GregValiant
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Posts posted by GregValiant
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There ya go. Did you end up with 1 or 2 layers?
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What you want is an infill pattern. No walls, no floor, no roof.
Bring in a 25mm calibration cube. Use the Scale tool, but use the absolute numbers. Make it .4 thick and set it on the build plate. X and Y can be whatever you want.
Layer height .2
Walls 0
Top and bottom 0
a bunch of other 0's
Infill = lines
Infill line distance = .8
Infill line direction = [0,90]
Connect Infill Lines = False
Infill Overlap % = 0
I think I would put a pause in between layers to insure that the first layer is hardened before running the nozzle back across it. If you use "Grid" instead of "Lines" you can reduce the model height to .2. The downside is that you can't put in a pause and each pass might tear up the plastic that is already in place.
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"I guess I should just quit obsessing with the line width" That's what I advise. The E numbers you see in a Gcode file are "mm of filament" (some printers use mm^3). When you calibrate the E steps and tell the printer to extrude 30mm of filament and pretty near exactly 30mm goes through the extruder gear, that's it...you are done. Move on.
As @gr5 says, you need to measure back further. I always calibrate the E steps when I change nozzles because I find it easier that way. You could pull the bowden tube out of one end and measure there or just measure before the extruder motor. The photo shows my setup but you'll have to use your imagination because I'm too lazy to pull the nozzle just for this post. Calibrating all 4 axis needs to be done occasionally as the printer wears in.
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Timing is everything. I've just finished printing 24 round drink coasters for my son's fishing team. It would have been a decent test of the plugin.
I'll give it a trial in a couple of days.
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On the one side there is a switch, and on the other side there is something acting as the trip dog. It is often easier to change the trip dog.
Here is the fix for my Ender. The gray clip is easily removeable so I can take the glass off and go back to the magnetic pad. The narrow finger sticking out on the bottom of the clip is the piece that hits the switch. The thickness is the difference between the glass, and the magnetic pad. With the clip in place - the switch is tripped about 3mm short of where the actual frame piece used to trip the switch.
Cura doesn't know or care where the build plate is. Cura does need to know how big it is. I don't know on the Tronxy but the Home Offset numbers usually set the local 0,0,0 and then when the gcode comes into the printer, that's what is used as the origin for the print. I suppose you could go into the machine settings and make the "Z" Max 3mm shorter. I didn't bother and I don't think Mr. Spock is going to show up and yell at me.
(On a personal note, I finally got to stick my "Stoopid" logo into a post.)
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I used "QIDI Print" (Cura 4.3.0) to generate three gcode files. (I used two 25mm calibration cubes as models)
This is from a file with the "R" extruder disabled:
T1
G92 E0
G92 E0
G1 F1800 E-3This is from a file with the "L" extruder disabled:
T0
G92 E0
G92 E0
G1 F1800 E-3And this is from a file that uses both extruders:
G92 E0
G92 E0
G1 F1800 E-3In all three cases, no mention is made in the G92 or G1 lines of which extruder should be reset to 0 and then retract 3mm. The firmware knows which extruder to send the steps to. I understand that this is indirect evidence and does not mean that M104 and M109 work the same way in your printer.
Your printer also excepts (at least two) custom GCODE commands like M4010 and M2100 that are generated by QIDI Print. These might have something to do with the display (M4010 in particular since it sends Hex code). It appears that developers at QD did some alteration to Cura 4.3.0 for their printers. The firmware (which according to the generated Gcode files is Marlin) must have been altered to accept those commands since neither is listed on the MarlinFW site as being supported. If QIDI Print is using post-processing plugin(s) to generate those special Gcodes, maybe you can copy the plugin(s) over to your newer Cura installation.
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"What I am looking for is a setting that would either let me change the overall number of walls or let me adjust the printing order to outside in for all structures per layer, ie: infill -> inner wall -> top skin -> outer wall."
Extra Infill Wall Count?
Infill before Walls?
Outer Wall before Inner Walls?
A possible alternative is to create different Gcode files each with your different settings, and then to manually splice the Gcode files at the layers that you want the changes to take effect. X and Y usually work out. The Z and the E locations must be carefully adjusted at the splice points for seamless transition between the previous code section, and the spliced in section.
