for. I think that an option to "fill the skirt" would suffice. The result would be that the first layer will be a "printing pad" within the skirt area. The examples below are plates with some Huxley parts.

[whosawhatsis]

Have you tried the "brim" and "raft" options? Both of them are for exactly this purpose.

[alranel]

Yes, that really looks like a raft...

[3Dmaker4U]

Well, I'm using brim regularly, but printing a brim for a multipart plate is a nasty process and may fail here and there, when the nozzle moves from a part of brim to another, and/or from a hole (of a part to another), leaving blobs and/or gaps. Brim is good for one or several parts, spread well over the bed, so that you have plenty of space for a generous brim, if some parts requires it. Raft I never used, but "pad" is not raft. The latter is under the parts, while the former shares the same first layer with the parts. Actually, the pad is the first layer, the first layer of the parts being actually skipped. Obviously, you will need scissors and sharp knife afterwards, but more or less this is what you need anyway :)

[3daybreaker]

I like this too, especially for small high parts. Parts sometimes come of the plate and move after which they are wrecked of course

I now add a spider's web in my designs, when I expect this. So a small loop, placing thin concentric circles of 2 layers wide, one layer high and all interconnected with radial bars from the centre.

These are part of the design so they are the first layer under the part but extend to the outer parameter of the total of all parts.

I have never failed an object by falling over or likewise since. (And it saves a lot of plastic too :-)

[alranel]

If I understand this correctly, it's basically a convex brim that is not printed in a concentric way from the objects' footprint but is just a full solid rectilinear infill with no object perimeters being printed. Makes sense.

[3Dmaker4U]

I would say is merely a filled skirt, but that's only a different perspective! Basically, it can reuse some parameters of the skirt as follows [defaults]:

• Loops = number of perimeters for the pad [2, could be 1 but preferably 2 and should be printed the same way as skirt, outer first
• Distance from object(s!) = the minimum distance from any object edge to closest edge of the pad [6]
• Skirt height = thickness of the pad [1] - apparently does not make sense; however for "tough" vertical edges of the objects having 2-layer pad could be an option to prevent corners slightly warping up (e.g. if someone prints 4 cubes 60x60x100 at once) The rest could be ignored. And yes, in most cases, the object perimeters shall be omitted and a straight (recti)linear infill should be printed. My experience shows that the direction is practically not relevant. Thanks for reviewing this!

[3Dmaker4U]

And just a suggestion for UI implementation: Under Skirt panel (eventually adding "/Pad" to the label), add a chec box, and label it "Print a pad". The text in helper bubble could be something like: "Fill in completely the area inside the skirt to creating a pad that will improve bed adhesion in case of multi-object prints. If using the suggestions in the previous posts, the helper texts need also to be amended. For Loops is simple, just add "/pad" after "skirt". For the other two, the text should be specific. For Distance from object, add a separate sentence: "For pad, this is the minimum distance between the outer perimeter of the pad and the outer perimeter of any object." For Skirt height, add "/pad" after "skirt" in the first sentence, and add a separate sentence: "Increase the number of layers in a pad to better counteract warping (however, this will also complicate separating the parts after printing).".

[lordofhyphens]

Skirt in our parlance is used for retaining heat and priming nozzles and is not in contact with the part. Brim is used for adherence to build plate and is only on the first layer.

Rafts go under the piece and are usually there to deal with warped printbeds.

[bubnikv]

@lordofhyphens The proposed pad makes sense for materials, which are difficult to adhere to the print bed. Using the brim may be difficult for complex objects as the change of direction will lead to the brim pealing off from the bed at the sharp corners. So the pad's purpose is to get a good 1st layer adhesion with the drawback of more manual post-processing.