burtoogle

Hello @JustSumGuy, is it possible for you to save the cura project file and attach to this thread? That would be very helpful in tracking down what is causing those marks. Thanks.

Oh, sorry about that. It's been so long since that feature was coded that I assumed it had made it into a release by now. Perhaps it will be in the next release (or maybe it was never merged, I forget).

You probably need to make the setting visible, it's in the shell section

Here's my take on this. It's (yet another) attempt at printing a wall that is not a multiple of two line widths wide. Cura really doesn't do walls that are not multiples of two line widths wide very well at all. As a workaround, enable the wall overlap compensation and also set "Minimum Wall Flow" to something like 30. Probably setting Outer Before Inner Walls is worth doing as well. That combination should suppress the second traversal which cannot be helping. YMMV.

Slightly easier to read settings: {"extruder_quality": ["[general] version = 4 name = PETG XL definition = fdmprinter [metadata] position = 0 setting_version = 5 type = quality_changes quality_type = normal [values] acceleration_wall = None bridge_skin_density = 60 bridge_skin_density_2 = 60 bridge_skin_material_flow = 100 bridge_skin_speed = 50 bridge_skin_speed_2 = 30 bridge_skin_speed_3 = 40.0 bridge_wall_material_flow = 100 bridge_wall_speed = 50 brim_width = 5 cool_fan_enabled = True cool_fan_full_at_height = 4 cool_fan_min_at_height = 2 cool_fan_speed = 50.0 cool_fan_speed_max = 100.0 cool_fan_speed_min = 50.0 cool_min_layer_time = 10 cool_min_layer_time_fan_speed_max = 15 cool_min_speed = 15 expand_skins_expand_distance = 2 fill_perimeter_gaps = nowhere infill_before_walls = False infill_enable_travel_optimization = True infill_line_width = 0.5 infill_overlap = 10 infill_pattern = zigzag infill_sparse_density = 15 jerk_wall = 5 line_width = 0.5 material_flow_layer_0 = 110 material_print_temperature = 240 material_print_temperature_layer_0 = 245 min_skin_width_for_expansion = 0.5 optimize_wall_printing_order = True outer_inset_first = False retraction_amount = 2.5 retraction_combing_max_distance = 10 retraction_extra_prime_amount = 0 retraction_hop = 0.5 retraction_hop_enabled = True retraction_min_travel = 2.5 retraction_prime_speed = =retraction_speed retraction_retract_speed = =retraction_speed retraction_speed = 25 roofing_layer_count = 1 skin_outline_count = 0 skin_overlap = 20 skirt_brim_minimal_length = 500 skirt_brim_speed = 20.0 skirt_gap = 8 speed_infill = 50 speed_layer_0 = 40.0 speed_print = 50 speed_roofing = 20.0 speed_topbottom = 40.0 speed_travel = 300 speed_wall_0 = 50.0 speed_wall_x = 50.0 speed_walls_layer_0 = 15.0 support_angle = 60 support_bottom_enable = False support_fan_enable = True support_infill_rate = 25 support_interface_enable = True support_interface_height = 0.6 support_pattern = zigzag support_xy_distance = 1 support_z_distance = 0.2 top_bottom_pattern = zigzag top_bottom_thickness = 0.8 top_skin_expand_distance = 3 top_thickness = 0.8 travel_compensate_overlapping_walls_enabled = True wall_0_wipe_dist = 0 wall_line_count = 2 wall_thickness = 1 z_seam_corner = z_seam_corner_none z_seam_relative = True z_seam_type = back z_seam_x = 10 z_seam_y = 0 "], "global_quality": "[general] version = 4 name = PETG XL definition = fdmprinter [metadata] setting_version = 5 type = quality_changes quality_type = normal [values] acceleration_enabled = False adhesion_type = brim bridge_settings_enabled = True jerk_enabled = False layer_height = 0.2 layer_height_0 = 0.2 material_bed_temperature = 70 material_bed_temperature_layer_0 = 75 retraction_combing = noskin speed_slowdown_layers = 1 support_enable = False travel_retract_before_outer_wall = True "}

