settings to avoid stepping

[BiaC 0]

Hi. I'm on a Geeetech "Prusa" I3 mk8, latest Cura and nozzle .4 mm, printing PLA.

I would like to know optimal settings to avoid this stepping look:

Thanks.

Edited November 9, 2017 by Guest

[BiaC 0]

BUMP

[stu_le_brew 42]

I would try smaller layer height

[BiaC 0]

I would try smaller layer height

I cannot go trial by trial. No wire to waste in trial & error, and so far I tried many times many things, no success. Already gone thru layer heights until 0.06 mm: no avail.

[nilrog 103]

Well, a curved face like that will always have steps since the printer lays out layers on top of each other. And since it is a dome it will not help to rotate it either. You will still have that stepping in the direction the layers are printed. The only thing you can do to improve the looks of the stepping is to lower the layer height to the lowest that your printer supports.

[cloakfiend 995]

If you cant get a smooth layer height then there is something wrong with the printer. Printing in 0.06 should get rid of those lines. but they are more likely a different issue so good luck to solving it!

[tinkergnome 927]

If you cant get a smooth layer height then there is something wrong with the printer.

...except the steps are intentionally designed this way... @BiaC: do you have a picture (or the file itself) which shows how it should look like?

[BiaC 0]

If you cant get a smooth layer height then there is something wrong with the printer.

...except the steps are intentionally designed this way... @BiaC: do you have a picture (or the file itself) which shows how it should look like?

Hi. The model is a VERY smooth dome, no steps... Also other models are printed this steppy way, with same settings. And the printer runs smooth (changed also many nozzles, just to see whether they was the culprit). I printed perfectly so far until Cura 2.5, and using still .4 nozzle with layer height bigger than 0.06 (which is the height I'm using now...): then all got the tendency to come out worse that before, even using a 0.2 nozzle... It looks like in the latest versions they ruined a smooth app, by filling it with nags... (btw, I enabled retraction, but it looks like it doesn't work: perhaps it is my impression, but sometimes the nozzle whilst moving leaves a thin trail of plastic, which doesn't look to me like a sign of being enabled any retraction, or perhaps the app firmware isn't responding well...). And, I wouldn't say that's a problem of firmware: I choosed Prusa i3 in the printer list, 'cause the Geetech custom i3 mk8 wasn't listed... Though I wasn'ta ble to get any specific firmware for it, neither from Geetech nor from Cura's crew... Though I don't remember what I used previously, if Prusa i3 or a custom blank 200x200x200.

The problem surfaces also with other slicers, to whom I setted settings similar to Cura's: here's a screen of what I'm using currently:

Would you like to get the actual stl file and/or the gcode file, in order to scope/print them? I could provide them too. Just tell me how to add 'em here, or give me a mail (in pvt) to supply them to you.

Thanks.

Edited November 1, 2017 by Guest

[stu_le_brew 42]

PM sent to you with an offer to print the model

[cloakfiend 995]

If earlier versions worked, ditch using the newer one.

I use ancient cura and an early beta. Just cos its newer doesn't mean its better for everyone!

[BiaC 0]

If earlier versions worked, ditch using the newer one.

Simply 'cause I didn't figured it might be so that it could the culprit for an issue. Did you, Psygnosis?

Edited November 1, 2017 by Guest

[burtoogle 513]

Hi, I'm coming rather late to this conversation but anyway can you share the model so I can have a go at printing it please?

[BiaC 0]

Hi, I'm coming rather late to this conversation but anyway can you share the model so I can have a go at printing it please?

Hi. Sure, you're welcome. How can I share it? Here?

[burtoogle 513]

Hi. Sure, you're welcome. How can I share it? Here?

I don't think the forum supports file uploads so can you put it on some file sharing site (e.g. Dropbox) and post a link please?

[stu_le_brew 42]

I have tried a print - this is a very small item indeed, when I open it in Cura  it is 4.21mm wide by 1.95mm high - so my question to you @BiaC is this the correct size ?

Edited November 2, 2017 by Guest

[cloakfiend 995]

When i import objects i also usually have the scale crazy small. I have not had any issues regarding this. But regarding various versions of cura, the version i am currently using is also very buggy and decides to change a lot of settings on its own which is annoying. I would still be using the one that i first downloaded two years ago but i cant control the bottom layer which i usually set to a small amout. That version was rock solid.

...The most annoying feature about cura 2.1 is its bottom layer setting is that it not only affects the bottom layer that touches the buildplate but ALL bottom layers which i find a bit stupid because ot means by saving time printing fewer layers to start with your model will suffer if it has steep overhangs.

