GregValiant

Go to the Mesh Fixes section of the settings and turn all of them off (except maybe "Union overlapping Volumes"). "Remove All Holes" is the usual culprit. "Make Overhangs Printable" is another one that can cause un-wanted effects. For STL repair I've been using https://formware.co/OnlineStlRepair. It's OK but the file limit is 20mb. When you ask for help on this forum the most useful file to post is a Cura Project file. Use "File | Save Project". The resulting 3mf file will contain your printer, your model, and your settings. Sometimes just the STL is enough, and sometimes the gcode file is needed, but a project file contains the most info.

It isn't loaded at installation. Go to MarketPlace (upper right) and then Plugins / Community Plugins and scroll down to Printer Settings and install it. Mostly they are guides for other settings in Cura. For example, if you have your max Z feedrate at 10 in Printer Settings and try to set the Zhop speed to 20 you will get a warning and Cura won't slice. I think the only thing it's required for are multi extruders that share the heater and nozzle (like the 2-in-1-out hot ends).

-> Analysed your file: --> 0 Naked edges (?) --> 0 Planar holes (?) --> 0 Non-planar holes (?) --> 263 Non-manifold edges (?) --> 384 Inverted faces (?) --> 0 Degenerate faces (?) --> 259 Duplicate faces (?) --> 0 Disjoint shells (?) -> Repairing: 100.00% ----- Repair completed in 12051ms ------ -> Vertex count changed from 8676 to 9147 (+471) -> Triangle count changed from 17636 to 18314 (+678) -> Problem.stl available for download. Click the button below to download I used https://formware.co/OnlineStlRepair for the repair. Here is an STL. It looks good to me (but so did my first wife). Problem_fixed.stl

If something tapers to 0 then that area won't slice. Once it gets below Layer Height or Line Width (depending on the orientation) then an extrusion won't fit. You could try using Adaptive Layers or a finer nozzle. There are limits to FDM and you ran into one. Here is a wedge that tapers from 2mm down to 0.0mm over it's length of 200mm (0.6°). The vertical wedge has a large area that won't slice with a .4 nozzle. (A .2 would do better). The wedge laying flat is constrained by the .2 layer height and would do better at a lower layer height. The "steps" along the top surface are obvious. You can never get this perfect. It's all Pythagoras's fault.

Congratulations on an excellent rant. So what did you end up with (if I might be so as bold to ask)?

@nallath commented here one time that Cura isn't compatible with IDEX printers. I'm not sure, but I think that's because there is no allowance in Cura for the additional axes (U, V, W or whatever). There was a post here regarding the Raise3D IDEX printer. I looked at it that a little bit and if that printer was installed in Cura as a Custom FFF printer it appears to be compatible. It comes down to the Start-Up Gcode. The printer could be installed 3 times (one for conventional, one for mirror, and one for duplication) or a Search And Replace routine could be used to adjust what mode the user wanted. The Raise3D firmware uses proprietary gcode commands (M605 S2 is mirror mode) to inform the printer what mode to work in. When the printer knows the mode it then handles all the translation of the regular axes commands for the second print head. As a consequence, there is no requirement for the additional axes to be mentioned in the gcode and that's why I think it might be possible to get it to work with Cura. If you were to look closely at a Craftware generated gcode file for your printer, you might be able to come up with working profile as long as the firmware is close to mainstream (M9006 S1 appears be mirror mode). I would think it's something that Craftbot should be aware of.

This idea would require features so the two pieces would positive locate to each other and would be bonded. A mortice or lap joint would be best I think. There are two support blockers with one configured as a cutting mesh and located where the floor would start. The side hole may need some attention but I don't think it's a show-stopper. This is at 10% scaling on an Ender 3 Pro 230x230 plate. Print time when down to 6:05. 757329581_DXS310F.3mf

How about using the Search and Replace plugin. You just need a temperature prior to T0? Search : ;Generated with Replace: M109 S125 T0 ;Generated with Remember the semi-colon after the T0.

