GregValiant

Hello @Schmordan. My printer is an Ender 3 Pro so it's pretty close to yours. Banging and clanging can be caused by a couple off things. First are the belts. They should "twang like the strings on a bass guitar." so make sure they are adjusted as well as you can. If a tooth jumps because of a loose belt you will get an immediate layer shift. Under the Speed settings in Cura are "Enable Accel Control" and "Enable Jerk Control". You should enabled them and set all the Accel settings to 500 and all the Jerk settings to 8 (those are the Ender 3 defaults). More capable machines can take much higher accel numbers but on light duty machines like the Enders, low acceleration can keep the printer from beating itself up with harsh stops and starts. If you think of Jerk as "Minimum Speed around a Corner" you would not be far off. Once again, lower numbers are less harsh on the equipment. On each of the trolleys, one of the wheels is adjustable via an eccentric cam built into the mounting bolt. The adjustable one is the one with the large hex nut shape while the fixed ones are round. You should just be able to turn any wheel with your fingers. If they are too loose then machine accuracy will suffer. Too tight and the machine has to work too hard to move the axes. Adjust them as well as you can. Cable management. Make sure there is no interference with the bed cabling, nor with any other cables. The axes need full freedom of movement and should not be brought up short because they ran out of leash. I printed a bracket that mounts on the top cross-brace and my cables hang from it with rubberband "suspenders". Depending on the shape of the model, you should be able to print up to 75mm/sec with no problem. On smallish prints the machine will never get up that fast and generally, slower will give a better looking print and often, a more accurate print. The only "Mods" I've done to my three year old printer is a Micro-Swiss hot end, some decent belt adjusters, and I changed all the fans. In particular, the layer cooling blower was useless but they were all sleeve bearing models and the ball bearing replacements are a lot quieter. There should be no reason to fool with the mainboard. The printer can also hurt itself by ramming into the end stops (over- travel). That is caused by a combination of the machine settings in Cura (bed size), and the home-offset setting in the printer.

Hello @nian66 This is something that can be done with Support Blockers. They can be configured as an Infill Mesh or as a Cutting Mesh. Load your model with the text on the build plate. Bring in a support blocker. Size to so it's larger than the model in the X and Y and 1 layer high. Set it on the build plate. In the per model settings (the button above the support blocker button) set your block to "Modify setting for overlaps" and as a Cutting Mesh. Use the Select Settings button and select "Wall Line Count" and set it to 1, and select "Extra Skin Wall Count" and set it to 0. The shadow outside the benchy is the outside of the "Mesh Modifier" support block. Since the modifier is only a single layer thick it only affects the bottom layer. If your text is on top then just move the mesh modifier up so it effects the top layer. Here is layer 2. You can see that it has the regular 3 walls and the extra skin wall for a total of 4.

@SteveVeritas - load a model and prepare Cura to slice, then use the "File | Save Project" command to create a 3mf file. Post the 3mf file here. It may be helpful if you posted the gcode file that you printed your example model with. Someone will take a look. It's always hard to tell from images but with the data in hand maybe something will stick out.

If you haven't done so, load the Printer Settings plugin from the MarketPlace. When you restart Cura it will be down at the bottom below Experimental. Within it are "Extruders share heater" and "Extruders share nozzle". For your printer enable both of them. They will both be true all the time. I don't think they affect your color merging ratios, just whether or not to use the standby temperature at a tool change (bad idea on your printer). You really shouldn't fool with the fdmprinter file. Just because you set something doesn't mean there is any support code behind it. It's an easy file to break. Consider - all those settings were thought about and implemented in a certain way. Fdmprinter.def.json tells you a lot, but you should listen rather than talk.

Load the model and set Cura up to slice. Then use the "File | Save Project" command and post the 3mf file here. Someone will take a look. In the meantime you can open that file in something like MS 3D Builder and check it for errors. A lot of those types of models have errors due to the way they are created (from a cartoon / magazine or scanned). @MariMakes is a fan of miniatures and might have some info.

In the Mesh Settings section of Cura make sure that "Remove all Holes" is turned off and that "Make Overhangs Printable" is turned off. That looks like "Remove all Holes" might be on.

