RayW

I'm probably complicating this discussion, but I'm using OctoPrint. When it encounters the M0 in the gcode, it reports that the command is not sent to the printer because it's configured as a blocked command. The printer has already been sent the M18 S0, the steppers are still armed (indefinitely?), and it's just waiting for the next instruction. OctoPrint has changed its Pause button to Resume and is waiting for me to click it. I assume it did that because it intercepted the M0 and recognized it as a pause. Somehow it knew to stop there. I wasn't thinking of beeping during the pause, but just before. When the loop is exited (by a button press), the M0 would be executed and the pause started. But I understand what you mean about not looping in the gcode so that squelches that idea. I've tried to rehome just the X and Y axes (G28 X Y) in the G-code After Pause but as you say, that's not reliable. I ended up with a small but obvious layer shift even if I hadn't moved the build plate while inserting magnets but rehomed just to be sure. I am curious about the E3Pro maxing out its disarm timeout after 4 hours. I thought I had paused for longer than that but I'm testing that now with a 12-hour pause. I'll check on it every hour or so to see when the steppers disarm. Good information all around. I feel like I learn something new everyday. Thanks.

Thanks! I found that configuration folder path (mine is version 5.2) but the scripts folder is empty. I thought that was where I would find all the other scripts. I'll try adding your file to that folder anyway and try it out tomorrow. One thing I'd like to add is a persistent beep just before the pause. Basically, have it beep, wait a second and repeat until I press the button. Then let it do the pause and I'll press the button again to resume the print. I was going to look at how things work in the scripts and see what I could do. You raise a good point about how printers respond differently to the same commands. I'm using Marlin and I THINK M18 S0 is keeping the steppers active indefinitely. I did discover that setting the disarm timeout to 0 in the script gets me no M18 command at all in the gcode. The steppers don't disarm immediately but they do timeout eventually. I assumed something in the firmware was keeping them armed for awhile then telling them disarm. I'll experiment with that on my printer. I do a 3mm retraction before moving the head out of the way at the start of the pause and a 3mm extrusion afterwards to minimize the ooze factor.

I've been using PauseAtHeight quite a bit lately to insert magnets. I've taken to adding "M18 S0" in the G-code Before Pause to keep all steppers armed without specifying a disarm timeout. If an overnight print finishes while I'm sleeping, I can continue in the morning without fear of accidentally moving the built plate. I like some of the things GregValiant has done there with PauseAtLayer but I don't understand where that script needs to reside. I looked in C:\Users\(me)\AppData\Roaming\Cura\5.2\scripts but that folder is empty. ahoeben mentioned the configuration folder. Where can I find that and do I just copy the .py file into the folder and restart Cura? I'd like to experiment with some of the scripts to see what kind of damage improvements I can make.

Is there a support community for Thingiverse? I can no longer save Things to existing (or create new) Collections. In Chrome, the Collect button goes to a pop up where I should be able to select a Collection and Save but neither the drop down nor the Save button works. In Edge, I don't even get the Collect button. Not sure where to ask for help with this.

I can't believe how good this looks. I've seen some descriptions of how to do this, and most z-hop over the red print when printing the first layer of white. You appear to be printing the first layer of white without regard to the red that's already been laid down. Doesn't that severely squish the white filament as it's printed over the top of the red? I assume the red cannot be more than 1 layer high or the nozzle would trip over the red print when printing the white. It's sure a lot easier than worrying about aligning the text with a cavity in the cube.

My bad. I saw the project file and missed the font itself. Got it now, thanks. Is it missing a space character (ASCII 32)?

I think that's what I'm seeing, the Flintstone Effect. But now that I'm developing a better understanding of the relationship between line width and stroke width, I'm hoping to find some compromise that's better than my current results. I'm printing some text now in several sizes and fonts (including Geert.ttf) to see what works better than the rest. I'm printing at 25mm/s so it's going to take a while.

Quite clear. I hadn't considered the return line. So if the width of the stroke is 0.41mm, my 0.4mm nozzle would make one pass down one side, mover over 0.01mm and return down the other side. Is that correct? Or would the stroke have to be wider still? Something that's not making sense to me yet is how you can print with line width narrower than the nozzle. I guess if you move fast enough, you can stretch the filament into a slightly thinner line, but that's contrary to other advice that says printing small details like that should be done very slowly. I've successfully printed stacked models and know that managing the Z offset or changing filament without moving the hot end can be a challenge. I can't even imagine trying to change a nozzle or compensate for a slightly larger nozzle between models.

@Cuq I like that font. From everything that's been discussed here, it looks like it has the right attributes. I assume it's not yet available as a .ttf file. When you print 2mm tall text, what's the width of the stroke and the line with? How are you printing narrow lines like that with a .4mm nozzle? Are there other slicer adjustments required (speed, retractions, feed rate)?

Thank you. I installed Cura 15.1.0 today but so far it doesn't seem to have changed anything. I will experiment with those parameters you mentioned. I was hoping that one of the small text experts could tell me what they are using in Cura to get the results they get, although since the preview looks so good, I'm suspecting there's something in my printer that's not helping.

This is a long shot. I know this discussion was started 5 years ago but it's the best one on the subject of printing small text that I've found. Some of the people are no longer around but I have desperate questions and hope someone has discovered the answers I cannot. Forgive me for resurrecting an otherwise dead thread. Neotko was able to print as small as 2.8mm tall text using a .4mm nozzle, "tons of extractions" and wipe+retracting. How exactly did he do that? I can slice my print in Cura 4.13.1 and it looks good even at 3.0mm but when I print, the result is "blurred" text. I'm using a single wall with a line width of .33 and a .4 nozzle. Neotko mentioned printing the base at 60mm/s and the text at 40mm/s. How do I do that in a single gcode file in Cura or was he stacking two prints? I think I read where gr5 was printing his red and white tiles with a .2mm single layer of red topped by a second print that printed right over the top with a .3mm layer of white. Is that all there is to it? No adjustment of the white layer to accommodate the red print below? Finally, it seems that using a .2mm nozzle might be the solution for legible small text but does that assume that the entire print is done with the small nozzle or that the model is split and the nozzle is changed out between printing the base and printing the text? Thanks for helping me sort this out.