GregValiant

It isn't support...Cura is making the overhangs printable buy putting chamfers in to support the ceilings...or something. Go to "Experimental" and de-select "Make Overhang Printable".

I can't get my Ender up to 110, but it will hit 109. I don't print a lot of ABS (serious fumes) but when I do I put a plastic garbage bag over the printer. ABS is extremely prone to warping, splitting at layer lines, and pulling off the bed, if it cools the least bit unevenly. I don't like having the motors in such a hot environment either. Most folks build enclosures, but the fumes are still an issue. You can change the ABS setting in the printer firmware by putting these two lines in a text file and saving it as a *.gcode and printing the file. M145 S1 H245 B109 F0 M500 The "S1" indicates the second material (usually ABS) "H" is hot end temp, "B" for bed temp, and "F" for fan (in PWM so 0 - 255). M500 saves the settings. You cannot change the names of the materials as they are hard coded in the printer.

If you use "File | Save Project" and post the 3mf file here, someone will take a look.

The gray areas that Cura shows on the edges of the build plate are tuned to the skirt/brim width and their distance from the part. It's a disallowed area because Cura needs it for the bed adhesion structure. If you turn bed adhesion off you'll see the part will fit. Use a narrow skirt (3 rows) and keep it close to the model (2mm) and you should be good. Another thing you could do is to rotate the part 45°.

Still over 10 hours to print. I just kept fooling with it. 7% grid infill. The angled area is still kind of random. Z-seam is "User Specified", "Front", "Seam Corner Preference" = None. GV_Part1.3mf

I've never considered a translation from one flavor to another or from one diameter to another. #1 would be to find out if the print will physically fit on the S3 build plate. The Home Offset might have to be adjusted to move the print. I suppose the bulk of the translation could be done simply using a macro in MS Excel. As gr5 notes, the opening Gcode would have to work and there might be a couple of lines of hand coding at the beginning. At the end - who cares. The print is done. Rather than the ratio of the squares of the diameters, I think the ratio of the areas of each filament. Going from 2.85 to 1.75 would be all E values * 2.652245. Going from 1.75 to 2.85 would be all E values * .377039. I wonder what the printer would think of the retraction distances. If 2.85 was being retracted 5mm and the 1.75 was being adjusted to retract 13.3mm would the printer clog? Going the other way would 1.9mm of retraction be enough or would there be stringing issues? I've got 1/2 hour into it already and no code is written.

"...very thin extruder, like 0.06mm." NO. That would be the layer height after the initial layer. You are thinking of the nozzle diameter. A .4 is likely OK so long as it extrudes correctly. Any under-extrusion and you could develop pinhole leaks. The layer height would be a huge hit on time-to-print. Likewise the print speed would be a big hit. The amount of infill, wall thickness, top and bottom thickness all play a part in how long a print will take. Cura is actually pretty good at time calculation. Every printer is different though so the real print time will vary. Slicing a model with different settings will give you a good indication of time though. If Cura tells you a configuration will take 60 minutes and another configuration gives you 120 minutes, it's a pretty sure thing that the second one will take twice as long.

My understanding of speed in Cura generated Gcode is that a line like "G1 F4500 X2 Y 22 E222.12345" simply tells the printer where to go (including the E) and at what speed. If acceleration and Jerk are enabled, then the firmware handles the further calculations of Accel, Decel, and applies the Jerk setting. It times the steps to be sent to each motor so that they all arrive at the same time. If the extrusion is short, then dependent on the Accel setting, the print head will not be able to reach the speed. It will spend half the move accelerating and half decelerating.

You can do a Search and Replace to get rid of that line. I found that using Search and Replace and changing "G1 F1500 E-6.5" to "G92 E-6.5" works for me. It provides extra prime at the start of a skirt (or whatever). The down side is that if I change my retraction distance, I have to remember to change the plugin Search criteria. If Z-hops are enabled I don't believe the line "G1 Z2.0 F300" shows up. Instead it's "G1 Z(initialLayerHeight+ZHop)" so in many of my prints it becomes Z0.7 as opposed to Z2.0. At any rate, extrusion doesn't start at the elevated height, but rather at the working height of the first layer. I have never found any problems with bed adhesion that can be blamed on Cura. For me, it's always been "Userware".

