Feature Request: Z-OffSet (Post-Process?)

[AbeFM 35]

Oftentimes I'll have an issue high up on a print - and want to test it. I can drop the part into the bed, but often this will change the fill and crucially the supports.

 

I would like to have a post-processing step which takes the finished model, and subtracts a uniform Z-value from the whole gcode, and cuts out all the lines which are now below the bed.

 

 

I know this isn't a great example, but you can see how the supports are different left to right (ignore the circle). It's the same parts, merely translated in Z, and I get different support. This is more of an issue with gradual infills, etc, where things going on down below effect what is above.

 

Not sure if I'm explaining it well, but it seems like you could just keep the set up, delete all lines till z = z_requested, then subtract z_requested from all z's - or something similar

[Dim3nsioneer 557]

You can sink yor object into the buildplate by moving it with the blue arrow of the move tool. You can even set it numerically.

[ahoeben 1,846]

As OP says, that changes the layers. OP does not want an initial layer, bottom layers or anything, but exactly the stack of layers from a certain height.

 

A plugin could be created that does that, but I wonder how usefull it would be; bed adhesion would be horrible.

[AbeFM 35]

On 2/25/2018 at 1:27 AM, ahoeben said:

A plugin could be created that does that, but I wonder how usefull it would be; bed adhesion would be horrible.

Yeah, I was thinking that same thing. I still think it would be a learning tool, but I think a reasonable compromise would be a raft, then as described.

 

[ahoeben 1,846]

Ah, but adding a raft would make the plugin/script a whole lot more complex, because it would need to analyse the new first layer and create a raft from that "geometry". Rafts are normally created in CuraEngine (written in C++), and plugins/scripts are written in Python. So the code to create a raft cannot just be copied, but needs to be reimplemented from scratch.

[AbeFM 35]

I could live with the raft that would normally be generated, but the only big place I need it is tracking down the weird slicing issues I see (missing lines, blobs, etc).

 

Really is that gets fixed, I admit, maybe it's just not worth doing. :-)