Hello @3rdpig, I printed out one of your widgets and it came out fine. No gaps around the skins. It was printed in PETG using a 0.4mm nozzle. The settings I used are all in the gcode file which isn't much use to you as you don't have the same printer. Here it is anyway. KXL_160651971_holetiertestv1.gcode Here are the settings from that file: {"extruder_quality": ["[general]\\nversion = 4\\nname = PETG XL\\ndef inition = fdmprinter\\n\\n[metadata]\\nposition = 0\\nsetting_version = 5\\ntype = quality_changes\\nquality_type = normal\\n\\n[values]\\ nacceleration_wall = None\\nbridge_skin_density = 60\\nbridge_skin_de nsity_2 = 60\\nbridge_skin_material_flow = 100\\nbridge_skin_speed = 50\\nbridge_skin_speed_2 = 30\\nbridge_skin_speed_3 = 40.0\\nbridge_w all_material_flow = 100\\nbridge_wall_speed = 50\\nbrim_width = 5\\nc ool_fan_enabled = True\\ncool_fan_full_at_height = 4\\ncool_fan_min_a t_height = 2\\ncool_fan_speed = 50.0\\ncool_fan_speed_max = 100.0\\nc ool_fan_speed_min = 50.0\\ncool_min_layer_time = 10\\ncool_min_layer_ time_fan_speed_max = 15\\ncool_min_speed = 15\\nexpand_skins_expand_d istance = 2\\nfill_perimeter_gaps = nowhere\\ninfill_before_walls = F alse\\ninfill_enable_travel_optimization = True\\ninfill_line_width = 0.5\\ninfill_overlap = 10\\ninfill_pattern = zigzag\\ninfill_sparse_ density = 15\\njerk_wall = 5\\nline_width = 0.5\\nmaterial_flow_layer _0 = 110\\nmaterial_print_temperature = 240\\nmaterial_print_temperat ure_layer_0 = 245\\nmin_skin_width_for_expansion = 0.5\\noptimize_wal l_printing_order = True\\nouter_inset_first = False\\nretraction_amou nt = 2.5\\nretraction_combing_max_distance = 10\\nretraction_extra_pr ime_amount = 0\\nretraction_hop = 0.5\\nretraction_hop_enabled = True \\nretraction_min_travel = 2.5\\nretraction_prime_speed = =retraction _speed\\nretraction_retract_speed = =retraction_speed\\nretraction_sp eed = 25\\nroofing_layer_count = 1\\nskin_outline_count = 0\\nskin_ov erlap = 20\\nskirt_brim_minimal_length = 500\\nskirt_brim_speed = 20. 0\\nskirt_gap = 8\\nspeed_infill = 50\\nspeed_layer_0 = 40.0\\nspeed_ print = 50\\nspeed_roofing = 20.0\\nspeed_topbottom = 40.0\\nspeed_tr avel = 300\\nspeed_wall_0 = 50.0\\nspeed_wall_x = 50.0\\nspeed_walls_ layer_0 = 15.0\\nsupport_angle = 60\\nsupport_bottom_enable = False\\ nsupport_fan_enable = True\\nsupport_infill_rate = 25\\nsupport_inter face_enable = True\\nsupport_interface_height = 0.6\\nsupport_pattern = zigzag\\nsupport_xy_distance = 1\\nsupport_z_distance = 0.2\\ntop_ bottom_pattern = zigzag\\ntop_bottom_thickness = 0.8\\ntop_skin_expan d_distance = 3\\ntop_thickness = 0.8\\ntravel_compensate_overlapping_ walls_enabled = True\\nwall_0_wipe_dist = 0\\nwall_line_count = 2\\nw all_thickness = 1\\nz_seam_corner = z_seam_corner_none\\nz_seam_relat ive = True\\nz_seam_type = back\\nz_seam_x = 10\\nz_seam_y = 0\\n\\n" ], "global_quality": "[general]\\nversion = 4\\nname = PETG XL\\ndefi nition = fdmprinter\\n\\n[metadata]\\nsetting_version = 5\\ntype = qu ality_changes\\nquality_type = normal\\n\\n[values]\\nacceleration_en abled = False\\nadhesion_type = brim\\nbridge_settings_enabled = True \\njerk_enabled = False\\nlayer_height = 0.2\\nlayer_height_0 = 0.2\\ nmaterial_bed_temperature = 70\\nmaterial_bed_temperature_layer_0 = 7 5\\nretraction_combing = noskin\\nspeed_slowdown_layers = 1\\nsupport _enable = False\\ntravel_retract_before_outer_wall = True\\n\\n"}

Those thin yellow "messy" lines are not walls or regular infill. They are what you get if you have the Fill Gaps Between Walls setting enabled. It rarely works well so I almost always disable that. Try disabling that, enabling the wall overlap compensation (which is also flawed but probably better used than not) and use a line width that is slightly narrower and you should get only red and green wall lines with little or no gap in the middle. Some experimentation is needed!

If the print is wide enough to have infill then it doesn't really matter how many walls you have as all the walls will fit (apart from in tight corners, perhaps.) So then the considerations are different. A very small number of walls can make the infill more visible as it can distort a thin wall.

