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@St0RM33 The reason I have disabled links is that bots and people don't send harmful/scam links here. I can change the setting for something like 12hours so you can post the file and then I will disable it again so that the comment section stays safe for everyone.
Another tip is that if you select the panel and the letters together, then export as a .3mf file, they will import into your slicer as seperate bodies but already aligned like they were in fusion 360. No need to try aligning them after.
@singulosta I haven't used Orca very much and Bambu, not at all. Are they limited to simple shapes, or could you also do lettering? I prolly should play with Orca more anyway.
@AmericanMaking I don't know if I really understand your question. You can export multiple objects or shapes out of fusion into a single stl file. Try exporting 2+ parts into a single stl and then in your slicer you can right click the model and "split into parts" I found this help guide for the prusa slicer about it: prusa3d/article/split-to-objects-parts_1751 Prusaslicer and it's forks (Superslicer, Bambuslicer, Orcaslicer) surely have this functionality. If you want to create the text directly in the slicer I think you can do that too with all of them. I just don't know how easy it is to have the text "inverted". Meaning your current approach, as far as I can tell, is to have the part made out of a transparent material, and only make the top most layer(s) opaque with cut outs for the text.
If you extruded the “letters” back at an angle so the back is larger than the final front dimensions it would allow more light to come through the back clear filament providing brighter display
Cool video. One tip for cutting your parts is to use reference planes instead of creating bodies to use as cut tools. Just offset a plane from the surface of your panel, select the "split" tool, and select the plane as the cutting tool. It'll let you break apart bodies without lossing the thickness of ur tool because its a 2 dimensional object instead of a 3 dimensional one. I like ur panel concept, I may use this technique in the future. Thanks, and have a great day. Edit: I'll need to check to see how, but i think you can also use sketch profiles as zero width cuting planes. Meaning you might be able to just select the sketch where you define the letters and just cut them out of the panel body and make them their own bodies in a single operation. I'll try to remember to check this tonight.
Your tips are really helpfully! I am not a Fusion360 pro or anything so these will really help me in the future when designing stuff. If it's really possible to use letters as zero width cutting tools it would make this process to much easier. If you find out is that possible please let me know and I will also look into it myself. Thank you!
That was... probably the most convoluted way to get those text objects in Fusion possible, lol. Make your drawing w/ the text you need on either the top or bottom plane of the object. Extrude it either the same distance as the thickness of your object, or just extrude it to the opposite face, and let it Cut. Select that same text from the drawing, and perform another extrude the same way, but use the New Body operation instead. Done. As someone else mentioned, export it as a 3mf file for Bambu / Orca to import the individual bodies in the right locations, and then do your multimaterial slicer painting as needed.
I was thinking the same thing. I usually just make the text 0.2mm thick and print it face down so it can be done without an AMS. Common technique with those coaster tutorials. Also when you extruder the text, you can select new component and then right click the component and export as mesh to export all text as a single .stl. Then just import the main body and the text at the same time and Bambu Studio will ask if you want it to be a single object with multiple bodies.
I know that now lol. I am not a Fusion pro but thanks to all of your help I have learned to much. I will make an updated and more detailed version soon. Another thing that might have made this little more confusing was the fact that I was using a older design with the text already pressed in and I wasn't aware of the Fusion Timeline when recording this. Thank you for your tips!
Good advice. Do you know if a way to quickly select the text in f360? It usually takes me ages to select every letter and symbol that needs to be manipulated ( cut/extruded)
Very clever. At time 5:55 you move a number of bodies from one component to another. When I try to do the same thing it never works. Am I missing something? Perhaps some kind of setting in the preferences? Ciao, Marco.
hmmm... I haven't messed with any preferences in Fusion 360 settings so I don't think it is about that. If you follow exactly what I do in the video it should work but I Fusion can be a pain sometimes so I am not sure what the problem on your end might be.
I've been doing dual shot keyboard keycaps with mk3s and manual filament changes years ago; i used 0.25mm nozzle to get good detailes on the letters; print with letters facing the plate, translucent white letters printed first so you prevent bleed on top visible layer. Works really well. Also done a similar procedure with resin keycaps, but it's a different method.
How did you get it to change the filament on the same later in Prusa slicer? (In the first layer) I used to have to make two print files, first for the letters then second with the colour surrounding material When the letters are on the build-plate as you mentioned it looks way better
@@CharlieBaes If i remember you need to add the models as one part, i name each one XXX_A and XXX_B, and drag together, then used some gcode to change filament between each layer change. The only minor thing i didn't fix is upon starting the first layer it will ask you to change filament again even though you might have the correct one already loaded; There was also some purging/pressure advance issue at that time, if i remember with M600 command but last time i tried it i think it was fixed in later firmwares. My PC has a broken mobo at the moment but i have a project file in dropbox, i can share you a link tomorrow
@charlesraes8541 Here you go: I think YT blocks/hides my comment It doesn't have of course the latest settings since it's an old PrusaSlicer project, so arachne algorithm will be better and monotonic fill, also i remember i might switch printing perimeters first and extrusion multipliers for my case but the most important thing is the gcode additions which have been simplified here (it used to be more when i started as many things were not implemented in fw back then), but it's the latest one i have i believe from 2020 (at least on this project, i might used the technique somewhere else too after but i don't remember)
This can be done on a single filament printer without too much work, if you only make the transparent part a few layers thick. Leave the rest empty to shine through. Just a handful filament changes this way. Also much faster on multi filament printers. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks! I was thinking about this. Can you help me how to do it w a single filament one? Or what do you think is it worth to buy a printer which can do several filment? Thanks in advance! 😎
What IF the lettres are not straight lines (2:04 on video) but triangle in crosssection? I think it might get more light to the letters if on the back is a little bit more place to gather light.
I have done similar myself using the AMS, I got good results using PETG and putting the face directly on the bed but I had to use the textured sheet to get it to stick well enough and have high enough detail, the end result still looked fine though. I only used a few layers of each filament, only 3 for the transparent section and my text was printed separately on the panel (not on top of the transparent) so using thinner material will make it brighter and will make it feasible to do without an AMS since it would only require 5 filament changes in total.
Very cool! As a possible improvement, perhaps you could try adding a draft angle to the extrusion as it cuts the letters through the panel. This could be done in a way to make their openings larger on the back but still the right size on the front. I fell like that would make backlighting them easier!
