doktrmike

Thanks to you both! The first option (Combine Type A) worked nicely.

I want to print this Lego to GoPro mount: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:13518 However, Cura is slicing in such a way as to disconnect the two areas of the pieces. You can see it clearly using the Layers view in Cura; there's a big gap between the Lego mounting area and the GoPro mounting area. Can anyone suggest a workaround? Thanks, Mike

Okay, folks. Some big improvements here. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9pUEQQWjpRQVHBtUGJDQnRpQlU/edit?usp=sharing I did a number of things to get here. Your comments and especially gr5's link to the effects of temperature and backlash got me thinking of the mechanical issues that could be hindering the prints. I think, like a lot of folks, I tended to want a software explanation when in fact there were hardware issues. Here's what I did: 1) Cleaned the hobbed bolt. Not terribly dirty but a number of PLA flakes embedded in the teeth. 2) Adjusted the position of the hobbed bold on the motor shaft. I checked the correct position based on the extruder I'm using and it was: a) not in the right position and b) a little loose. I got it in the right place and tightened. 3) Checked the voltage on the extruder Pololu driver. I had it set to what was probably a high value. 4) Tightened up the x-axis belt. I then printed the attached at 185C using slow speeds. The first print using my existing e-steps value of 760 had some little gaps on top. I increased to 770 and printed the attached, which looks great and feels very smooth on top. I take your points, gr5, about using higher temps for PLA, and will try going a little higher and experiment with the speeds as well. I'll leave it to you guys to figure out which of the things I did probably fixed the issues, but thanks so much for your help getting here.

Thanks for the offer. I'll try to do that later today.

Here's a pic of the side of the keychain, in case it helps: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9pUEQQWjpRQSVM4MzNIdlJFYVk/edit?usp=sharing Not a lot of layers to analyze, but it's all I have right now.

I don't have a picture to share right now, but the side walls are very smooth. Having said that, I've tried to print a single-perimeter cube with no infill a couple of times and have definitely seen underextruded walls (though I've been messing with so many settings it's hard to recall the circumstances). To calibrate the steps/mm I measured a stretch of filament then extruded this distance using Pronterface. It matched up pretty closely, and then I tried to dial it in further based on the Triffid Hunter calibration guide suggestions. I'm using the value 760, though have tried up to 820 without seeing much improvement. I don't really have instructions as I didn't purchase a kit. I'm going largely by MendelMax documentation that is freely available on the web. Your comments have given me some things to try, however, so I'll do a few more tests and report back. Your link discusses backlash, which I might revisit since it could suggest an issue, although I agree that temperature and extrusion steps are worth examining further. Thanks again for all your help so far. Much appreciated!

The walls were wiggly because I took the part off when it was cold. I printed this keychain this morning: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9pUEQQWjpRQZURxYWstWWtKZ0E/edit?usp=sharing which looks neat to me. I'm surprised to hear you say you think I'm underextruding. The bottom few layers are very smooth and neat: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9pUEQQWjpRQTEhLZkNGRndQY28/edit?usp=sharing The perimeter walls are very smooth as well - if I drag a nail along the side wall it feels smooth. I used Triffid Hunter's calibration guide to fix the extruder steps and I thought it was correct. I'm also printing at 20mm/sec for perimeters and 30mm/sec for infill. This keychain took 20 minutes with 0.2mm layers. Edit: I guess I'm saying I'm not convinced the temperature or speed is the issue, since the bottom layers are so nice. Is there a reason why you'd expect that to happen if your thinking is correct?

Here's the print. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9pUEQQWjpRQRXc1T3FOMHdXeFU/edit?usp=sharing I took it off the bed while it was still a little warm so it deformed a little but since I only care about the top surface I wasn't too concerned.

A cuboid is a solid shape with 6 faces with a square or rectangle on each face. I tested with retraction because it was suggested above that these settings were causing the blobs. I recognize that it wouldn't make a direct different to the print. I don't have a picture now but will post one later. I'm printing with a homemade MendelMax 1.5+, not an Ultimaker. Thanks again.

