GregValiant

If a successful slice is dependent on the orientation of the model on the build plate then I wouldn't worry about it. You still need to take a close look because if nothing else you might come across places where you might want the supports different, or you notice that some branches of tree supports are growing in mid-air, things like that. You can make adjustments for those things in Cura, but you need to know what is going on in order to do so.

The Cura Team seems to be buried not just with Cura itself but in updating all the development tools and instructions for collaborators. That particular post-processor is part of an extensive app (Greg's Toolbox) for printer communication and controlling SD card printing from a connected PC. Additionally it is for Windows only as Visual Basic doesn't port to Linux or MAC. If you are running under Windows then send me a PM and we can talk. This is the "Combine Gcodes" interface. Constructive use of "Pause at Height" simplifies the process. (The information in the dialog box happens to be what I used for that vase print I posted.)

"...seems like development on S3D is dead in the water..." From what I've read, they were based in Cincinnati Ohio and as of about the 1st of this year their offices were vacated. One of my post-processors combines gcode files in order to print one file with certain attributes on top of another file with different attributes. It works very well. Much thought must be put into how the two files should join together at the transition layer. I wrote it because it is handy to have around. If an "amateur hack" can do it I'm sure a real software engineer would have no trouble. This one is conventional with infill and at .4 line width up to layer 165 and from there up it is spiralized with .6 line width.

In regards to errors in models: There are serious errors like "not watertight" that can confuse a slicer and keep it from slicing, and there are lessor errors that allow a model to slice but cause it to slice incorrectly. Those are the kind that are difficult to figure out when a model is highly complex. The third kind are errors that don't matter. The model slices correctly in spite of them. You don't have the first type of error but the second type requires a close eye on the preview to insure that the model will print as it should. If it does look as it should then the error is of the third type which just don't matter. @kmanstudios and @cloakfiend do a lot more "fine" work than I do. Maybe they would have a suggestion on how to print something like this successfully, and what pitfalls to watch out for.

Within the Travel section is "Layer Start X" and "Layer Start Y". You can move them near the Z seam. That may have an effect on Combing and consequently the Z seam scar. In the Walls section is "Z Seam Relative". I don't know how much effect that will have on a single model but it can make a difference sometimes on where the Z seam shows up when islands are being printed. The model is a nice piece of work. I hope it prints well for you. Regarding any errors in the model...MS 3D Builder has a repair utility that runs automatically when you Open and then Import Model (which moves it to the workspace). I have found it to be pretty good. There are also on-line utilities as well as things like NetFabb which is included with Fusion360. You have so much work into it you should check it to make sure it's not only watertight but that there are no duplicate or degenerated faces.

I have to print the silky PLA's hotter and the layer adhesion is still no good. They probably have the same colorants as the PETG's. It's a shame too as I can get Silky Silver PLA to come out looking "chrome like", but for anything that needs some strength it isn't good.

I have a little app for debugging. It runs through the gcode and the printer moves around but there is no extrusion and the Z stays at 10mm all the time. It's handy for things like this. It moved from the skirt to the part with no problem. I agree that bad sectors on an SD card would cause that. Sorry I missed that. When the printer's Home Offset is set correctly the prints end up centered on the build plate. I can't help with adhesion promoter because I don't print ABS (my printer is in my office and ABS fumes are toxic). @gr5 is really good with build plate adhesion issues. Maybe he has a suggestion.

Here's how I do most PETG models. In this particular case I wanted the fan to come on when the inside deck printed so I added the Search And Replace to take care of that. SSGregSpFish.3mf I started out printing PETG at 235 but after doing a temp tower I've dropped it to 225. It isn't near as soupy. Retraction is 6.5 and print speed 35 with the outer walls at 30. Flow is 105% with the supports at 100%. I got sick of printing the same Benchy all the time so this is the Sport Fisherman version. The filament is the MH Build series (the cheap stuff) from Matter Hackers.