This is definitely something I will try doing in the future as I have had concerns with the back light showing through the smaller letters. Thank you for the idea!
Great explanations and I tried this to the letter on a Bambu X1C but I didn't get the same result. My text is not so white, the top surface has lines, and the letters are not 100%. And I am using a 0,2 nozzle. Did you change any of the global settings in Bambu Studio to achieve this? and which font and font size did you use?
if you used a transparent color for the text making it 2 colors and since the text is a separate object from the panel, could you print by object instead of by layer and print the text first? that way you could change the filament manually? for those of us who don't have the ability to print in multiple filaments
Thank you! The smallest letters in our prints have been about 2mm tall. What maters more is the letter thickness which has to be larger than the nozzle size. In our case our letters are about 0.26mm in size for our 0.2mm nozzle. Also the font type effects results significantly where simple fonts are better and easier to work with.
Yeah I'm sorry about that. We haven't had time to install the back lighting and without a proper setup it doesn't really work. We will definitely be showing the back lighting in the future but these thing take time. Again, sorry to disappoint but we try our best.
@@diy_finn So if you cant even test if the text is readable and well looking ... why did you make a video of it? It looks like crap in fron of the window. Why did you spend all that time creating this method and creating the video... when you cant even take 10 seconds of time to take an led (phone flash, flashlight, etc) to show and test it ?!?!?!?
@m4ko288 I think I didn’t explain my reason to not show it well enough. I did test it with a flashlight and it does work. The reason it doesn’t look good against the window is that the back lighting won’t obviously be visible in such bright environment. Also the camera didn’t expose the video properly. What I mean by "we didn’t have time to test it" is that in reality it is installed to the simulator with correct LED strip spacing and an enclosure. I know I should have shown the result with the flashlight pointed at it but I felt it wouldn’t offer much to the video since no one would be using the panels like that. I will post a short video here soon so everyone can see how it actually should and will look. Again, sorry I didn’t finish the setup before posting, that’s on me.
The white and gray filaments are from 3Djake and are called ecoPLA (just regular PLA). The reason I prefer their PLA over some more popular brand is that the gray color happens to be exactly the right color to the real Boeing 737 cockpit color. For the transparent layer I recently switched from PLA to PETG but that was only because it was on sale. I wouldn't really recommend combining PLA and PETG but so far I have had no issues personally.
Thank you! If you have the money for it, it really does make life easier. I think the BambuLab A1 is actually pretty affordable for what it's capable of but I have personally loved the P1S since it really never fails and is so much more fun to use than my Ender 5+.
I've been on a quest to achieve good lettering for my stuff too... I only have a single nozzle printer, so this method is a bit out of scope for me too. I have an idea for a cheap and hopefully successful method, but haven't tried it yet. The plan is to 2d print the negative of the graphics onto acetate sheet, in the colour of the panel face. Then, using spray adhesive, mount the acetate printed side down onto a blank sheet of paper. The paper provides the white for the lettering, and also works as a diffuser for back lighting. And with the printed side facing the backing paper, the back of the acetate is what faces the outside world, so it protects the graphics from wear. I believe this could work, but it really depends on the adhesive being decently transparent
I think you could implement this design method / style into custom automotive stuff...like gauge cluster / dash elements...possibly try embedding EL wire or side glow fiber optic to illuminate all the text / symbols...I will definitely mess around with this idea and see if I can bring it into my automotive projects...Thanks!
Looks amazing. I did not quite understand how to select the colour for the top layer of the letters. Nothing specific is shown on the video (no “crawling ants”, flickering areas, or notifications of a selection). Can you clarify that a bit?
Thank you! It's very easy to miss on the video and I don't really explain it on the video but at time 9:35 you can see the object gets highlighted on the top when I hover my mouse over the side wall. BambuLab is little finicky with the selection of the layer in height range mode so you have to do little trial and error trying to select the correct layers. I hope this helps or you can ask me more details if you have anything.
@@diy_finn thanks 🙏🏻. Another question I have is, if I have the letters/graphics as sketches on top of the panel, I’d there a faster way to get them extruded as separate components? Or do I still need to make two component batches (one for cutting the panel and one for filling the cut out)?
Yes, if you have access to the original sketches for the text it will be way more easier. There are many people here in the comments who have told how that could be done. I am also working on a updated video which will cover that topic better but it's going to take a while to finish.
@@diy_finn not to worry, just this video is already brilliant 🤩 Something else I just thought of, is try “paint” the top layer of the noon letter part black, and use transparent filament for below. E.g. the first layer is black with letters white, and the rest is transparent filament. It uses three separate filaments instead of 2, but it creates more backlighting. Not sure a single layer black strips light though. You may have to make that 1mm thick. From laser engraver panels, the best have a 2mm white legend plate and a 3mm opaque plate, with the legend plate painted black and engraved. The paint layer thickness is enough to stop light.
A few months ago I wanted to make some text on a coin in a similar but still different way: I used three different filaments and the first layer consisted of the letters and one panel face layer for which I used transparent filament. So it was first layer of the panel transparent, then two text layers in white and starting from layer two i used the panel color for the rest (blue in my case). That way I only needed two filament changes for the whole print and the transparent first panel layer caused the text to get some depth to it, so it appeared to stand out even though it was completely flat. As someone already suggested, I exported everything as a single 3mf file to avoid having to piece everything together in the slicer and save a lot of time.
In Fusion360, another way to cut the letters out of the background is to use the Combine tool in the Modify menu. It has the option to do a few different Boolean operations (combine, cut, or intersect) where bodies overlap each other. If you have the letters already the same height as your background, align them in position where you want them to be inset in the background (they will be hard to see because they are the same thickness as the background and sharing the same space). Select the Combine tool, in the pop up menu select the background as the main body, then select all of the letters as the Tool bodies. Choose the “Cut” icon as the Boolean option, and make sure the “Keep tools” check box is checked to keep the letters, then press OK. This will use the letters effectively as a cookie cutter to cut out of the background anywhere the letters overlap the background. And since “Keep Tools” is toggled On, all of the letters still remain exactly where you want them to stay. Also, I THINK if you have all of your bodies in one Component before you Save as Mesh, and keep it as One File, the letters will stay in the correct position when you open the stl in the slicer.