So.... in a nutshell....use what works best for you ignore new versions of anything unless you need them for a particular reason. Why upgrade if its worse? Surely that defeats the point of upgrading.

What was yor reason for upgrading cura if everything was ok before btw?

....but while im here, does anyone know if i can change te bottom thickness after say 5mm? Because if not, that feature would be very helpful and save a tone of time!!

Edited November 2, 2017 by Guest

[BiaC 0]

I have tried a print - this is a very small item indeed, when I open it in Cura  it is 4.21mm wide by 1.95mm high - so my question to you @BiaC is this the correct size ?

 

I forgot: please resize it as 42.5 mm to get the actual size. This seems to happen 'cause it was modeled in a poly based app, not into the parametric modeler which I usually use and which stands with the actual size.

Edited November 2, 2017 by Guest

[BiaC 0]

What was yor reason for upgrading cura if everything was ok before btw?

 

Do you know beforehand if an app will work as usual, or if it will fail? Do you have any prophetic abilities? As for me, I'll stand with the newer version always, and rather will try to adapt them to my needs, finetuning 'em, instead of backwarding. I already did thought to backgrade to some previous version: but the culprit isn't the version. It is something else.

Edited November 2, 2017 by Guest

[BiaC 0]

 

Hi. Sure, you're welcome. How can I share it? Here?

I don't think the forum supports file uploads so can you put it on some file sharing site (e.g. Dropbox) and post a link please?

 

I don't have it in any repository. I could send it via mail, as already I did with other users.

[stu_le_brew 42]

I have just completed a print of this object, much easier after understanding from @BiaC that it had to be scaled by a factor of ten !

https://www.dropbox.com/s/95x8ht607h2i0p2/DSC_2096_2.jpg?dl=0

Looks OK to me, my parameters Print speed 40mm/s,infill 55mm/s, temp 210, layer height 0.10 nozzle 0.4

Edited November 4, 2017 by Guest

[BiaC 0]

I have just completed a print of this object, much easier after understanding from @BiaC that it had to be scaled by a factor of ten !

https://www.dropbox.com/s/95x8ht607h2i0p2/DSC_2096_2.jpg?dl=0

Looks OK to me, my parameters Print speed 40mm/s,infill 55mm/s, temp 210, layer height 0.10 nozzle 0.4

Thanks. Why then my prints aren't ok, not even at 0.06 layer height? (nay, they look all the same at any layer heights...)

Edited November 4, 2017 by Guest

[stu_le_brew 42]

I think maybe it has to do with the way you change layer heights on a Prusa I3, which sorry I know very little about, or maybe the way Cura is set-up for your printer ?

you could try making the layer height bigger to see if that changes to an even worse print - at least you would see if it does change, you would only need to print a few layers not the whole object

are you sure that the file is being correctly written to the SDcard when you make changes to the layer height

Edited November 4, 2017 by Guest

[BiaC 0]

I think maybe it has to do with the way you change layer heights on a Prusa I3, which sorry I know very little about, or maybe the way Cura is set-up for your printer ?

you could try making the layer height bigger to see if that changes to an even worse print - at least you would see if it does change, you would only need to print a few layers not the whole object

are you sure that the file is being correctly written to the SDcard when you make changes to the layer height

The file is correctly written: unless the latest Cura makes some mistakes in writing it. Indeed, until Cura 2.5, I had no dire times in printing at high res: now, whatever settings I choose, I get what you saw.

I don't remember which prefab printer settings I choosed that time, but I guess anyway that I didn't chosed the Prusa i3, nor any of the other two Prusa flavors: if I choosed a simple custom one, with bulk 200x200x200 work area and 0.4 nozzle, well, now it isn't working anymore, 'cause I used it too, but I didn't got any progresses.

Though, which one should I set now? Possible that nobody has the code settings to use a Geetech i3 mk8? And possible that Cura's crew doesn't want to add the settings for a printer which is very widely used and should be meant as a "fork" of the original Prusa i3? I contacted them in order to ask them to add such settings, but I received from them the answer that it had had been ME the one who had to contact Geetech in order to get from them the piececodes of their printer! Go figure this!

Now I'm stuck with that and I've got many prototypes to print, but I cannot currently.

[burtoogle 513]

Hi @BiaC, could you please make the failing gcode available for me to have a look at? Zip it up (or not) and put it somewhere that it can be downloaded from. Thanks.

[rebekah_harper 60]

hiya,

I am intrigued by this, clearly it shouldn't happen.

the only thing I can think of is massive over extrusion and it's building up the material by pushing it to form bigger steps.

this is assuming you have the correct printer setup in cura. if you are printing with PLA i'd lower the temp to 200 instead of 225.