I count the bytes to a layer or line number in a Gcode file and use M32 to call a second file and then M26 to jump to a byte location in that file from which I want the second file to start printing. That works very well when the settings in file 1 are grossly dis-similar to the settings used in file 2. Ex: Going from a conventional printed base and putting a Vase mode object on it.
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The active tool is the last one that was called out in a "T" command. A "T" command is a modal command. It stays in effect unless another "T" command changes it.
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From the MarlinFW.org site for M104...[T<Hot End Index] Hotend index. If omitted, the currently active hotend will be used.
Examples
Set target temperature for the active hotend
M104 S185As Tinkergnome mentioned in the other post, you may have a firmware problem. M104 isn't "global" and without any "T" parameters is supposed to set the temperature on the "Currently Active" hot end only. For any other hot end to be effected there must be an explicit parameter.T0 ;change to extruder 0
M104 T1 S175 ;Set extruder 1 to a standby temperature of 175M104 S200 ;Set the current extruder (in this example it's 0) to 200. T1 isn't mentioned so it stays at 175.T1 ;change back to extruder 1
M104 T0 S175 ;Set extruder 0 to a standby temperature of 175M104 S200 ;Set the current extruder (now it's 1) to 200. T0 isn't mentioned so it stays at 175.Any other action taken by the printer firmware isn't right. -
Post one of the good gcode files and one of the ones that doesn't work. Make the file names obvious so we can tell which is which. It is often something simple. Does that printer have a heated bed?
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A few months ago there was a long discussion (either here or on GitHub) regarding Slicing Tolerance. I think the consensus was to use Middle as there were confusing issues with the other two. You seem to have found one - but it wasn't the only one.
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"...like you would if in 2D print you printed on 4 sheets of paper for a larger print".
You pose an interesting question. The short answer is "yes you can". My question is "do you really want to?".
It really takes a lot of thought to move those separate pieces of paper around on your kitchen table, align them to each other, and then tape them together so they don't move when you cut out the full shape with scissors. Part of that "process" is to make sure that each piece of paper has witness lines that will line up with the next piece of paper. That gets done ahead of time, not when you have them on the kitchen table.
By fudging the build plate size in Machine Settings, changing the Home Offset in your printer, and using support blockers you can get Cura to slice the model within your "real" build plate area. With the support blockers configured as "Cutting Mesh" you could print it in sections and then screw or glue the sections together.
How are you going to locate the finished sections in space relative to each other? Each section will have a flat face that mates to the flat face on the next section. Each face is a featureless slip plane. If the bottom of each piece is flat, you could apply glue and slide them together while guessing that the last plane (X or Y) is aligned by eyeballing it. I'm not a fan of simply "eyeballing" things into position.
When I print large models I make them into sections in CAD. Each section of my model mates to the next via features that are common to both pieces. If the piece is large enough for it, there will be locating pins in one piece and mating holes in the next. All of that needs to be in the design rather than in the slicer. One way to locate things is to put 2mm mating holes in each part, cut pieces of filament as locating pins, and glue them into one part, and drop the other part onto the pins. The parts are "absolutely" located relative to each other.
This is the Cafe Racer tail section for my motorized bicycle. It required two large prints because it was too big for the Ender to take the whole thing at once. (GET YOUR MINDS OUT OF THE GUTTER PEOPLE!!!)
This shows the interface between the two sections. Since this is a functional part, it needed to be screwed together. The 3 screw holes on the front part have collars, and the mating holes on the rear part have counterbores to accept them. The hex nuts are trapped because I couldn't get both hands into it to hold the wrench while screwing. (Damn, I did it again!).
My "Hardley Davison". The nitrous tank is opposite the fishing rod holder. Yes, I'm a Detroit boy.
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I can't help with creating a profile. I did notice you asked where the Printer Settings plugin went. They are like Quality, Shell, Travel, Speed, etc. and Printer Settings is the last group at the bottom of the settings. If you have set up your machine as a Dual Extruder then the Dual Extrusion group of settings should be available as well.
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"With a 32 bit 1 GHz $10 chip you can easily do 1000 paths in the lookup path". Thanks for that gr5.
My buffer holds 8 moves. At boot-up the machine shows the size as 1232. I can probably safely assume that it is not terabytes. Dealing with it reminds me of having to hand load drivers in Windows 3.1 into DOS "high" memory. There was never enough room.