That requires multi filament printer - yes, it is easy, but also more expensive - but I guess if you have time and space to build B737 cockpit having such printer is not an issue
Fair point. I suppose everything is easier if you have more expensive equipment. And although printers like ours are still on the expensive side they are quickly becoming more affordable. There are also workarounds to doing pretty good looking panels with just one filament change which is totally feasible to do without an AMS.
yes its actually fairly trivial with a direct drive bedslinger. just add a pause Gcode at the layerchange into the text portion and swap it during the pause.
@@outlying You can do a mid layer filament change even without something like an AMS. You just have to alter the G-code, which you can already do in a decent slicer. Depends on your machine how you need to go about it. I have a Bambu Lab P1S without an AMS and I do text prints like these too. There is a G-code modification available that pauses the print when it's time to change the filament and alters the printing settings based on the filament you indicate. It's faster with an AMS, yes, but it's totally possible without it.
You can also streamline your Fusion 360 workflow by learning the "Combine" tool. For example, just place the text inside the panel such that it occupies the same vertical space. You can now cut the text shape out of the panel in a single step as follows. Select the "Combine" tool. Choose the panel first (the target), then the text component (the tool(s). Now set the Combine tool's mode to "Cut". In this case, you'll also want to check "Keep Tools," otherwise your text object will be removed after the operation.
If you don't have an AMS you can try with some hot glue. Use the old style that is perforated and when the print is complete, smear a dab of hot glue over it (be careful because if it's PLA you might make it bendy until it cools and don't heat it a lot) and when it cools down you can cut the excess with a knife (to avoid warping, just use the metal spatula that came with your printer and just when the drop of hot glue falls down you press it down fast. It will go into the letters while it will cool faster). It will be translucent enough to be retroilluminated and will also look a bit white (there are some stiffer hot glue bars that look whiter) so you can also see them in daylight
Hello from Helsinki. You can simplify the order of operation in Fusion 360 so it will be like 4-5 times faster. Also it will be one component and all aligned in Slicer. 0.2 nozzle do the trick of course but I've got bette results if text is laying down to the bed. Let me know if you need any help :)
@@diy_finn I have textured PEI so it looks really nice IMHO. If you're living near by I can show you :) Let me know the best way to contact you. Tack :)
I live in Oulu so not exactly near by :). If you have discord you could join the discord server that I have linked so you can send some pictures there.
Great looking panels! If you were to print the bulk in transparent, and only add colors on the top layer, you could get away with using any 3D printer. Also, the larger transparent profile will direct more light to the desired location. The down side, you'd likely want to print solid so there isn't as much light reflection in lower layers.
I wonder if you, with manual filament swap, can print it solid transparent up to the last few layers and then perhaps the last two or three layers with white and grey to get the text. Might have some backlight bleed through in the grey area but much simpler then switching filaments all the way. Perhaps need to paint the edges to stop light there though.
Yes that will work pretty well and is something we have done in the past. The reason we stopped doing it was exactly the edge bleed which we didn't like. You could in theory paint the edges but often it ends up looking pretty rough. It is a good option for those without AMS or similar system.
The results look very neat! I am very impressed of what you achieved. If just 3D printing was more precise. Then you could print the front with holes, print the letters and symbols seperately in white and push them in the holes.
You can already do that with current generation printers, but you have to adjust your way of thinking when modeling. You have to give yourself a small amount of space between objects (depends on your nozzle and how well tuned your printer is - with a 0.2 or 0.25 nozzle, you shouldn't need more than a 0.1mm gap). You will also do better with some slight chamfers to allow the pieces to fit together better. The bigger issue with lettering like this are things like P and O that have fully enclosed areas, so now you're dealing with multiple inserts and smaller and smaller individual pieces.
I'm not sure if i'm missing something, why not print the grey and white pieces down into to the bed and then just leave it grey and have the light channel is just a void? This would make it entirely manageable with manual filament change for people without multi system. If solid translucent fill is needed to diffuse the light, the print is easy to backfill with a small amount of epoxy resin, or just add a piece of vellum paper in the back.
That's actually very good point! I will have to experiment with this and make an update video with all the suggestions I have gotten here. The important part to consider with that method is that any imperfections will transfer to the panel front. Thank you for the idea!
This sounds a bit like a technique I used when making a button panel for my 3D printer; first I printed the icons I was using in white as one print job, then without removing it from the bed, I changed to black filament for a second job, and printed the surrounding panel using z-hop on travel moves. In this case, I wasn’t bothered with backlighting, so I only cut the icons out to a small depth, and printed the body panel in full; but it would be feasible to cut all the way through, leaving a void for light to pass through.
Seems the 0.2mm nozzle is key to success here. I've tried a similar technique with 0.4mm and the results are nothing like as crisp, even with much bigger text and logos. Please unlearn the phrase "go ahead and"! I tried taking a shot every time you said it, and now I need a new liver ;)
Yes, it's definitely a key factor to have a 0.2 nozzle. Another thing to consider is the font type. Simple fonts and less curves mean better results. And I know I repeat some phrases way too much but I don't notice them until later. I will try to unlearned or replace it because I know it's very annoying to listen me repeating the same stuff all the time. :)
this can be done another way which is a bit simpler - - if you create a thin frame of exactly the same size around both your designs - then when you import them, they will align perfectly - also i have a method to achieve this quite easily on a single colour printer with 3 manual filament changes. Very nice results though
So you just need to export in .obj not stl. Then if you import all the files together then your files should ask if you want to import as an assembly. STL doesn't have an offset like obj does so everything is 'centered' but with the obj things can be positioned away from 0,0,0 coordinates 🎉 Then when you bring them all in together they should be perfectly positioned 😁. Thanks for the method for layers i will give it a try with my panels.
Couldn't you just extrude the text as a new body within the height of the panel? Then send to the slicer as a 3MF. Seems like a lot of extra work, unless I'm missing something.
use HILBERT CURVES for the surface layer pattern! on bambu ams its super easy but you can do it without ams, hillbert curves work sooo damn well dude, continious fractal
If you import both files at the same time in the slicer (hold control key to select multiple) then it asks you if you want to import all objects as a single part, if you select yes then the parts should be aligned correctly in the slicer and will be grouped together as one part but you will still have individual control over the pieces, so you can still change settings and filament for the different parts. This should stop you from having to manually align them in the slicer.