They aren't there to support that radius feature because it is more than 55°. My guess (since they are rectangular) is that they are attempting to support the rectangle above. Moving the support blocker up higher might help.

Use "File | Save Project" and post the 3mf file here. Nobody likes to make a dumb guess, and a 3mf will have the model along with all your settings. Then we can make an educated guess. Huge difference there.

Geert_2, that takes all the fun out of it. Fortunately, Cura can be fooled into providing proper assembly geometry if each sub-assembly has a plate the same size as the build surface. What I propose is a hardware solution. A Sine Plate would introduce another axis. Please understand that this is quick and dirty and just off the top of my head. A hinge affixed to a piece of aluminum that replaces the build plate. A simple wedge to set the angle. There are two parts to print...the first is just the bottom layers. The second is the upper portion of the part missing the bottom layers. Scribble this up in design software and export the STL once with just the bottom layers on the sine plate, and again with the top part rotated about the sine plate axis into it's print position. Strategically place a couple of Cutting Meshes. Slice a part that represents just the bottom layers. Bring in the rest of the part (bottom layers missing) and slice it. Combine the files with a pause at the transition so the angle can be adjusted. Dependent on part geometry, this may still require a long nozzle to provide clearance for the print head. AHoeben's solution would be more elegant. I'm more of a sledge hammer guy. Here is a hinge. The bottom layers get printed. Here is the second portion of the part sans the bottom layers (and with the hinge missing). Slice with no supports.

"...A bit of filament was still hanging from the nozzle as the print head..." The technical term for that is "booger" and it is the result of some oozing from the nozzle. The retraction setting would likely help, but then you need a prime ("Extrude Amount" in the settings). If the Extrude Amount isn't just right it will result in a blob. My system is to hold the booger with a pair of long nose tweezers in my left hand, and hit the button with my right hand. Off it goes. In Cura under Manage Printers | Machine Settings the Gcode flavor is noted. In 4.6 check that you are using Marlin(M0) to pause. As I said, if there are Z-hops in the Gcode file then the Plugin has trouble finding the working Z height. "By Layer" should work fine.

I often use Z-hop if a print has a largish horizontal hole or arch that may want to curl up during printing. If the curl catches on the nozzle it can push the print. My preference for those types of parts is 0.5 to 1.0 of Z-hop. I know it's a question of semantics, but reading it carefully "Z-Hop only over printed parts" limits Z-hops within a particular part. It isn't the same as Combing mode. And as gr5 says, there are numerous other settings that have an effect on Retraction and subsequent Z-Hops. It isn't an easy setting to understand (but what in 3D printing is?).

There is a hard way and an easy way. The "Mingda Slicer" is an older version of Cura (4.6?) and when you start it, it even shows the "There is a newer version of Cura available" popup. I didn't try this, but you might install the Mingda Slicer and then use the popup to install Cura 4.8. Maybe it will keep the machine definition files from the Mingda installation if you have added a Mingda printer. Here is the hard way... Download and install the Mingda Slicer from HERE. You may have to change the language option (it installed in Chinese), but the machine definition files are normal Python files and can be copied and pasted from "C:\Program Files\Mingda Printer\resources\definitions" folder to "C:\Program Files\Ultimaker Cura 4.8\resources\definitions". I didn't see a "Rock" listed, but there is a 3Pro. Understand that over-writing some files (the basic machine definition files like "fdmprinter.def.json" may create issues. I make no recommendations regarding which ones should not be over-written, and which ones should. I will say that you can always un-install and re-install Cura. With the Machine Definition files in the Cura 4.8 folder you should be able to install your printer (or at least a Mingda that is close enough). You printer appears to be a clone of a basic open frame cartesian printer and the Start-Up and End gcodes appear to be the same as my Creality printer. The easier way (easier than having to learn Chinese) is to add an Ender 3 to Cura and change the printer name. You could then go into Manage Printers and Machine Settings and change the basic build volume size to whatever your printer is. Your firmware is Marlin. That's the most important setting. Second is that the Auto-Leveling system (if you have one) is configured correctly. If it isn't then the printer-processor can lock up at the start of a print. Raft is an option under Build Plate Adhesion (it's within the first setting below the title bar). Not a bad looking machine. Good Luck.