I just came across this and had to laugh. For those who don't care to chase down other posts - a Creality customer opened up the box of his just delivered Ender printer and the extruder arm was already broken. A new world record for MTBF of 00:00:00.0

The Cura mirror tool is easiest. Mirroring gcode files isn't difficult if you have some programming skills. Just move the home X offset to Max X and multiply all the X values in the file by -1. Time for a story. My father was also a firefighter in Detroit and on his days off he worked at a machine shop (my leave day job was at a drafting shop). One day he brought home a fairly complicated detail he'd spent about a week making. He had been working from a folded up print and one of the folds was right at a hidden line and made it look like a visible line. The company had ordered a Right Hand part and dad had made a left. About a month later the part was gone from the house. I asked dad what happened to it cuz it was kind of cool looking. It turned out that the customer came back and ordered a Left Hand part. Wa-La. Here you go sir!!

Congratulations on a 10th birthday and I hope UM keeps prospering. It was always more fun playing on a team with a lot of talent and I've been impressed from afar by the talent of the UM team. Now...tell me more about the sheep.

"...for a perfect print..." Sorry. You got the wrong guy for that one. I see two problems with the part as designed. #1. The tips of the clips would air print and so they need support. It isn't about the corners or walls of the box. Tall thin supports are subject to failure. There is always a certain amount of drag as the print head moves across (even with zHop turned on) and those supports are prime candidates for a failure do to side loading caused by the normal nozzle movement. At that point the clips would fail as the tips would be printing in the air. #2. The tips of the clips are printed with the layers going the direction of minimum strength. Not good. If that were mine I would remove the clips and print them separately laying on their sides. That would introduce maximum strength to the tips and eliminate the need for the tall skinny supports. The way I locate parts for assembly is to add matching 2.2mm holes in each part. Then I glue pieces of filament into one part to act as locating pins. With matching 2.2mmm holes in the mount surface of the clips, and in the matching surface of the corners of the box, the clips would be glued on in their exact position. You didn't mention, but if the print material is PLA or PETG then cyanoacrylate super-glue works very well. I don't know if you have freedom to make or suggest changes in the design but I have learned that allowances for the FDM printing process must be made in the design stage. You are going to have a lot of time into that print. I'm not sure what scale it was designed at as it came into Cura extremely large. I scaled it down to 25.4% and I still had to increase my build plate size to 300mm in the X. Maybe someone else here will take a look and advise better. The black area is a designed into the part, easily removed, support for the tip of the clip. It would eliminate the need for supports coming all the way up from the build plate. In the yellow area you can see a support blocker but without support that area requires bridging across the gap. That can be done with certain materials, others not so much.

I never played with that. I figured it had to do with the graphics mode. OK, you're off the hook for now. Thanks.

This is not the same as seeing the "correct" time in the Cura window, but maybe it's something you can use. I made a request for a plugin about a year ago and one of the contributors to Cura adapted an existing one and came up with "ShowProgress.py" that I'll attach as a zip file. I like it because it has a "speed factor" in it for the print time. If Cura tells you a print will take 1 hr and you know from experience that it will take 1.25 hours then the fudge factor would be 1/1.25 = 0.8. If your firmware supports M117 then "1/240 | ET 4H03M" will appear on the LCD at layer changes. The Cura "TIME:" line is not affected and will always show the print time that Cura calculated in total seconds. (I run Windows so adjust accordingly for Linux or Mac) Unzip the file and copy it to: "...\Ultimaker Cura 4.x.x\plugins\PostProcessingPlugin\scripts. It will show up as a Post Processing Script the next time you start Cura. I found that for my printer a Fudge Factor of 1.1 works well. I don't see it when I slice, but it shows up on the LCD during a print and counts down to the finish while the layers count up. ShowProgress.zip

Typically an STL file has no location data in it. Cura would bring it in at the center-of-geometry and place the bottom face on the build plate and the XY center point at the build plate mid-point. I have noticed on occasion that when I open an STL in something like "MS 3D Builder" an STL may be anywhere. That would seem to indicate that there is some sort of location data in at least some STL files (else they would all come in at the same place?). It may be dependent on the CAD to STL translator. In the "Preferences/Configure Cura/General - Viewport Behavior" is a setting for "Automatically drop models on the build plate". If it is unchecked then a model might float over the build plate. If you have the Mesh Tools plugin loaded then under "Extensions/Mesh Tools/Mesh Tool Settings... is "Randomize Position On Load". If that is turned on it will...(sigh)...randomize position on load.

