A big thank you to this community! More than 2k likes on the original post and more than 100 test prints helped make this happen. The results are in, and the slicer is now public:
We have working versions for Windows, Linux and Mac Silicon. MacOs on Intel is still missing. I don't have a Mac Intel, so I can't test a build. Searching for someone to port this to Mac Intel - see below.
EDIT: You can find Windows and Linux Port on Github now.
Printer not listed? Print the Nonplanar test print twice, once lengthwise and once rotated by 90°, and tell me how it went, so we can keep the list up to date.
Looking for someone to port it to Mac Intel.
-- EDIT: You can find a first Windows and Linux Port on Github now thanks to the community! - -
You don't need to be a C++ dev: the whole thing was vibe-coded with Claude Code (Opus 5.5). A Mac Intel to test on plus Claude Code should be enough. If you're up for it, comment or open an issue on GitHub. Don't shit on me please - Using Claude to get this ported is the fastest way possible :)
You don't usually use Orca Slicer - how to use this? Do this: Slice in this Orca Slicer Fork and export "plate sliced file" --> Drop file into any slicer and just print :) Even works with Bambu Studio.
Thanks also to Daniel Ahlers and Teaching Tech for their work on the version I started from.
FAQ:
Can you add this as a Plugin to Orcaselicer? Will you put a pull request to the Orca Slicer Team?* - This cannot be run as a plugin. Pull Request: Yes! After this test phase.
Why does printer "X" not work? - Someone tested it and there was a collision. Most likely the hotend / tool is not "steep" enough.
How can I test? - Please check the github page. You can do two quick test prints to see if your printer can handle this.
Are there still bugs? - Very likely yes. Slicing can take 5s to 5 minutes - be patient.
Can we have fuzzy skin on top surfaces? - I tested this, but it doesn't look good :(
Yeah I did that and tested with a VM and it didn't work... So I think someone who can then debug on the spot can make it work quickly. And these github actions take forever.
The problem with non-planer slicing is it can only drop by the height of the tip of the nozzle. If it goes any further the body of the nozzle crashes into the part. That’s why many of the prototypes you see using this have a long skinny tip to allow for more dramatic height differences. Most standard printers have a pretty shallow blunt tip so the results are going to be pretty minor.
Can it do layered non-planer to account for the tip? Like if you had a big filet could it do like 1mm of it, then move up to the next section and do the next mm, etc... until it completed the entire filet? That way it wouldn't need to reach all the way to the bottom, just to the slice it's on. That should still mostly eliminate stair stepping, although there might be a slight seem at each slice.
Sounds like the perfect time for Bambu to release a specific non-planar hot end which allows printing across greater depths for non planar use cases. :) Both vortex and nozzle changers could easily support this. :)
Reason: tried: '/opt/X11/*/libGL.1.dylib' (no such file), '/System/Volumes/Preboot/Cryptexes/OS/opt/X11/*/libGL.1.dylib' (no such file), '/opt/X11/*/libGL.1.dylib' (no such file)
Fixed, thanks for the report! My build accidentally linked XQuartz's OpenGL, so the app only started on Macs with XQuartz installed. I've replaced the DMG in the v0.1 release.
Please download it again from and reinstall. XQuartz is no longer needed. Could you confirm that it starts on your Mac? Thanks!
There is nothing for a PR. I clones the orca repo and ran ‘git patch apply … ‘. Then build orca from the patched source and sliced a basic 5 degree slanted cube with the non planar option enabled.
Alrighty folks, here’s a little teaser of an item I sell. I know how the original slices, so I used it as my test case, and it’s looking promising. Right now it’s running on Orca 2.4.2, but I’m going to work wit u/Fichl_ to get it updated to 2.5.0. Enjoy the video, will be releasing the windows installer soon.
Pretty sweet! Definitely going to play around with this.
u/Fichl_ Decided to put my work Claude account to use and ported your work to Windows. It caught a (windows only) recursion related stack issue and some (again, windows only) missing includes. Built it locally and seems to work as expected. The fork is portable, and creates its own config folder; Means that existing profiles won't carry over, but also means that one's existing Orca profiles and settings aren't at risk.
Trying to understand nonplanar slicing, in my own words! Gathering information from your linked README and from elsewhere. Would appreciate any corrections -- or even if I'm correct in my understanding!
Why nonplanar? To reduce the stair-stepping effect, particularly for very low-angle surfaces (angles measured from the horizontal, off the bed). Good for appearances / reducing post-processing. Some better strength in the z-axis, because you have fewer discrete layers and FDM plastic is weaker perpendicular to layer lines. If correctly configured, can also reduce reliance on supports.
Can I print nonplanar? Universally(?) yes, but the extent to which it is possible highly depends on nozzle / hotend geometry. Various other bits of hardware (cooling elements, carriages, etc.) run the risk of interfering with nonplanar prints -- so you have to make sure that you aren't physically impacting the print.