Mmmm personally keeping it simple with plain white text only on top and illuminating from top is what I would do. Interesting to see though. Laurie. NZ. 😊
You don't need to do that tedious manual alignment step. Make the panel and the text individual components (not just bodies) in Fusion 360. Then export the parent component as an STL or 3MF file. Place the STL in the slicer. At this point, it will look like one solid slab, all the same color. Now, select the object, right-click, and choose "Split -> Into Parts" (not objects). Now you can set different filament colors for each part accordingly. You can also save a lot of filament swapping by having just two or three base grey layers, then solid white all the way up from there. This makes manual filament swaps more feasible as well. Enjoy!
just take the plates with the visible lines, sand it, use 1 coat primer , sandit, another coat primer, and then gunmetal grey, and it looks amazing, well it depends on the print and on the person doing the post processing..
Talks about how he's going to do this and writes better with MS paint than I do with a paper and pencil. God help me if I get a hold of a pen. It's an ink version of the Exxon Valdez for some reason.
It would have been easier, if you simply created a sketch and projected the letters onto it. Then you could use the sketch to first cut out the letters from the body and then extrude the sketch into a new component.
I hate to tell you that there's a faster way than how you're doing it and you do not need cad I can done with tools in windows 10 or 11 in 1/4 of time.
The way I see it is 3D printers have way wider use case (at least for me) so when I was thinking between laser and 3D printer I ended up going with the printer. If I got a laser, cnc, etc, I wouldn't have any other use for it and I wouldn't be able to make things such as knobs and actually difficult to make parts. I guess if you have the space and money to buy a laser you should of course use it instead of 3D printing them. This video is for them who own a 3D printer but not a laser or a cnc.
@oldbatwit5102 Then I don't think I know what you mean. What do you think is the better way of doing this? And why the attitude, can't we just discuss this like normal people?
Do you want to elaborate why that is? I am genuinely curious why using an AMS is a negative for you. And I know a laser would be the best way but we don't have a laser.
@@diy_finn AMS is a very specific piece of hardware. It is slow, it is ineffective and not available for everyone. I believe you could reach the same results with manual filament switch easier and faster in manufacturing.
@@nevermind6270 Those are good points. Using the AMS is really slow and is something I don't like about it. That being said I don't see manual switching being an option for our application since you would have to sit next to the printer for hours at a time. It's probably true that there are better ways of achieving similar results but for what it's worth we might as well do it like this since it works and we already have an AMS. Thanks for your feedback though!
@@diy_finnYou don't have to sit in front of your printer and wait for the right moment. Place PAUSE g-codes where you need. Also, your panel may be designed as a composite object. Then you may just print one part in black and the other one (and really thin) in white color. It really looks reasonable at first glance to use AMS if you have it, but it is really not...
@@nevermind6270 The problem that I am seeing with pausing at layer is you would still need to come to the printer and swap the filament which takes time and effort. One filament change is of course faster to do manually than with AMS but our panels have more than 20 changes. The reason we don't do parts as composite objects like you describe is because we would lose the back lighting capability, or run into the same problem I describe at the beginning of this video. For simpler stuff I see your method as the better way of doing things, just not for our use case.
Thanks for watching today's video!
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please change moderation settings in the comments, youtube blocks a reply with a project file i believe to a viewer
@St0RM33 The reason I have disabled links is that bots and people don't send harmful/scam links here. I can change the setting for something like 12hours so you can post the file and then I will disable it again so that the comment section stays safe for everyone.
Thank god. A 3d printing TH-camr who does something other than novelty junk and/or cosplay helmets! Very useful. Thank you!
You wouldn’t like my cosplay costume, Novelty Junk Man.
Another tip is that if you select the panel and the letters together, then export as a .3mf file, they will import into your slicer as seperate bodies but already aligned like they were in fusion 360. No need to try aligning them after.
Thanks! This will save so much time not needing to align parts separately.
Orca and maybe Bambuslicer can also cut STLs into parts and not object which basically achieves the same 😊
@singulosta I haven't used Orca very much and Bambu, not at all. Are they limited to simple shapes, or could you also do lettering? I prolly should play with Orca more anyway.
@AmericanMaking I don't know if I really understand your question. You can export multiple objects or shapes out of fusion into a single stl file. Try exporting 2+ parts into a single stl and then in your slicer you can right click the model and "split into parts"
I found this help guide for the prusa slicer about it: prusa3d/article/split-to-objects-parts_1751
Prusaslicer and it's forks (Superslicer, Bambuslicer, Orcaslicer) surely have this functionality. If you want to create the text directly in the slicer I think you can do that too with all of them. I just don't know how easy it is to have the text "inverted". Meaning your current approach, as far as I can tell, is to have the part made out of a transparent material, and only make the top most layer(s) opaque with cut outs for the text.
@singulosta My bad. I responded laying in bed half asleep and misread your post. I get what you were saying now. Ignore most of what i said. 😆
If you extruded the “letters” back at an angle so the back is larger than the final front dimensions it would allow more light to come through the back clear filament providing brighter display
Hey that's a great tip, thanks.
I don’t have a 3d printer, i don’t fly flight sims, or build cockpits, yet i still watched this start to finish. Good work 👍
Thank you so much!
I have a 3d printer and a sim rig but didn't understand anything lol.😂
Cool video. One tip for cutting your parts is to use reference planes instead of creating bodies to use as cut tools. Just offset a plane from the surface of your panel, select the "split" tool, and select the plane as the cutting tool. It'll let you break apart bodies without lossing the thickness of ur tool because its a 2 dimensional object instead of a 3 dimensional one.
I like ur panel concept, I may use this technique in the future. Thanks, and have a great day.
Edit: I'll need to check to see how, but i think you can also use sketch profiles as zero width cuting planes. Meaning you might be able to just select the sketch where you define the letters and just cut them out of the panel body and make them their own bodies in a single operation. I'll try to remember to check this tonight.
Your tips are really helpfully! I am not a Fusion360 pro or anything so these will really help me in the future when designing stuff.
If it's really possible to use letters as zero width cutting tools it would make this process to much easier. If you find out is that possible please let me know and I will also look into it myself. Thank you!