I was pretty sure I wouldn't find anything and I didn't. The print would go down fine on my E3Pro. Changing subjects...I don't understand why you have "Origin At Center" checked and then you compensate for that by having those "-150mm" nozzle offsets.

Fixable can mean a couple of things here. The model as-is can be printed after some minor repair from a program line MS 3D Builder or an on-line STL Repair service. It will be printed as per the model's current design. If the design of the model is wrong then "fixable" probably doesn't come into it. The model can be adjusted, redesigned, reworked, or good ole' throw-it-out-and-start-over, but there is no "repair" in that case because there really wasn't anything wrong with it from a manufacturing view, it just didn't do the job. The printers are good little robots. They are accurate and will faithfully reproduce the print time after time. But if the model is designed wrong then it's just a waste of some plastic. It's why they call them prototypes. I don't print "minis" or very much artsy-craftsy stuff. I'm a mechanical guy and I print functional parts so for me it's always function over form. There is a lot of freedom in designing for FDM though. Rules that are necessary constraints when a part will be steel or aluminum get thrown out and you can make some remarkable looking parts that are fully functional.

Once you learn to tell the difference between a CAD error and a slicer error things will go better. When you look at a model and say "What the heck is going on here!!!" it isn't good. When the question becomes a comment like "Ah-Ha, I know what I did." then life is much better. At least you don't have to wait for some ying-yang to come in from trimming his hedges in order to make his response.

I exported the model as an STL and converted it to a DXF file and opened it in AutoCad. What you are getting in the Cura preview is a true and accurate representation of the model. There are multiple compound angles and facets all over the place and that includes the primary top surfaces. They aren't just flats that happen to be tipped about both the X and Y axes, the surface might have been designed with a radius but it was lost in the translation to STL.

Cura slices precisely through the model. Every section it makes is parallel to the build plate. So if you are getting all those steps, and the bottom is flush on the build plate, then the top is at an angle. Use the "File | Save Project" command and post the 3mf file here and I'll take a look.

With the model loaded and Cura ready to slice select the "File | Save Project" command and post the 3mf file here. When I tried to open that STL file it blew Cura right out of the water. After repairing the model it opened and sliced fine. I would be surprised if there was something in the gcode telling the printer to quit. Post the 3mf file. It will tell the tale. One thing you can try is shortening the file name. Keep the prefix under 16 characters. It's possible that a line like this: ";MESH:978283201_STUDIOMODIFIED-THICKERWINDOORS.stl" (that appears right after the skirt finishes) could be causing an issue. My older CE3Pro hates long file names.

It isn't flat in those areas. Each step is 1 layer height tall so it looks like the long surface on the left has about 6 steps in it. That would be 9.00mm at your 1.50 layer height. That's a lot. Are you sure the model is flat on the build plate? The brim looks odd and appears to be cutting across under the model. That is usually a symptom that the model isn't setting flat. Select the model and then click on the "Rotation" tool. One of the options is to "Lay Flat".

In 5.0 and 5.1 you get something like this: G1 F1500 X106.692 Y105.679 E230.0867 ;> Last extrusion G0 F9000 X106.692 Y106.2 ;MESH:NONMESH G0 F600 X106.692 Y106.2 Z1.04 G0 F9000 X105.87 Y105.87 G0 X105.6 Y105.6 ;Small layer, adding delay G1 F2100 E225.0867 ; > Retract 5.0 if there was no retraction since last extrusion G0 F9000 X105.6 Y105.6 Z4.04 G0 X119.742 Y119.742 G4 P48796 ; > dwell is dependent on Actual Layer Time, Min Layer time, and Min Speed. There were a couple of instances in the gcode where there was no retraction within the "Small layer, adding delay" section. In all of those cases there was a retraction directly after the last extrusion and so a second retraction wasn't desired. If you open the gcode file in a text editor and search for "G4" you will see the delay sections. If there is no retraction within the little section then look above for the last extrusion. There should be a retraction right after it. If your "Max Combing Distance with no Retract" is too high, or if the "Retraction Minimum Travel" is too high then maybe there wouldn't be a retraction(?)