If you are confident in the bridging capability then you could use a support blocker on the wide structure in the middle. Just scale it and move it so it covers that overhang the wide support is attempting to hold up. You might try adjusting the "Support Overhang Angle" to 55°. That's about as far as you can go. Over 63° will air print. Unfortunately, the structures in the corners are holding up the tips of those clip looking features. They would print in air and so they need support. You could build a custom support into the model - something easily removeable that would start below the clips and come away from the model at a 45° angle. You might also play with the settings for the support structure itself. A grid at [0,90] line direction, support density at 7° to 10°, those kind of things. I use "Connect Support Lines" to keep down the number of retractions but it does add more material to the support structure. Photos are hard to work from though. If you were to post the STL file somebody will take a look. If it's proprietary that's OK, just try the suggestions above.

That'll work. Now, one more thing. If this was moveable/hideable then things would be almost perfect.

+1 and my log also shows it being loaded. Marketplace shows version 4.1.3 is installed (but the filename says "v7.0.0")? This is with the SidebarGUI loaded in 4.11 beta.

After playing with the model some more I'm pretty sure it's the model file (this is the one with the logo). I opened the file in MS 3D Builder and scaled it to 101% and did a Save-As and then that file sliced OK in Cura. I re-opened the original file in 3D builder and immediately saved the file (over-wrote the original) and the model appears to slice correctly. There is something odd about the file and it's not showing up as a discernable error in the model. My expert professional opinion is that "sumpthin' ain't right".

Thanks @ahoeben. That's what I was thinking. All-in-all it's easier (for me) to have a second printer installed in Cura just for TPU.

A work-around seems to be changing the layer height to .21. I didn't find any errors in the model, but in wireframe it looks like this. Of the 6 inside faces it's the only one that has this whatever-it-is feature (EDIT: It's a logo). I think the odd slicing (dependent on scaling or layer height) is either a bug, or Cura is being fooled by this model and it's acting like a bug. Either way I think maybe it should go up on GitHub. HIVE_Module_V5.stl

@ahoeben I was wondering... My StartUp G-Code has purge lines and they work well with PLA and PETG but they are too fast for TPU on my printer. I had a thought to add a Keyword to alter the print speed of the purge lines to match the print speed setting in Cura. It appears that there is none for "speed_print_layer_0" in mm/minute. The alternative would seem to be adding a copy of my printer definition and altering the StartUp G-Code with the purge line speeds adjusted for TPU. What I have hard coded is: G1 F1500... What I was looking for would be something like: G1 F{speed_print_layer_0_mm_min} or some conversion from Print Speed in mm/sec to Print Speed in mm/min. Just out of curiosity - is there a way (besides adding a second printer definition)?

"I just wanted to do USB printing more for console powers than anything." Well then you need a console. I'm an amateur hack and nowhere near the level of the code writers around here but I did write a little Windows app to provide a way to send commands to my printer and to view the responses and to remotely handle printing from the SD card. I modestly call it "Greg's SD Print Tool". Essentially, you copy your gcode file to the SD card and stick it in the printer. After that, you can control the printer functions from a connected computer (running Windows because Visual Basic doesn't port to Linux or Mac). The screenshot shows the available functions. You will still need to use the button on the LCD for manual pauses and aborting a print. Unzip the file and peruse the ReadMe file and then run the "setup.exe" file. If you decide to install it please understand that it's an unsigned app (that costs money) so you will likely have to talk your anti-virus into allowing the install. At any rate I find it handy. Here is the interface. ReadMe.zip

I was going to take a look. My computer isn't beefy enough to open that in any software.

Or the infamous "Remove all Holes" is checked. The dropdown list next to the Search Settings box is Settings Visibility. Set it to "All". Go to Mesh Fixes and un-check all the boxes.