@@diy_finnIt does work. I uploaded a quick tip video showing how.
Or better yet, extrude from sketch and at offset in place so that everything is already overlapping and aligned when you export the STLs.
That was... probably the most convoluted way to get those text objects in Fusion possible, lol. Make your drawing w/ the text you need on either the top or bottom plane of the object. Extrude it either the same distance as the thickness of your object, or just extrude it to the opposite face, and let it Cut. Select that same text from the drawing, and perform another extrude the same way, but use the New Body operation instead. Done.
As someone else mentioned, export it as a 3mf file for Bambu / Orca to import the individual bodies in the right locations, and then do your multimaterial slicer painting as needed.
I was thinking the same thing. I usually just make the text 0.2mm thick and print it face down so it can be done without an AMS. Common technique with those coaster tutorials. Also when you extruder the text, you can select new component and then right click the component and export as mesh to export all text as a single .stl. Then just import the main body and the text at the same time and Bambu Studio will ask if you want it to be a single object with multiple bodies.
I know that now lol. I am not a Fusion pro but thanks to all of your help I have learned to much. I will make an updated and more detailed version soon. Another thing that might have made this little more confusing was the fact that I was using a older design with the text already pressed in and I wasn't aware of the Fusion Timeline when recording this. Thank you for your tips!
Good advice. Do you know if a way to quickly select the text in f360? It usually takes me ages to select every letter and symbol that needs to be manipulated ( cut/extruded)
Those panels look fantastic. Thanks for the extra detail. It's very helpful.
I will never stop thanking you I was giving up making it underexposed thank you
Very clever. At time 5:55 you move a number of bodies from one component to another. When I try to do the same thing it never works. Am I missing something? Perhaps some kind of setting in the preferences? Ciao, Marco.
hmmm... I haven't messed with any preferences in Fusion 360 settings so I don't think it is about that.
If you follow exactly what I do in the video it should work but I Fusion can be a pain sometimes so I am not sure what the problem on your end might be.
@@diy_finn Yeah, I tried multiple times, and still nothing. Too bad, it would have been cool.
I've been doing dual shot keyboard keycaps with mk3s and manual filament changes years ago; i used 0.25mm nozzle to get good detailes on the letters; print with letters facing the plate, translucent white letters printed first so you prevent bleed on top visible layer. Works really well. Also done a similar procedure with resin keycaps, but it's a different method.
How did you get it to change the filament on the same later in Prusa slicer? (In the first layer)
I used to have to make two print files, first for the letters then second with the colour surrounding material
When the letters are on the build-plate as you mentioned it looks way better
@@CharlieBaes If i remember you need to add the models as one part, i name each one XXX_A and XXX_B, and drag together, then used some gcode to change filament between each layer change. The only minor thing i didn't fix is upon starting the first layer it will ask you to change filament again even though you might have the correct one already loaded; There was also some purging/pressure advance issue at that time, if i remember with M600 command but last time i tried it i think it was fixed in later firmwares. My PC has a broken mobo at the moment but i have a project file in dropbox, i can share you a link tomorrow
I appreciate the info bro, thank you!
@charlesraes8541 Here you go: I think YT blocks/hides my comment
It doesn't have of course the latest settings since it's an old PrusaSlicer project, so arachne algorithm will be better and monotonic fill, also i remember i might switch printing perimeters first and extrusion multipliers for my case but the most important thing is the gcode additions which have been simplified here (it used to be more when i started as many things were not implemented in fw back then), but it's the latest one i have i believe from 2020 (at least on this project, i might used the technique somewhere else too after but i don't remember)
I have now temporarily changed it so that you can post the link.
This can be done on a single filament printer without too much work, if you only make the transparent part a few layers thick. Leave the rest empty to shine through. Just a handful filament changes this way.
Also much faster on multi filament printers.
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks! I was thinking about this. Can you help me how to do it w a single filament one? Or what do you think is it worth to buy a printer which can do several filment?
Thanks in advance! 😎
What IF the lettres are not straight lines (2:04 on video) but triangle in crosssection? I think it might get more light to the letters if on the back is a little bit more place to gather light.
I have done similar myself using the AMS, I got good results using PETG and putting the face directly on the bed but I had to use the textured sheet to get it to stick well enough and have high enough detail, the end result still looked fine though. I only used a few layers of each filament, only 3 for the transparent section and my text was printed separately on the panel (not on top of the transparent) so using thinner material will make it brighter and will make it feasible to do without an AMS since it would only require 5 filament changes in total.
Very cool! As a possible improvement, perhaps you could try adding a draft angle to the extrusion as it cuts the letters through the panel. This could be done in a way to make their openings larger on the back but still the right size on the front. I fell like that would make backlighting them easier!
This is definitely something I will try doing in the future as I have had concerns with the back light showing through the smaller letters. Thank you for the idea!
Great explanations and I tried this to the letter on a Bambu X1C but I didn't get the same result. My text is not so white, the top surface has lines, and the letters are not 100%. And I am using a 0,2 nozzle. Did you change any of the global settings in Bambu Studio to achieve this? and which font and font size did you use?
What font and font size did you use. Also extruder size? Thanks
if you used a transparent color for the text making it 2 colors and since the text is a separate object from the panel, could you print by object instead of by layer and print the text first? that way you could change the filament manually? for those of us who don't have the ability to print in multiple filaments
Have you been able to backlight it? Many people complained that around the letters there’s tiny dots that bleed light.
Very nice, great result!
How small can you go with the letters/text (mm height) so that it is still readable and has good "resolution"?
Thank you!
The smallest letters in our prints have been about 2mm tall. What maters more is the letter thickness which has to be larger than the nozzle size. In our case our letters are about 0.26mm in size for our 0.2mm nozzle. Also the font type effects results significantly where simple fonts are better and easier to work with.
i can't believe you didn't show it with the back lighting, that was like the whole reason why i watched this video.
Yeah I'm sorry about that. We haven't had time to install the back lighting and without a proper setup it doesn't really work. We will definitely be showing the back lighting in the future but these thing take time. Again, sorry to disappoint but we try our best.