@gr5 - it could also be a Silky PLA. I've had the same problem when it has a high moisture content. Drying it out helps a lot. (And I'm a believer that everything runs in streaks, and if true that it's a Silky PLA then this would be the second Silky thread in the past few hours). When extruding prior to printing, if the Silky comes out of the nozzle and immediately expands to about 4 times the nozzle diameter, that would seem to indicate high moisture content as the water turns to steam in the hot end. @jazzsingeruk - you used the word "wispy". Would that equate to "cotton candy"? I've noticed that some nozzles do that much more than others of the same size. It's like they shoot up a roostertail of plastic when they print and it blows all over the place. It's so fine I haven't been able to measure it, and grabbing it with a tool (or even with fingers) is almost impossible. Just changing nozzles probably wouldn't effect all that regular stringing though. I had a couple of good photos of a silky print taken before and after drying the filament. The difference was quite noticeable and it was the same Gcode file. Unfortunately I cleaned out the folder and the photos are gone.

I have had issues with silky PLA as well. It would appear that it absorbs moisture much faster than regular PLA. The layer adhesion is not good. It appears to be "stickier" than regular PLA and does indeed slowly clog at the hot end. But the colors are terrific. Before printing with it I always dry it even though it is stored in a ziploc bag with silica gel packs. I print it at 215 to get better layer adhesion. I've tried to 220 but it gets real stringy. Changing the Retraction settings indeed doesn't seem to help. No matter the printing temperature, it still slowly clogs, and the filament within the bowden tube "accordions" in an attempt to fold itself over rather than feed which makes matters worse. It then requires a pause, a hot pull, and trimming about 100cm of folded material to get going again. This is with a hot end with a titanium heat break and brass nozzle. It generally takes 2 to 3 hours to get to that point. I've used silky filament from Matter Hacker and Sunla. Both have the same issues. But the colors are terrific. The Sunla silver in particular looks like brushed chrome. I have taken to adding pauses at about 2 hour intervals when printing with Silky PLA so I can do a quick hot pull and trim. It's annoying but necessary for me because (did I mention?)...the colors are terrific.

Cura users asked for changes. I'm sure the people who develop and caretake Cura looked at those requested changes before implementing them. The default "Disarm Timeout" on my Ender 3 Pro is 120 seconds. I'm not there to constantly stare at the printer so I set the Disarm Timeout as high as possible just in case I'm slow to respond. I find that the Pause at Height works exactly as intended. My machine has Marlin firmware. The M0 stops the print and a button click on the LCD resumes the print. Looking back at my statement "That is firmware-specific to your printer." could be misleading. I should have said that the Mcode used to pause a print is "firmware-specific to ANY printer".

When you try to use Pause at Height with "Height" as the main option, and you have Z-Hops in the file, the plugin doesn't find the correct Z height. It's a known issue and has been reported on GitHub and a repair is planned. The layer number is the number of the layer in the Gcode file (base 0). It is equal to the Cura preview layer minus 1. Method. You have it set to BQ(M25). That is firmware-specific to your printer. The Disarm Timout is a countdown in seconds. If there has been no movement for "X" number of seconds then the Stepper motors disable and the printer loses track of the print head location. 20 seconds wasn't good. The max allowed in the plugin is 1800 seconds so set it to that. It will give you 30 minutes to change filament or install a nut, or whatever. The amount of Retraction occurs at the pause. The amount of Extrude is the prime on restart. They require some practice since they are affected by the amount of ooze that occurs during the pause. The speeds can be set to whatever you normally use in Cura. I use Pause at Height to change colors. I don't bother with the retraction settings. Redo layer??? I know it doesn't work as expected and that's about all I know. Standby temperature is generally your printing temperature so the nozzle doesn't cool off during the pause. Display text sends a message to the display. Yours might be "Insert your nuts now". (Sorry...couldn't resist. I'm doubly sorry if you are of the female persuasion.) Gcode before Pause I usually put in M300 so the machine beeps when it pauses. Gcode After Pause can be used for different things. It goes in at the line immediately below M25.