Thanks for the suggestions. I tried a series of prints of a small cuboid (24mm x 12mm x 4mm) last night and got some decent results. The first thing I did is went back and made sure my bed was level, which I think it was not quite. Then I printed the cuboid using 0.2mm layers with following settings: 1) No retraction, 185C, 3 top/bottom layers, 20% infill 2) No retraction, 185C, 5 top/bottom layers, 50% infill 3) Retraction on (default), 190C, 5 top/bottom layers, 50% infill 4) Retraction on (default), 195C, 5 top/bottom layers, 50% infill #2 was much better than #1. #3 was marginally better than #2, and was about the same as #4. I didn't see any blobbing issues in any of the tests. In #3, the top surface was pretty smooth, although there are still small gaps between the extruded lines, especially at the interface between the infill and perimeters. I'm going to try a larger, more complex print with the #3 settings and see how it goes.

Thanks for the guidance. I tried a higher temperature (210C) and things did seem to be coming out smoother. My first tests sliced using Cura had nice smooth upper surfaces. However, after a short time I started to get pretty big blobs every few layers. The extruder would just spit out a blob around 2mmx2mmx2mm or so and continue printing. I tried various prints but this issue didn't go away. Could the higher temperature be causing this? I didn't have an opportunity to drop the temperature and try again yet.

This may not be an issue that's limited to Cura, but since I was using it to do this print, I thought I'd post here to see if I can get some help. I'm still fairly new to printing. I built my home-grown MendelMax recently and have been using Slic3r until recently trying Cura (using v13.11.2). When using Slic3r I got nice clean prints but gaps were left between the perimeters and also between solid infill lines in the top layers. I spent some time messing with the settings but wasn't able to get the upper surfaces to be smooth and solid, just smooth. Here's a pic: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9pUEQQWjpRQUFZrdk5oN3Y0UE0/edit?usp=sharing Now I've started using Cura, I'm having a different issue. The bottom layers are nice and smooth, but when it lays down solid top layers on the infill, the surfaces are far from smooth. Here's a pic of a Tardis model that I'm working on: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9pUEQQWjpRQVlNEaHQ1ZTVQTGc/edit?usp=sharing I aborted part way through after noticing the way the upper surfaces were turning out. This also happens with much simpler models, like a simple cube. I can't post my full settings right now, but am using a 0.5mm extruder, PLA at 180C with a heated bed at 65C, layer height of 0.2mm, 1mm perimeters and 0.8mm top and bottom solid layers. Any help greatly appreciated. I really like Cura so far and want to figure out how to get nice prints! -Mike

Thanks, all. This was super helpful and solved my problem. I guess I got a little carried away deleting the standard start script :oops:

Thanks. I am using Marlin, though I've never needed to power cycle the printer. I've been using Slic3r for some time and never had this issue. Here's the start of the gcode: ;Generated with Cura_SteamEngine 13.11.2 M140 S65.000000 M109 T0 S180.000000 T0 M190 S65.000000 ;Sliced at: Sun 01-12-2013 08:19:13 ;Basic settings: Layer height: 0.2 Walls: 1 Fill: 30 ;Print time: #P_TIME# ;Filament used: #F_AMNT#m #F_WGHT#g ;Filament cost: #F_COST# ;M190 S65 ;Uncomment to add your own bed temperature line ;M109 S180 ;Uncomment to add your own temperature line G28 ; home all axes ;Layer count: 125 ;LAYER:0 M107 G0 F5940 X100.95 Y108.75 Z0.30 ;TYPE:SKIRT G1 F2400 E0.00000 G1 F1140 X109.05 Y108.75 E0.19062 G1 X111.25 Y110.95 E0.26366 G1 X111.25 Y113.75 E0.32959 ...

Hi all, I just started using Cura with my MendelMax and the first print turned out great. The second print, however, yielded a strange problem. I loaded and sliced this object to gcode: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:24238 It's a 5mm calibration blocks test that I'm sure many of you know and love/are completely sick of. Anyway, I sliced this and loaded the gcode to Pronterface, just as I did with the first attempt at using Cura. However, on printing, the extruder ran in reverse and very quickly pushing the filament all the way back out of the extruder immediately upon starting the print. The printer homed the axes, then reversed out the filament. I turned off the retraction feature in Cura and tried again. This time it reversed only a few mm such that the material started coming out again not long after the skirt had been drawn out. Anyone seen anything like this, and what else can I share to help? Thanks, Mike