@@diy_finn ok then :) i will wait
@@diy_finn So if you cant even test if the text is readable and well looking ... why did you make a video of it? It looks like crap in fron of the window. Why did you spend all that time creating this method and creating the video... when you cant even take 10 seconds of time to take an led (phone flash, flashlight, etc) to show and test it ?!?!?!?
@m4ko288 I think I didn’t explain my reason to not show it well enough. I did test it with a flashlight and it does work. The reason it doesn’t look good against the window is that the back lighting won’t obviously be visible in such bright environment. Also the camera didn’t expose the video properly. What I mean by "we didn’t have time to test it" is that in reality it is installed to the simulator with correct LED strip spacing and an enclosure. I know I should have shown the result with the flashlight pointed at it but I felt it wouldn’t offer much to the video since no one would be using the panels like that. I will post a short video here soon so everyone can see how it actually should and will look. Again, sorry I didn’t finish the setup before posting, that’s on me.
Which filaments did you use? Are they all Bambu lab filaments? PETG?
The white and gray filaments are from 3Djake and are called ecoPLA (just regular PLA). The reason I prefer their PLA over some more popular brand is that the gray color happens to be exactly the right color to the real Boeing 737 cockpit color. For the transparent layer I recently switched from PLA to PETG but that was only because it was on sale. I wouldn't really recommend combining PLA and PETG but so far I have had no issues personally.
The author could write in the title ”.. easy with multi-filament printer...” and spare me 10 minutes :)
here is an idea: just print lets say 3d layer from top with thite color, then continue with black and make the text 3 layers deep... thank me later :)
Two layers of text are enough. You could achieve it with pause commands, too.
Very nice work! I'm feeling the need to get my hands on a multi material printer now :(
Thank you! If you have the money for it, it really does make life easier. I think the BambuLab A1 is actually pretty affordable for what it's capable of but I have personally loved the P1S since it really never fails and is so much more fun to use than my Ender 5+.
I've been on a quest to achieve good lettering for my stuff too... I only have a single nozzle printer, so this method is a bit out of scope for me too.
I have an idea for a cheap and hopefully successful method, but haven't tried it yet. The plan is to 2d print the negative of the graphics onto acetate sheet, in the colour of the panel face. Then, using spray adhesive, mount the acetate printed side down onto a blank sheet of paper. The paper provides the white for the lettering, and also works as a diffuser for back lighting.
And with the printed side facing the backing paper, the back of the acetate is what faces the outside world, so it protects the graphics from wear.
I believe this could work, but it really depends on the adhesive being decently transparent
Those came out really great!
Thanks!
Good idea!
But anyway your top layer looks fantastic, how did you do this part?
Nice stuff. What nozzle size are you using on your P1S?
Thank you! We use 0.2 nozzle since the text is so small.
I think you could implement this design method / style into custom automotive stuff...like gauge cluster / dash elements...possibly try embedding EL wire or side glow fiber optic to illuminate all the text / symbols...I will definitely mess around with this idea and see if I can bring it into my automotive projects...Thanks!
Glad that we could help!
Looks amazing. I did not quite understand how to select the colour for the top layer of the letters. Nothing specific is shown on the video (no “crawling ants”, flickering areas, or notifications of a selection). Can you clarify that a bit?
Thank you! It's very easy to miss on the video and I don't really explain it on the video but at time 9:35 you can see the object gets highlighted on the top when I hover my mouse over the side wall. BambuLab is little finicky with the selection of the layer in height range mode so you have to do little trial and error trying to select the correct layers. I hope this helps or you can ask me more details if you have anything.
@@diy_finn thanks 🙏🏻. Another question I have is, if I have the letters/graphics as sketches on top of the panel, I’d there a faster way to get them extruded as separate components? Or do I still need to make two component batches (one for cutting the panel and one for filling the cut out)?
Yes, if you have access to the original sketches for the text it will be way more easier. There are many people here in the comments who have told how that could be done. I am also working on a updated video which will cover that topic better but it's going to take a while to finish.
@@diy_finn not to worry, just this video is already brilliant 🤩
Something else I just thought of, is try “paint” the top layer of the noon letter part black, and use transparent filament for below. E.g. the first layer is black with letters white, and the rest is transparent filament. It uses three separate filaments instead of 2, but it creates more backlighting. Not sure a single layer black strips light though. You may have to make that 1mm thick. From laser engraver panels, the best have a 2mm white legend plate and a 3mm opaque plate, with the legend plate painted black and engraved. The paint layer thickness is enough to stop light.
@@diy_finnby the way, what’s the nozzle size you’re using?
A few months ago I wanted to make some text on a coin in a similar but still different way: I used three different filaments and the first layer consisted of the letters and one panel face layer for which I used transparent filament. So it was first layer of the panel transparent, then two text layers in white and starting from layer two i used the panel color for the rest (blue in my case).
That way I only needed two filament changes for the whole print and the transparent first panel layer caused the text to get some depth to it, so it appeared to stand out even though it was completely flat.
As someone already suggested, I exported everything as a single 3mf file to avoid having to piece everything together in the slicer and save a lot of time.
In Fusion360, another way to cut the letters out of the background is to use the Combine tool in the Modify menu. It has the option to do a few different Boolean operations (combine, cut, or intersect) where bodies overlap each other. If you have the letters already the same height as your background, align them in position where you want them to be inset in the background (they will be hard to see because they are the same thickness as the background and sharing the same space). Select the Combine tool, in the pop up menu select the background as the main body, then select all of the letters as the Tool bodies. Choose the “Cut” icon as the Boolean option, and make sure the “Keep tools” check box is checked to keep the letters, then press OK.
This will use the letters effectively as a cookie cutter to cut out of the background anywhere the letters overlap the background. And since “Keep Tools” is toggled On, all of the letters still remain exactly where you want them to stay.
Also, I THINK if you have all of your bodies in one Component before you Save as Mesh, and keep it as One File, the letters will stay in the correct position when you open the stl in the slicer.
This sounds like the easiest method to achieve the desired results. Thank you for sharing it!
That requires multi filament printer - yes, it is easy, but also more expensive - but I guess if you have time and space to build B737 cockpit having such printer is not an issue
Fair point. I suppose everything is easier if you have more expensive equipment. And although printers like ours are still on the expensive side they are quickly becoming more affordable. There are also workarounds to doing pretty good looking panels with just one filament change which is totally feasible to do without an AMS.
