<p>I printed the thing for some layers to see what the printer actually does:
<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/mwBgB.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/mwBgB.jpg" alt="Inner ring"></a></p>

<p>There are clearly too many retractions and unretractions.</p>

<p>This can be seen in advance by letting Slic3r show the retractions and unretractions. 
<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/8Vo55.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/8Vo55.png" alt="Slic3r screenshots"></a></p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/fDdn7.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/fDdn7.jpg" alt="Green items"></a></p>

<p>For the green "walls", it became clear that it prints them exactly onto the empty space, so in fact the seem to be floating. </p>

<p>That made it obvious to me: the normals were pointing into the wrong direction. Therefore, Slic3r seems to have interpreted the material side of the green parts inside out. I had the same issue on some other parts as well.</p>

<p>I went to Blender, selected the object(s), chose edit mode and found a function called "Recalculate normals". Since then, the bottom layer is solid.</p>

<p>Also printing time is reduced by half an hour.</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/kDh7y.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/kDh7y.png" alt="Result after recalculating the normals"></a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-29T21:24:30.913Z
That was my second guess! There are also online tools to check the models, netfabb is such a website.
0scar
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-07-13T11:20:51.443Z
Flipped normals are something relatively common with blender, so yes, recalculating is needed!
Trish
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-29T20:21:38.563Z
2018-11-29T20:21:38.563Z
Thomas Weller
<p>Blender is not a preferred program to model solids, it is great though for many other visualizations. Apparently, the green parts are not solid models in your original Blender design, they are most probably surfaces, when you create an STL, the model is not solid, it contains surfaces. All this causes problems for your slicer (the slicer ignores the surfaces and makes an empty hole instead, hence the sliced image). You should look into the options, manuals or fora of Blender to create solid models. Otherwise, use a proper 3D modelling tool for creating solid models.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-29T20:10:34.063Z
2018-11-29T20:10:34.063Z
0scar
<p>I have designed this in Blender:</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/ucC7j.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/ucC7j.png" alt="Screenshot"></a></p>

<p>The bottom is a regular n-gon with 0.8mm in height. In Slic3r, I see that the bottom-most layer is not solid:</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/5QkC7.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/5QkC7.png" alt="Screenshot"></a></p>

<p>The green parts (of the first image) are going into that layer, because I wanted to ensure that I don't have air between the bottom and the green parts. Unfortunately they become printed non-solid / empty. </p>

<p>This does not only take extra time for printing, it's also not what I want. What seems to be the bottom here is in fact the top of something and I want it to be a flat surface.</p>

<p>How can I tell Slic3r to recognize overlapping items and generate them in a solid way?</p>

<p>I have already set the infill to 100%, but that doesn't change anything. The Boolean modifier of Blender is also not very helpful. It creates topologies with gaps.</p>

<slic3r><blender>
Why are my lowest layers not solid?
Thomas Weller
# Why are my lowest layers not solid?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-11-29)

I have designed this in Blender:

[![Screenshot](https://i.sstatic.net/ucC7j.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/ucC7j.png)

The bottom is a regular n-gon with 0.8mm in height. In Slic3r, I see that the bottom-most layer is not solid:

[![Screenshot](https://i.sstatic.net/5QkC7.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/5QkC7.png)

The green parts (of the first image) are going into that layer, because I wanted to ensure that I don't have air between the bottom and the green parts. Unfortunately they become printed non-solid / empty.

This does not only take extra time for printing, it's also not what I want. What seems to be the bottom here is in fact the top of something and I want it to be a flat surface.

How can I tell Slic3r to recognize overlapping items and generate them in a solid way?

I have already set the infill to 100%, but that doesn't change anything. The Boolean modifier of Blender is also not very helpful. It creates topologies with gaps.

**Tags:** slic3r, blender

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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_0 on 2018-11-29. Score: 4 | Accepted answer

I printed the thing for some layers to see what the printer actually does:
[![Inner ring](https://i.sstatic.net/mwBgB.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/mwBgB.jpg)

There are clearly too many retractions and unretractions.

This can be seen in advance by letting Slic3r show the retractions and unretractions.
[![Slic3r screenshots](https://i.sstatic.net/8Vo55.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/8Vo55.png)

[![Green items](https://i.sstatic.net/fDdn7.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/fDdn7.jpg)

For the green "walls", it became clear that it prints them exactly onto the empty space, so in fact the seem to be floating.

That made it obvious to me: the normals were pointing into the wrong direction. Therefore, Slic3r seems to have interpreted the material side of the green parts inside out. I had the same issue on some other parts as well.

I went to Blender, selected the object(s), chose edit mode and found a function called "Recalculate normals". Since then, the bottom layer is solid.

Also printing time is reduced by half an hour.

[![Result after recalculating the normals](https://i.sstatic.net/kDh7y.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/kDh7y.png)

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: That was my second guess! There are also online tools to check the models, netfabb is such a website.  
> **username_2**: Flipped normals are something relatively common with blender, so yes, recalculating is needed!  

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### Answer by username_1 on 2018-11-29. Score: 1

Blender is not a preferred program to model solids, it is great though for many other visualizations. Apparently, the green parts are not solid models in your original Blender design, they are most probably surfaces, when you create an STL, the model is not solid, it contains surfaces. All this causes problems for your slicer (the slicer ignores the surfaces and makes an empty hole instead, hence the sliced image). You should look into the options, manuals or fora of Blender to create solid models. Otherwise, use a proper 3D modelling tool for creating solid models.


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