It ended up being my "return" line. I used a simple "return" figuring it would exit gracefully. Wrong. A simple "return" implies "return None" and it wasn't the post-processor that was complaining, it was Cura when the None came back instead of the data. Using "return data" makes it all good again even though nothing was done to the data. Once again, much thanks.

It's still broken. Adaptive Layers has also caught the bug. retraction_hop_enabled = extruder.getProperty("retraction_hop_enabled", "value") and adaptive_layers = global_container_stack.getProperty("adaptive_layer_height_enabled", "value") Everything else seems fine and works as expected.

"Certainly something wrong in your code." Cuq, putting it up here where everybody can see that I'm banging rocks together isn't helping my self-esteem. I had "UM.Application" instead of "Cura.CuraApplication". Curious that it worked with "True" but not with "False".

I have another question. I've been playing with a post for altering Z-hops. I want it to exit when Z-hops are not enabled in Cura (or adaptive layers are enabled, or extruder count >1, but those are OK). ("extrud" is the extruderlist) When Z-hops are enabled in Cura retraction_hop_enabled = (extrud[0].getProperty("retraction_hop_enabled", "value")) results in retraction_hop_enabled = True but when Z-hops are disabled in Cura it results in: "TypeError: 'NoneType' object is not subscriptable" and exits. I have tried several things but I've been unable to get around this so any help would be appreciated. (My normal system of blindly pushing buttons until I find one that works has let me down.)

@Torgeir are you familiar with this failure?

Yes, it's a shot with the build plate rolled over so the camera is pointed at the sky (if there was a sky).

It's so simple and so complicated. The block has properties and the model has properties. An "Infill Mesh" will interact with a model and change certain things, and as a "Cutting Mesh" the same block will interact with the real model in a different way. Here is a little Cutting Mesh in the bigger model. The cutter is set to single wall, If you look closely you will see that the small block does indeed have a single wall but the portion of the real model that it has cut still has it's 3 walls - they go around the little block. A problem is that the little block will leave scars on the exterior of the model as it is "cutting" the model and so what it is really doing is leaving a pocket in the model. So that pocket has 4 walls - 3 of the regular model and one wall from the cutting mesh. It's the scar on the exterior that I don't like. I'm a firm believer that the slicer should be excellent at slicing the model I give it. If I want the model to be different, I give it a different model. Cura is an excellent slicer, but it will never replace a CAD program. My advice therefore is to alter your model so that area only has a single wall, or you will need to live with some of vagaries of trying to modify a model in a slicing app. It can be done...but it's complicated.

You might have the Mesh Fixes setting "Remove all Holes" turned on. Another possibility would be a problem with the model itself. Cura has a plugin called Mesh Tools available in the Marketplace. With that loaded it gives Cura some repair ability. MS 3D Builder is a pretty good repair tool, and there are online repair services. That looks like "remove all holes" is on.

Nope. From the base printer definition file "fdmprinter.def.json": "adhesion_type": "label": "Build Plate Adhesion Type", "settable_per_extruder": false I guess I can see what you want. If you have 3 different custom profiles that were identical to each other except for the Bed Adhesion extruder then that would be about the same thing. It's one mouse click to set it, but that's what you have now.

This is with compatibility mode turned on. This 2D rendering has some advantages. This is with it turned off. This 3D rendering has some advantages. If your system has dual video systems and an app like the Nvidia Control Panel then you can set it to allow Cura to use the more capable video system and you should get the 3D rendering. If SuperSlicer doesn't require OpenGL 4.0, and your system doesn't support OpenGL 4.0, then yes, SuperSlicer could render in 3D and Cura in the flat view.

That looks like you are in Compatibility Mode. Cura defaults to that when the video system doesn't support OpenGL 4.0, or the Computer doesn't assign Cura to a more capable video sub-system (if there is one), or, the Preferences / Configure Cura/ Viewport Behavior setting "Force Layer View Compatibility Mode" is ticked. If it's on then turn it off. The other two are harder to fix. It could be your operating system or your video drivers.

The post-processor "ChangeAtZ" can make changes to several settings but the Z-hop isn't one of them. Likewise as you have found out, no travel settings are settable using a modifier. I played with a post-processor for changing the Z-hop height between certain layers but I haven't looked at it in a couple of years. Actually, the reason I'm posting here is that when Cura paints a model with polka-dots it indicates that the model has errors. There are repair utility apps and on-line repair services for model files. For that model it doesn't appear to make a difference in the slicing, but getting in the habit of checking and repairing models can save time and confusion down the road.