You can still do this with manual filament changes, you don't have to have a multi filament system.
@@xandersnyder7214 you suggest manual mid layer filament change?
yes its actually fairly trivial with a direct drive bedslinger. just add a pause Gcode at the layerchange into the text portion and swap it during the pause.
@@outlying You can do a mid layer filament change even without something like an AMS.
You just have to alter the G-code, which you can already do in a decent slicer. Depends on your machine how you need to go about it.
I have a Bambu Lab P1S without an AMS and I do text prints like these too. There is a G-code modification available that pauses the print when it's time to change the filament and alters the printing settings based on the filament you indicate.
It's faster with an AMS, yes, but it's totally possible without it.
You can also streamline your Fusion 360 workflow by learning the "Combine" tool. For example, just place the text inside the panel such that it occupies the same vertical space. You can now cut the text shape out of the panel in a single step as follows. Select the "Combine" tool. Choose the panel first (the target), then the text component (the tool(s). Now set the Combine tool's mode to "Cut". In this case, you'll also want to check "Keep Tools," otherwise your text object will be removed after the operation.
Look very real they only missing the blue + marking for where to press if the connector is bad for the backlight.
If you don't have an AMS you can try with some hot glue. Use the old style that is perforated and when the print is complete, smear a dab of hot glue over it (be careful because if it's PLA you might make it bendy until it cools and don't heat it a lot) and when it cools down you can cut the excess with a knife (to avoid warping, just use the metal spatula that came with your printer and just when the drop of hot glue falls down you press it down fast. It will go into the letters while it will cool faster). It will be translucent enough to be retroilluminated and will also look a bit white (there are some stiffer hot glue bars that look whiter) so you can also see them in daylight
That sounds like a good alternative to our method. Thanks for sharing it!
Have you tried using a rounded-edge font instead of a sharp-edge font? It might look even better, although the result is very good either way.
Good stuff, thanks for sharing.
Hello from Helsinki. You can simplify the order of operation in Fusion 360 so it will be like 4-5 times faster. Also it will be one component and all aligned in Slicer. 0.2 nozzle do the trick of course but I've got bette results if text is laying down to the bed. Let me know if you need any help :)
Yeah I have learned a lot from the comments here. I will have to try printing the panels with the text laying on the bed. Kiitos!
@@diy_finn I have textured PEI so it looks really nice IMHO. If you're living near by I can show you :) Let me know the best way to contact you. Tack :)
I live in Oulu so not exactly near by :). If you have discord you could join the discord server that I have linked so you can send some pictures there.
Great looking panels! If you were to print the bulk in transparent, and only add colors on the top layer, you could get away with using any 3D printer. Also, the larger transparent profile will direct more light to the desired location. The down side, you'd likely want to print solid so there isn't as much light reflection in lower layers.
I wonder if you, with manual filament swap, can print it solid transparent up to the last few layers and then perhaps the last two or three layers with white and grey to get the text. Might have some backlight bleed through in the grey area but much simpler then switching filaments all the way. Perhaps need to paint the edges to stop light there though.
Yes that will work pretty well and is something we have done in the past. The reason we stopped doing it was exactly the edge bleed which we didn't like. You could in theory paint the edges but often it ends up looking pretty rough. It is a good option for those without AMS or similar system.
The results look very neat! I am very impressed of what you achieved. If just 3D printing was more precise. Then you could print the front with holes, print the letters and symbols seperately in white and push them in the holes.
Thank you! I really hope 3D printers will get to a point where it is possible to do it the way you mention it. It would save a lot of time and effort.
You can already do that with current generation printers, but you have to adjust your way of thinking when modeling. You have to give yourself a small amount of space between objects (depends on your nozzle and how well tuned your printer is - with a 0.2 or 0.25 nozzle, you shouldn't need more than a 0.1mm gap). You will also do better with some slight chamfers to allow the pieces to fit together better. The bigger issue with lettering like this are things like P and O that have fully enclosed areas, so now you're dealing with multiple inserts and smaller and smaller individual pieces.
Those look great.
I'm not sure if i'm missing something, why not print the grey and white pieces down into to the bed and then just leave it grey and have the light channel is just a void? This would make it entirely manageable with manual filament change for people without multi system. If solid translucent fill is needed to diffuse the light, the print is easy to backfill with a small amount of epoxy resin, or just add a piece of vellum paper in the back.
That's actually very good point! I will have to experiment with this and make an update video with all the suggestions I have gotten here. The important part to consider with that method is that any imperfections will transfer to the panel front. Thank you for the idea!
Not sure how the dark pieces in A, P, R or similar letters would look like with this method, but thanks anyway for the suggestion
This sounds a bit like a technique I used when making a button panel for my 3D printer; first I printed the icons I was using in white as one print job, then without removing it from the bed, I changed to black filament for a second job, and printed the surrounding panel using z-hop on travel moves. In this case, I wasn’t bothered with backlighting, so I only cut the icons out to a small depth, and printed the body panel in full; but it would be feasible to cut all the way through, leaving a void for light to pass through.
Its just that I have the prusa mini but I do noy have multicolor functions
Nice job!
Not related: I can really recommend a 0.2mm nozzle for very small text. I mean like 0.2mm small text.
Thank you! Yes, we do use 0.2 nozzle for these panels since 0.4 really can't do precision like is needed here.
great work, keep going!
Very Cool. can you do that to my Turbo Glasair panel? how much $$
What sort of panels do you mean?
Seems the 0.2mm nozzle is key to success here. I've tried a similar technique with 0.4mm and the results are nothing like as crisp, even with much bigger text and logos.
Please unlearn the phrase "go ahead and"! I tried taking a shot every time you said it, and now I need a new liver ;)
Yes, it's definitely a key factor to have a 0.2 nozzle. Another thing to consider is the font type. Simple fonts and less curves mean better results.
And I know I repeat some phrases way too much but I don't notice them until later. I will try to unlearned or replace it because I know it's very annoying to listen me repeating the same stuff all the time. :)
@@diy_finn ~~futura~~
this can be done another way which is a bit simpler - - if you create a thin frame of exactly the same size around both your designs - then when you import them, they will align perfectly - also i have a method to achieve this quite easily on a single colour printer with 3 manual filament changes. Very nice results though
Thanks for the suggestions!
