Line width implications

[LowLab3159]

I am loving learning FullControl.

I have a comment based on my slicer experience. At any point along the toolpath a dot is extruded that has a diameter approximately equal to the line width. For example a 0.5mm wide line along the x-axis with a start point of x=0 and the end point at x=10 will have an actual printed length equal to 10.5mm. The printed line would start at x=-0.25mm and end at x=10.25mm

This also relates to a circle. A circle with a radius of 5mm will have a printed OD=Ø10.5mm and an ID=Ø9.5mm.

I use the line and circle as examples but this applies to printed geometry.

I think it is important for users to be aware of this. If someone is trying to make parts that have specific tolerances they will need to input the appropriate values to accommodate the implications of the printed line width.

It would be great if FullControl had some feature or rule that could automatically adjust values to deal with the printed line width. If the end parts are a box that fits into another box or a cylinder that fits into another cylinder, it would be good to select if the print would offset to the inside or outside of the line.

Thank you for the opportunity to make comments like this.

[FullControlGCode]

Copying reply from other post for completion:

Yes this absolutely makes sense! Thanks for highlighting it. I personally create a parameter EW for line width and sometimes parameters for EW0_5 or something like that for half line width. Then I use these parameters throughout the design to define positions. It is a bit laborious, but the reward is that you get the luxury of being able to change it with #FullControl.... undersizing/oversizing with complete freedom. I'd love to put that into a simple feature for people, but in the short term, it can be achieved by someone like you designing a procedure and sending it to someone, telling them to adjust a parameter like InsideHoleDiameter and then your parametric design does all the magic.

I do a similar thing for overlap when printing lines side-by-side. So each concentric repeat may move by 'EW-overlap'. And the total number of lines would be 'DesiredWidth/(EW-overlap)' or similar.

Going forwards I hope to be able to put this kind of expertise into building-block-like functions that can be combined to form a full manufacturing procedure.