Ribs and gussets would be good. If it broke as a metal part then your FDM replacement will need all the help it can get.

I have another couple of questions regarding Cura... I want to get the "initial_extruder_nr" from Cura in a post-processor. Getting the "extruders_enabled_count" would be a bonus. What do I need to import? What would be the syntax?

There are no dumb questions. I strive not to give dumb answers. The entire USB Printing thing isn't very sophisticated. Cura looks for a port it can open and then tries several baud rates and sends M105 each time. When it gets a response that it understands, then it uses the port. The printer isn't very complicated either. It will accept most any connection (whether it understands it or not is another question). As you probably suspected, that leaves us with your new laptop. The screenshot below is the Windows 11 device manager. If you squint you can see that "Ports Com and LPT lists a single port as "USB-SERIAL CH340 (COM3)". The COM number will change depending on which port I have the printer plugged in to. But the port driver (in my case it's the "USB-SERIAL CH340" driver) is what allows the computer to "see" the printer. If the driver included with Cura isn't right for your hardware then that is likely the problem. Do a internet search for "USB to SERIAL" port drivers and you should come up with something that will work. My laptop is a couple of months old and has the 3.0 USB ports and I haven't had a problem. The "USB Printing" plugin isn't maintained as no UM printers use it and no contributors/collaborators have attempted to try and bring it up to date/fix it. A main reason is what you are running into and that is the ridiculous amount of hardware and driver combinations out there both in the computers and in the printers. Printing via the cloud or Octoprint seems to be much preferred (I'm an SD card guy). For the most part - if USB Printing works that's great. If it doesn't then it doesn't.

That is often caused by errors in the model. If you zoom in to your image you can see that there are a couple layers missing below the large gap. In addition, Cura has determined that the area requires Top and Bottom layers which is telling us that it is calculating the lower and upper as separate parts and with a little sliver in between. Here is the message from MS 3D Builder: Here is the repaired model sliced. Here is where that leg attaches (allegedly) to the frame. I think the little step there is an indication of what the problem is. Here is the repaired model. Pbase-0.zip

I'm not very familiar with the UM machines but in general... I suppose #1 is using a different material for the support so it doesn't stick to the model as well. That will allow you to break it away or dissolve it, without harming the model. Under Material Settings are "Support Flow" and "Support Interface Flow". I found that running them at 90% created a weaker structure that was easier to collapse and remove. On a small model (like you show there), it's going to need "Support Wall Count" at 1. When "Connect Support Lines" is checked then a second wall is created around much of the support and so it's stronger. You will need to experiment and look closely at the preview to insure the your support won't need its own support. If you must grow support from the model itself, and the model and support are the same material - have the "Support Top Distance" at 1X layer height but the "Support Bottom Distance" set to 2X layer height. That will leave a cleaner bottom surface and make it easier to remove. You really can't change the Support Top Distance much as it directly affects model geometry. A cold interface won't allow the "Roof" to stick to it as well. (To toot my own horn, I have a plugin in the works to address finer control of the fan). Putting the interface down at a slow speed allows it to cool off before the roof goes on. On a small part like you have there, your going to be bouncing off the Minimum Print Speed anyway so you don't have a lot of flexibility there. Floor and roof interfaces at least 4 layers thick can help. If nothing else, it allows easier access for a hobby knife to get in there to pare it away. You will need to play with the "Interface density" to find an optimum. It will be denser for small parts and less dense on large parts. In the end though, a good set of "support removal tools" is a must. Being able to work the support out of tight places and leave the cleanest surface possible is a learned skill and requires some practice. @MariMakes is from UM and is a moderator here. She does a lot of work with smallish models and may have a take on the support issue as well.

It isn't something a lot of people are proud of. That's especially true when the problem is self-inflicted. Perusing the Creality Ender 3 group and some other "basic" printer groups on Reddit will certainly turn up a collection of disasters. Searching by "Disaster Name" may be worthwhile. Unfortunately, my prints are all models of perfection (HA!) so I can't really help.

That's good. If you have to go further things get complicated.