One of my mantras is "Never upgrade an operating system". It's a gimme that something won't get the memo and it will take days to figure out what the problem is. I'll stick with the 8 bit system in this 2 bit printer (that's an American colloquialism for "cheap Chinese POS"). I'm coming to understand it and it's limitations. I'm not trying to run production or build parts for a moon rocket. If I was to get a chipset like that, I'd want the surrounding hardware to be up to the task. The word "robust" comes to mind. Ultimaker printers look robust.
It would absolutely not be the printer that is sitting here in front of me.
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Mari says "Keep filenames as short as possible, don't use spaces to make filename easy readable!". This is excellent advice.
The Creality machines don't deal well with filenames over 16 characters. Short names are good. I find I have to re-format the SD card every couple of weeks as well.
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I want you to know @Framar that if I would have worked harder in 9th grade typing class I'd have gotten here first.
Yes, you can use "Support Blockers". Scale them, move them into position, set the "Per Model Settings" and "Modify Settings for Overlaps". Select the settings you want to alter (not all settings are available but # of walls is). There is a plugin for cylindrical support blockers if the rectangular ones don't work for you.
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Did you install the printer in Cura as a "custom" printer or did you use a definition and alter it? I think the problem you are experiencing is more related to "when did I turn on the machine and what did I do" than to USB/SD card.
This is from the startup Gcode in that file:
G28 X0 Y0 ;move X/Y to min endstops
G28 Z0 ;move Z to min endstops
G1 Z1 F1000 ;move up slightly
G1 Y60.0 Z0 E9.0 F1000.0;intro line
G1 Y100.0 E21.5 F1000.0 ;continue line
G92 E0 ;zero the extruded length againThere is no G92 E0 before the first line of extrusion. If the extruder has a previous location, it is moving to E9 before it does anything else. If it is starting out for example at E456 then yes, it is going to do a very long retraction before starting to print. If you turn on the printer and it's fresh the E is at 0 so the Gcode works as expected whether it's via USB or from the SD card.
In regards to that first extrusion line - it starts at X0 Y0 Z1.0 and extrudes 9mm of plastic to X0 Y60.0 Z0. Then the second part of the extrusion in the next line is 40mm long but also at a Z of 0. The printer is being asked to squeeze 12.5mm of filament into a space of zero volume. Not good.
I suggest that you go into "Machine Settings / Start-Up Gcode" and make the following changes:
G28 X0 Y0 ;move X/Y to min endstops
G28 Z0 ;move Z to min endstopsG92 E-5 ; Add this line to set E location to a slight retraction
G1 Z0.2 F1000 ;move up slightly ;Change this lineG1 F3000 E0 ;Add this line to prime the nozzle - it may leave a little puddle.
G1 Y60.0 Z0.2 E3.0 F1500.0;intro line ;Change this line. The 3.0 is for a .4 nozzle at 150% flow.
G1 Y100.0 E5.0 F1500.0 ;continue line ;Change this line to continue at a decent flow.
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Considering what goes on in the little space under a nozzle reminds me of considering what goes on in the little space of the combustion chamber of an internal combustion engine. For such small spaces, it's complicated.
When printing conventionally the stripe of plastic is often trapped on one side by a previous stripe of plastic. The new stripe can't flow that way because the previous stripe has created a wall and so it pushes the other way. The line width is the "Index" movement between one stripe and the next so it isn't really "Wall Width". In Vase mode the width of the plastic stripe is dependent on temperature, the material properties, nozzle wear, first layer vs other layers, flow, etc. and the stripe is not trapped. You would expect it to be exactly 1/2 line width on either side of the nozzle centerline, but that's not likely to happen although as you found, you can make it so.
The area under the nozzle is (usually) defined as a rectangle - "line width wide" x "layer height high". But the Vase mode stripe isn't a rectangle because it's molten plastic so the sides bulge into a radius making the shape into a flattened oval. That may be what you are measuring - the additional .05 radius on either side of the Vase mode stripe. Printing conventionally (at .4 line width), the stripe is trapped on one side by a previous stripe so it's .2+ on one side, and .2- on the other side of the centerline. At some point you have to make a decision on how to treat the area under the nozzle. Is it a rectangle, an oval, or 1/2 of each? It's a compromise which of course means that it's wrong either way. I think Simplify3D uses a fudge factor in regards to the size of the rectangle to try to account for the fact that it isn't really a rectangle. Cura seems to be straight forward in considering that it is a rectangle.