İ tried with 4 diameter nozzle the results are really bad. What is your nozzle size?
In this video we use 0.2 nozzle. You either need to increase your text size or use smaller nozzle like we did.
@@diy_finn thanks for answer. I'll try with 0.2 nozzle
So you just need to export in .obj not stl. Then if you import all the files together then your files should ask if you want to import as an assembly.
STL doesn't have an offset like obj does so everything is 'centered' but with the obj things can be positioned away from 0,0,0 coordinates 🎉
Then when you bring them all in together they should be perfectly positioned 😁.
Thanks for the method for layers i will give it a try with my panels.
Couldn't you just extrude the text as a new body within the height of the panel? Then send to the slicer as a 3MF. Seems like a lot of extra work, unless I'm missing something.
I think you might be right. I will be testing this out and make and updated version if I can figure it out. Thanks!
Ok, but how do you make one from scratch?
Great work.
use HILBERT CURVES for the surface layer pattern! on bambu ams its super easy but you can do it without ams, hillbert curves work sooo damn well dude, continious fractal
If you import both files at the same time in the slicer (hold control key to select multiple) then it asks you if you want to import all objects as a single part, if you select yes then the parts should be aligned correctly in the slicer and will be grouped together as one part but you will still have individual control over the pieces, so you can still change settings and filament for the different parts. This should stop you from having to manually align them in the slicer.
Mmmm personally keeping it simple with plain white text only on top and illuminating from top is what I would do. Interesting to see though. Laurie. NZ. 😊
Tip, if you get the smooth plate and basically flip it all you will get a perfectly smooth panel
You don't need to do that tedious manual alignment step. Make the panel and the text individual components (not just bodies) in Fusion 360. Then export the parent component as an STL or 3MF file. Place the STL in the slicer. At this point, it will look like one solid slab, all the same color. Now, select the object, right-click, and choose "Split -> Into Parts" (not objects).
Now you can set different filament colors for each part accordingly.
You can also save a lot of filament swapping by having just two or three base grey layers, then solid white all the way up from there. This makes manual filament swaps more feasible as well. Enjoy!
Thank you for the tips! I really appreciate them!
Without a multi material system you could fill the voids with a chemical resin. or something but would require more post proccesing
Since this is supposed to be permanently visible, maybe some kind of mix of transparent and UV active so that it glows even without power.
just take the plates with the visible lines, sand it, use 1 coat primer , sandit, another coat primer, and then gunmetal grey, and it looks amazing, well it depends on the print and on the person doing the post processing..
just extrude letters, then combine the bodies (subtract and keep tools). Export the parent component to keep it as s group of bodies.
Well that’s certainly one way to do it
Talks about how he's going to do this and writes better with MS paint than I do with a paper and pencil.
God help me if I get a hold of a pen. It's an ink version of the Exxon Valdez for some reason.
Or just use fiber optic and only need 2 filament transitions. Gray and white or whatever
IRL panels use back-lighting during the day.
bambu should just add a special "make surface nice" button that does this, or hilbert curve, or ironing etc lol
Like the part where you show us how it lights up
Hi! Check out our newest video. We have imroved our methods and now show how your prints light up. :)
It would have been easier, if you simply created a sketch and projected the letters onto it. Then you could use the sketch to first cut out the letters from the body and then extrude the sketch into a new component.
Flip it over. Do the white lettering only. Transparent filament just leave as AIR. Easier, and better letter quality if you print on smooth PEI.
just use bambu studios regular text generator, and uyse a HILBERT CURVE under STRENGHTH< surface pattern, done, easy.
AW609... go on.
Just get a K40 laser cutter for 500USD and dont waste time
why not just laser engrave it
Why not just extrude the letters to 1mm thick and print face down? You have an AMS, I do it this way all the time, IMO its much faster and easier.
I hate to tell you that there's a faster way than how you're doing it and you do not need cad I can done with tools in windows 10 or 11 in 1/4 of time.
Wow, that was way to many steps to do something simple. That was the hard way.
Why 3D print an easy to make panel?
The way I see it is 3D printers have way wider use case (at least for me) so when I was thinking between laser and 3D printer I ended up going with the printer. If I got a laser, cnc, etc, I wouldn't have any other use for it and I wouldn't be able to make things such as knobs and actually difficult to make parts. I guess if you have the space and money to buy a laser you should of course use it instead of 3D printing them. This video is for them who own a 3D printer but not a laser or a cnc.
@@diy_finn You completely missed my point. Deliberately, I think.
@oldbatwit5102 Then I don't think I know what you mean. What do you think is the better way of doing this? And why the attitude, can't we just discuss this like normal people?
are you kidding me. it is simple if you have AMS . start with that. make it without AMS. then the video will be usefull.
Very cumbersome and not very effective. The same result can be achieved with significantly less effort.
Thank you for your suggestions :)
This is really a way you sould NOT do it. I mean, if you really need AMS for something then you're doing it wring...
Do you want to elaborate why that is? I am genuinely curious why using an AMS is a negative for you. And I know a laser would be the best way but we don't have a laser.
@@diy_finn AMS is a very specific piece of hardware. It is slow, it is ineffective and not available for everyone. I believe you could reach the same results with manual filament switch easier and faster in manufacturing.
@@nevermind6270 Those are good points. Using the AMS is really slow and is something I don't like about it. That being said I don't see manual switching being an option for our application since you would have to sit next to the printer for hours at a time. It's probably true that there are better ways of achieving similar results but for what it's worth we might as well do it like this since it works and we already have an AMS. Thanks for your feedback though!
@@diy_finnYou don't have to sit in front of your printer and wait for the right moment. Place PAUSE g-codes where you need. Also, your panel may be designed as a composite object. Then you may just print one part in black and the other one (and really thin) in white color. It really looks reasonable at first glance to use AMS if you have it, but it is really not...
@@nevermind6270 The problem that I am seeing with pausing at layer is you would still need to come to the printer and swap the filament which takes time and effort. One filament change is of course faster to do manually than with AMS but our panels have more than 20 changes. The reason we don't do parts as composite objects like you describe is because we would lose the back lighting capability, or run into the same problem I describe at the beginning of this video. For simpler stuff I see your method as the better way of doing things, just not for our use case.