I agree about the cantilevered beam. When it's adjusted correctly it's OK. When only moving in one direction it's OK. If there is any binding on the right side then Z-hops aren't correct as the drop isn't the same as the Hop. It sounds like you have a handle on it but I'll comment since I'm here. I adjust it this way: With the X beam at Z=0 adjust the left and right Z eccentric wheels to provide enough force on the upright beams that the wheel can just be turned by hand. Then loosen one end of the top crossbar and move the X beam to Z=Max. Tighten the crossbar. The Z wheels should have the same amount of friction there as they did at the bottom. The left and right uprights must be parallel. One thing I altered was to move the X beam to about Z=25 and drill a hole in the left upright so I could access the right X beam mounting bolt from the rear. With the left bolt tight and the right bolt just a tad loose I can adjust the angle of the X beam (it rotates about the left bolt) and then I can tighten that right bolt. I generally leave my Z-Hop height at 0.5 and it's even-steven both on the hop and on the drop. I didn't buy a top end printer. If the Ender would have been delivered with a decent Hot End, ball bearing fans, dual Z motors, and aluminum extruder drive, Capricorn tubing, etc., it would have cost considerably more. For Creality at least, it was all about price-point. They sucked me in.

I should pay more attention. You're missing 1.1mm? And here I was thinking it was a simple layer height fix. I'm going to assume that was a typo. Using a support blocker as a measuring tool I get 1.9mm as the height of the first step. At .19 Initial Layer Height and regular Layer Height it slices to 10 layers and 1.9 high. If the .9mm height wasn't a typo then check your Z steps/mm.

As you have probably guessed, it's likely a printer issue. Query the printer using the LCD and write down the Home Offsets, steps/mm for all axes, and anything else you may have customized (like z-offset if you have an ABL system). If you are running a flavor of Marlin you can send M502 to the printer and do a factory reset. That will put the firmware back to the "as delivered" state. Start a text editor (like Notepad) on your computer. The file will only be four lines: M502 M206 X?? Y?? Z?? ;This is for the home offsets. Enter the numbers you recorded M92 X?? Y?? Z?? E?? ;This is the steps/mm. Enter the numbers you recorded. M500 Save the file as "reset.gcode" and put it on your SD card and "print" the file. The firmware will be reset, the Home Offset and steps/mm will be changed to what you had, and M500 saves the changes. Then try printing a calibration cube or Benchy and see how it goes. If it is still a mess, then I suppose next would be to consider that something is amiss on the mainboard.

gr5 is the bed adhesion master, but yes, it can be that you are too tight with your piece of paper. I use parchment paper as it is only .04mm thick and nothing sticks to it. When I feel the nozzle "scratch" on the paper, it's just about right. There are a couple of ways to cheat until you get the feel for it. One is setting the Initial Layer Height to .28 or .30. That pretty much insures there will be a gap even if you are tight on the paper. Remember, you don't need to print a whole model. If it starts out bad just abort and try again. It's another thing that calibration cubes are good for. Practice, practice, and then one day you say to yourself "I can't believe I had so much trouble with that". And then the hot end clogs and we can have another little talk.

The gcode file looks fine. The extrusions are all there and the purge lines are enabled. The flowrate is set to 100%. G92 E0 ;Reset Extruder G1 Z2.0 F3000 ;Move Z Axis up G1 X10.1 Y20 Z0.28 F5000.0 ;Move to start position G1 X10.1 Y200.0 Z0.28 F1500.0 E15 ;Draw the first line G1 X10.4 Y200.0 Z0.28 F5000.0 ;Move to side a little G1 X10.4 Y20 Z0.28 F1500.0 E30 ;Draw the second line G92 E0 ;Reset Extruder G1 Z2.0 F3000 ;Move Z Axis up After that it starts to extrude the skirt. G1 F2700 E0 G1 F1200 X128.068 Y126.979 E0.02002 G1 X128.39 Y126.676 E0.03472 If the nozzle is too close to the bed then it won't extrude. Is the extruder skipping steps? Do you have an ABL system or are you leveling by hand?

Did you ever print this?