I've come to the conclusion (opinion really) that trying to calibrate for flow using any method beyond calibrating the Esteps is useless. Better to use the Mark I Eyeball because as you noted when you "saw the gaps"... when it looks good it's good and when it looks bad it ain't good. I happen to have a microscope to assist my Mark I Eyeball and I have verified that good is different from bad to my personal satisfaction.
When printing in Vase mode I usually go to .6 line width with my .4 nozzle. I like the way it looks.
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It sees my Creality machine just fine. Have you tried using different USB ports on the computer? I don't know about Cura but some installers only put the USB to Serial connectivity on 1 port. The other ports don't have the drivers and so if the printer is connected to one of those it won't be noticed. One thing I did notice is that after starting Cura it takes about a minute for Cura to acknowledge communication with the printer. Then the Monitor screen comes to life.
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Let me start by saying I am an American and it's all inches, feet, gallons and pounds here.
Cura can open a model drawn in inches just fine. Open the file, select the model then select the scale tool and scale it to 2540%. If you bring in a 25mm cube calibration block you can scale it to 1.016 and make it an inch. After that the size doesn't really come into play since there isn't any way in Cura to actually measure anything any way. If you find it easier you can scale the model before you export it from Fusion. I have no idea if that's what the Fusion plug-in does (I'm still in Mechanical Desktop) but that would seem to be an easy way to do it as well.
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Reviewing your Gcode file the model sliced perfectly. You asked Cura to "Remove all holes" and it did. No problem.
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I had the same problem. My workaround is to use the "Search and Replace" plugin and change "G1 F2700 E-5" to G92 E-5. That results in a little prime blob when the skirt starts, but...it's a skirt. At least the flow gets going right from the get go.
Changing the retraction speed or retraction distance changes the line so I have to remember to change the search criteria as well.
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About the time the Pentium came out I came across an article on the total production numbers of the Intel 286 chip. They were huge, so being the curious guy I am, I looked around at what they were being installed in (since it wasn't computers anymore). It turned out that the #1 use of 286 chips was dishwashers.
Jump forward 20 years.
A short time ago I bought a new clothes washer. Why is there a USB port on the back of my clothes washer? Does it need an ethernet line? Bluetooth? Will Alexa wash my clothes? Does it want to discuss grass stains? mud? the meaning of life in a small room? Does it run on a 286 or (more likely) some new and improved super chip? It does exactly the same job that my mother's wringer washer did in the 1950's...just not as well.
Lately there has been a movement to 32 bit boards in 3d printers. Now I do have a fairly wide skill set and I freely admit that this is outside of it but...
Is the problem bandwidth or processing time? If the architecture of a chipset/mainboard is going to be changed, why not move to a more capable chip? Is it like GCODE where the installed base is so huge that even small changes lead to tsunamis as the ripple moves through the various industries that utilize it? I'm sure there is no consensus amongst printer manufacturers and that would seem to be a requirement for a clean break with the past.
It just seems that a 3D printer should be more capable than my clothes washer and dishwasher. What is needed is a Resolution Revolution. You still couldn't print a real circle whether with G1 or G2-G3 (HA - and you folks thought I went off topic!), but it would seem to be a positive thing if the mental bits of the machine could keep up with the mechanical bits.
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Artillery Sidewinder X1
Here's the location and file name you need to alter. "c\Program Files\Ultimaker Cura 4.8.0\resources\definitions\artillery_base.def.json
The instructions noted in my previous post apply. Alter the two lines. Don't alter anything but the numbers. If there are spaces, there are supposed to be spaces.
Single wall mesh
in UltiMaker Cura
Posted
For me it was adjusting the flow at the beginning of a print to get a good first layer. Then I progressed to playing with the leveling wheels on the fly during the skirt or brim. Finally I discovered that I was much better off leveling with cooking oven "parchment paper". It's thin, nothing sticks to it, and I've gotten very consistent results with it. I guess sales receipt paper works well too, but unlike parchment paper filament will stick to it.