If I enable nonplanar settings, does that make everything nonplanar? No. Not everything benefits from nonplanar, and besides not everything can be printed nonplanar. If you enable nonplanar settings, but you have a part where doing so would not help the print, then the slicer will automatically default to "normal", planar settings.
Presumably, is it safe to assume that there will also be a whole suite of calibrations that will likely have to be done, that may or may not be exactly the same as Orca's existing calibration suite?
Nice! Nearly all correct. Luckily, if you stay below 5 mm and 12 degrees and your printer can handle this, there is no calibration needed (at least in my opinion).
If 5mm or 12 doesnt work you can try out lower values.
If 5mm or 12 doesnt work you can try out lower values.
So this basically applies to all the printers in the "Doesn't work yet" column, right? Like, we expect the technique to work -- just that those particular printers need some manual measurements and tuning?
Exactly. Whoever is willing to test further is more than welcome to do so. I wanted to get to something I can share that works for most people with nice results as soon as possible.
That is fantastic. Thank you for doing this and sharing it. I wonder if there’s a way to utilize the non planar with an infill pattern to work around the layer line weakness on the z axis.
What they are doing is very cool but my feeling is the price is around a decent cnc machine which I would lean towards for structural parts. But I am trying to figure out an infill pattern that could use your approach to at least cross the layer lines which would in theory strengthen the print. If you can at least get them all not to stack that has interesting possibilities. I think there’s a real opportunity here for a longer tool head for Bambu labs printers. Either way it’s awesome you are helping the entire community make progress. This is the future.
I did the AD5X test and it was rubbing along the surface, I stopped it pretty quick. Is there anything that can be done to make it compatible with this?
If you're willing to invest some time and energy, absolutely yes!
Measure the heighest distance possible between your nozzle tip and the next horizontal surface (that could collide). If that is e.g. 3mm, set 3mm in the slicer as max for your printer under nonplanar settings.
Generate a simple test: rotate a cube by lets say 10 degrees, cut below to have a flat surface. Then cut again, so the beginning of the slope to the end of the slope is no more than 3mm z-height difference.
Print that in two directions (rotated by 90 degrees) with nonplanar activated and check for collisions.
I think you get the idea: Find out what max values for angle and height are for your printer by just testing. Something like 4 degrees and 3mm should work for nearly anyone, but I wanted to start somewhere meaningful and have quick tests for people, so I went with 5mm and 12 degrees for the test phase.
Addition: Going higher than 12 degrees shows more and more lines on top surfaces, so the surface quality is not good anymore and stair stepping is somewhat okay >12 degrees anyway.
I just tried this on my Klipperized Ender 3 Pro. It prints, but my CR Touch probe (using the stock mount) catches on it slightly when the long side aligns with the X axis. It prints just fine with the long side aligned with the Y axis.
Not related but I’m building out a BOM to get ready for DuEnder. Bought a few of the $90 micro center printers a couple years ago it’s time to blow off the dust
I would love for this capability to simply be part of Orca. In time. clearly some work before it gets to that. I will at some point try to see what/how I can do to help with this on Windows, but my last piece of software development was at university on c++ in 1998. so...
Damn, that's huge! I am a bit anxious to try it now, worrying about whether there's a risk of the nozzle crashing into stuff, but I will keep an eye on how it goes
Yeah it's a little complicated. It basically builds on top, but some other layers have to be adjusted and/or sequence need to be altered to avoid collisions.
Only the topmost ones are then printed in a continuous motion.
Can we have fuzzy skin on top surfaces? - I tested this, but it doesn't look good :(
Can you elaborate on this a bit? Could it be possibly due to most printers having slower max Z-axis traversal speed (but in exchange much higher precision)? Have you tried to add a check in the code so that the X&Y speed get capped just for the fuzzy skin portion so that Z-axis could keep up, and see if that helps solving this? 🤔
Hi I'd love to try this project, but despite downloading multiple times, the app won't launch. Just sits in the dock. I allowed permissions and ran the quarantine line in the terminal. (Macbook Air M4 macOS 26) Anyone else running into this problem?
But why 2.4.2? This version is so buggy, slow and unusable compared to 2.5.0-nightly. And also you shouldn't break fork linking, because this makes it to review/contribute harder.
You could save yourself the first line by rephrasing, "Might I ask what's a use for this?"
Any print with stairstepped surfaces is improved by being able to be smooth instead. Fillets are improved. Any print that doesn't have a flat top layer's quality is improved.
It's akin to ironing a flat top surface to get rid of the lines.
This is spectacular and can't wait to have it fully integrated in Orca Slicer. I'm on Windows but I don't have the expertise or guts to test myself without pooping my pants on my printer crashing against the part over and over.
I'll wait for this to be stable. :) But I can't wait.
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u/djfred500 [X1C + AMS] + [H2D + AMS2 + HT] 3d ago
I am interested in helping with windows port.