Problem printing chairs

[BrianW]

I successfully printed a couple of rafts of 4mm loose jaw chairs a couple of weeks ago.

Today I attempted to print a more compressed raft of 4mm fixed jaw chairs.
This appeared to go through 3D builder repair OK, but when opened in Chitubox had large parts missing.
A further check in UVtools showed multiple errors.

Both Raw and Fixed versions display the same problem.

I tried again from scratch producing a new raft of Loose jaw chairs (which worked before), same result, large parts missing.

I suspect I am doing something wrong, although following James' workflow carefully, as I did previously without problems.

There has been an update to Templot just before today's attempt, unlikely to be the cause, but thought I would mention 'just in case'.

BrianW

 

[Martin Wynne]

I successfully printed a couple of rafts of 4mm loose jaw chairs a couple of weeks ago.

Today I attempted to print a more compressed raft of 4mm fixed jaw chairs.
This appeared to go through 3D builder repair OK, but when opened in Chitubox had large parts missing.
A further check in UVtools showed multiple errors.

Both Raw and Fixed versions display the same problem.

I tried again from scratch producing a new raft of Loose jaw chairs (which worked before), same result, large parts missing.

I suspect I am doing something wrong, although following James' workflow carefully, as I did previously without problems.

There has been an update to Templot just before today's attempt, unlikely to be the cause, but thought I would mention 'just in case'.

View attachment 7912

View attachment 7913

BrianW

@BrianW

Hi Brian,

Welcome to Templot Club.

Something very wrong there!

A common cause of strange results is having duplicate templates in the storage box. Make sure there is only one copy of each template in the storage box.

If you would like to attach your BOX file here, I can check it for you.

cheers,

Martin.

 

[BrianW]

Thanks for the very rapid response Martin.

Box file attached from most recent attempt from blank Templot file (but same workflow and stl result as previous attempts).
It has 15 templates, looks like one for each pair of chairs, maybe that's not right?

Strange thing is, the 3D builder image looks OK (attached).

I'm very impressed by the 3D printing facility and the speed with which I can go from a blank start to a completed stl (when I don't screw it up along the way).

Brian

 

[Martin Wynne]

@BrianW

Hi Brian,

Thanks for posting the BOX file. I have tried it in Chitubox without any problems.

Has any part of this been loaded from an earlier version of Templot?

Please restart Templot from scratch and do not reload any previous session. Set your required gauge and scale from scratch, switch on the chairing, and shorten a plain track template to just one sleeper. Try the multi function again.

Don't forget you must import it into 3D Builder after 3D Builder opens showing a preview, and click the spanner repair icon before saving it again.

If you still get problems, please try to remember exactly what you clicked and in what order -- you may have found a bug. Thanks.

cheers,

Martin.

 

[BrianW]

@BrianW

Hi Brian,

Thanks for posting the BOX file. I have tried it in Chitubox without any problems.

Has any part of this been loaded from an earlier version of Templot?

Please restart Templot from scratch and do not reload any previous session. Set your required gauge and scale from scratch, switch on the chairing, and shorten a plain track template to just one sleeper. Try the multi function again.

Don't forget you must import it into 3D Builder after 3D Builder opens showing a preview, and click the spanner repair icon before saving it again.

If you still get problems, please try to remember exactly what you clicked and in what order -- you may have found a bug. Thanks.

cheers,

Martin.

Thanks Martin,

I have started again from scratch but still get the same result.
Detailed workflow as follows, apologies it's so long winded, but it may help identify any errors or omissions on my behalf.

Open Templot 2.42.a
Restore previous session ? No thanks
Set gauge to 00-BF
Plain track
Geometry > Straight
Length > 240mm
Blue spot to expand image
Real > Chairing / 3D > Experimental chairing > Do experimental chairing
Real > Chairing / 3D > Chair jaw options > Export all chairs with solid outer jaws and keys
(also tried this with slots for loose jaws, same end result)
Length > drag to one sleeper remaining
Gauge > modify current settings > modify track gauge > 8mm
3D > Store and shift multi – 15 copies of one sleeper now in box
Shapes menu > New shape 'Raft' > rectangle/3Dslab/Raft radio button > by drawing radio button > add shape > click& drag rectangle around chairs
DXF/stl file export > chairs only > 4mm_s1_chairs_solidjaw
Open STL file in 3D builder > Import model (photo 1) > Click here to repair > Repairing . . .
File appears in STL-FILES-FIXED
Exit 3D builder > Unsaved changes will be lost > Discard scene
OpenChitubox V1.9.5 > Open file > 4mm_s1_chairs_solidjaw (from STL-FILES-FIXED)
Rotate 90° (Z axis) to fit on bedplate (photo 2)
Slice > Save > Back > Save project > Selected model
Close Chitubox
Re-open Chitubox > Open file > 4mm_s1_chairs_solidjaw.ctb (the sliced file)
Corrupted file appears (photo 3)

I hope it was my error and that I haven't caused you a headache (or arm ache from all the typing with your shoulder still recovering) !

Regards,

Brian

ps running on Acer Laptop, Ryzen 7, 16GB RAM, WIndows 11

 

[Martin Wynne]

@BrianW

Hi Brian,

Thanks for posting a detailed list.

Exit 3D builder > Unsaved changes will be lost > Discard scene

If you are seeing this you have not saved the repaired version. When the spanner/repair function finishes, you must click the Save icon to save the repairs, before exiting 3D Builder:

If you don't Save the repair, there will be a file in the STL-FIXED folder, but it won't have been fixed. I have tried every way I can think of to detect this condition, without success. It is up to you to remember to click Save. Sorry about that.

p.s. there is no longer any need for this:

Gauge > modify current settings > modify track gauge > 8mm

Templot now does it for you, and restores the gauge afterwards.

cheers,

Martin.

 

[BrianW]

@BrianW

Hi Brian,

Thanks for posting a detailed list.

Exit 3D builder > Unsaved changes will be lost > Discard scene

If you are seeing this you have not saved the repaired version. When the spanner/repair function finishes, you must click the Save icon to save the repairs, before exiting 3D Builder:


View attachment 7927

If you don't Save the repair, there will be a file in the STL-FIXED folder, but it won't have been fixed. I have tried every way I can think of to detect this condition, without success. It is up to you to remember to click Save. Sorry about that.

p.s. there is no longer any need for this:

Gauge > modify current settings > modify track gauge > 8mm

Templot now does it for you, and restores the gauge afterwards.

cheers,

Martin.

Thanks Martin,

I'm an expert at making schoolboy errors.
2 weeks ago I must have saved the version that worked without realising it, then promptly forgot what I had done!

I will try again tomorrow and am pretty confident it will now work.

Many thanks for your help.

Regards,

Brian

 

[BrianW]

I have tried every way I can think of to detect this condition, without success. It is up to you to remember to click Save. Sorry about that.

Thanks Martin, that was indeed the problem, pleased to report all is now OK.

When first starting out with 3D printing a couple of weeks ago, I followed James' video carefully.
This week, having gained a bit of confidence, I paid less attention to the video and inadvertently missed that crucial step.

Regarding your comment“...Sorry about that.”

No need for apologies,Templot already does a lot of the work for us, the automatic re-gauging for chair print leaves us even less to do (and get wrong).
I did note my Raw file was 7,779Kb, Fixed file 4,551Kb. Comparing the two might be a way of detecting whether the fixed file has been saved (which you may already have looked at), but I'm sure you have more interesting and important developments to work on.

Regards,

Brian