In Manage Printers and then Machine Settings de-select the "Origin at Center" box.

I see it now. I wonder if one of those other plugins you have installed over-wrote it or deleted it? Maybe @nallath can take a look tomorrow.

You might have to go back to 4.13 to fix that. I've tried before and didn't find a way to put a hole in the bottom of a spiralized print.

Your printer Origin is the Left Front Corner NOT the center. This is from the definition file of the I3 Mega S "machine_center_is_zero": { "default_value": false }, So de-select it.

If the model isn't solid through-and-through then spiralize will print the outer wall that is facing outwards, and the outer wall that is facing inwards. That is not what you are looking for but Cura is trying to print the model you have open. You can enable the Mesh Fixes setting "Remove All Holes" to make the model solid so it has a single exterior surface. That will allow spiralize to work. There have also been complaints about the bottom layer pattern in Spiralize. There is only one option now and it is "concentric". There has been a bug report opened on GitHub regarding that.

The post processors should be under "Extensions / Post Processing / Modify Gcodes" When the dialog opens select "Add a Script" and both Filament Change and Pause at Height should be in the list. Be advised that it's possible that neither will work with your Ender as Creality seems to have made a hash of the firmware and M0, M25 and M600 may not pause the print.

Cura has no idea how big your build plate is or where it is. The Machine Settings explain "how big" to the software. Your printer has no idea where it's own build plate is. When you Auto-Home then the X Y Z switches are hit. That is the only position where the print head is positively located (any other position is measured in "steps" from that location). You need to set your home offsets because that's where 0,0,0 of a Cura gcode file will be located. The Home Offset location is what synchronizes the virtual build plate in Cura to the physical build plate of the printer. The Ender 3 Pro definition file should put your X(width) = 220, the Y(depth) = 220 and the Z(height) = 250. Creality puts a 7.5mm "safety area" around the periphery of the build surface so yes, it measures 235 x 235 and the "build area" is smaller. You can cheat that by setting Cura to 230 x 230 x 250 and moving your Home Offset to 2.5mm in from the left and 2.5mm back from the front edge. The Print Head settings define the shape of the print head and are measured from the centerline of the nozzle. MinX and MinY will be negative numbers. The "gantry height" is the distance from the tip of the nozzle to the bottom of the X beam. Yours should be 25mm. The Print Head settings and the Gantry Height only come into play if you have multiple models on the build plate and elect to print them in "One at a Time" model. Those numbers give Cura an idea of the interference space as it prints a particular model. The Extruder tab has settings for the X and Y offset. These might be non-zero for a multiple extruder printer, but yours should both be "0". Since they are zero, whether or not you check the "Apply Extruder Offsets to Gcode" doesn't matter since there is just one hot end. Now Cura and the printer are in sync, the 0,0,0 of the gcode file will be at your Home Offset location. The mid point of your physical bed should match the mid point of Cura's virtual bed. The nozzle is at Z = 0 and the bed must be brought to it using the knobs on the underside. Once you have it there, the "Z offset" will be the adjustment between the tip of the sensing probe and where the nozzle is during probing. At least that's how I think it works. I use a piece of paper.

The Cura Marketplace has a plugin for Cylindrical Supports. That gives you the option of adding cylindrical Mesh Modifiers at your screw connection holes.

"where some sections get tightened between screws as part of a clamping system..." The problem isn't being "strong enough" but rather cold flow deformation that many plastics are subject to. When you apply constant pressure the plastic will move causing the clamping pressure to drop. The screws connection appears to come loose with no movement of the screw/nut system. You can try putting in infill mesh support blockers at the screw holes to increase the walls. You can use Grid infill at 15 or 20% and set the "Infill Line Multiplier" to 3 and set the infill structure so it is square to the walls. Typically that would be with the "Infill Line Directions" at [0,90]. That will help prevent warping/lifting and make for a strong piece in compression. These models are identical wiht the infill density at 20% but the right model shows the other changes described above. The view shows just the top layer of the infill for clarity.