Hello @Link, the situation hasn't changed, it's always best if the wall width is an even multiple of the line width. So a 1.2mm wide wall would print best with either a 0.6mm or 0.3mm line width. If the line width is 0.4 (or maybe just below) and the wall overlap compensation is enabled then you will get 3 full width wall lines and one that has been narrowed by the overlap compensation. Recent cura releases have a min flow setting which replaces extrusions with very low flows with travel moves and it is aimed at exactly this situation where a wall line has been overlap compensated down to almost nothing.

Hello @meowsqueak, could you please post a .curaproject.3mf file, it's not really possible to understand what's happening from your description.

Thanks for the project, I will take a look. Yes, the wipe does wipe along the wall and doesn't turn inwards. I never use it myself. If you are using the Wall Print Order Optimization (I hope you are) then that does a little inward movement at the end of the outer wall line when the outer wall is being printed after the inner walls. When the outer wall is being printed before the inner walls, it will turn inwards anyway to start the next wall. Hope this helps!

Hi @dsamarin1, could you please attach the project file (.curaproject.3mf) so I can see exactly the sequence of event there. Thanks.

You have to remember that Cura firstly supports UM machines and those machines have the build plate moving in Z and the nozzle moves in X/Y. So in this case, ignore the setting blurb.

Hi @rcfocus, I had to use the auto-orientation tool to get the part to lie flat. When I did that, it appeared to slice OK using a 0.15 layer height, here's the first layer:

Ignore any glitches you see in the cura layer view, like I said above, it doesn't really work well for spiral mode. As for the wonky gcode lines in your s3d image, I found that setting the cura slicing tolerance to "exclusive" helped reduce the wonkiness! You might also want to play with the Maximum Resolution setting.

Oh, you mean, those lines! Turn off the smooth spiralized contours option and they should go away. With smoothing option enabled: Without smoothing option enabled: The smoothing option is intended to be used when the vertical profile does not have sharp edges. It's effective at hiding the z-seam when the object is basically smooth but it can introduce artifacts like you see in this example.

Hi @Samon, I haven't actually printed the vase but I am fairly sure that the flaws that you see are just in the Cura layer view and not actually in the gcode. The Cura layer view doesn't really understand spiralized prints and the display has some problems and I think that is what you are seeing. I looked at the gcode using a couple of other viewers and couldn't see any problems. If you print it and it really does have any missing or extra line segments, please let me know. Cheers.

Hi @Samon, thanks for the project. Yes, I can see there's a problem in that region but I don't know what's causing it. If you turn off the spiralize smoothing and make the wall lines really thin you can see that there is a region where the wall doubles back on itself. As far as I can tell that's not in the original model so it's being caused by Cura. I shall try to find out what's happening.

Unfortunately, that won't help here because the elephant's foot is not occurring on the initial layer but on the first spiralized layer. It's a Cura bug (or feature) depending on how charitable you are feeling. An obvious solution would be to reduce the flow at the beginning of the first spiral line and gradually increase the flow as the wall progresses. Unfortunately, doing that requires very small extrusion amounts to be used at the start of the spiral and would, in all likelyhood, not produce a reliable watertight bond between the spiral and the solid layers below. It would be very annoying to spend many hours printing kgs of filament only to find that the resulting object leaks out of a tiny hole at the start of the first spiral. Perhaps a reliable solution that produces less of a bulge would be to start not at 0% flow but, say, 30% flow and increase the flow to 100% as the first spiral layer progresses. That would reduce the bulge but, hopefully, still make a reliable join.

Hello @Samon, I cannot reproduce the issue, please save the project file and attach it.

Hello @Samon, the spiralize mode starts the spiral wall after the bottom layers have been printed. The first spiral layer starts at the same height as the last bottom layer so at the very beginning of the spiral the filament will squish out as the effective layer height is zero at that point. By the time the first spiral has completed, the nozzle will have been raised by 1 layer height. So you will always get some extra filament around the first spiral layer. Ugly? Yes, but it does increase the likelyhood of the printed object being waterproof.

Hello @amagro, sorry for the delay, new archive available now. I have been seeing some crashes when starting cura so maybe there's a problem with the current master branch? Anyway, once up and running it seems to work OK.

The old "no skin" combing fails badly when there is no infill present on the layer because no travels can hit the (non-existent) combing boundary and so all travels happen "as the crow flies" irrespective of whether they cross walls or skin.

But it's showing no-retract travels over the skin on the head, isn't it?

Here's a comparison of the different combing modes. Note that this is using my Cura that has some other changes to the code that creates the combing boundaries. Combing All mode - note unretracted travels over skin. The new Not In Skin mode avoids travels across the skin areas (what a surprise!) The new Within Infill mode (this is the old Not in Skin) does unretracted travels all over the place.