Cura Profile for custom printer - help and advice needed

[derei 0]

Hi all!

 

I'm Andrew, fresh owner of my first ever 3d printer (Geeetech MeCreator2) and I'm already exploring beyond click and print.
After trying several software, I concluded Cura is the one I should focus my attention on, as it allows me the most control. So, I started to build a Cura Profile for the MeCreator2, starting from the "fdmprinter.def.json" file... so far so good, but there is a lot of parameters to set and I am not so sure how to interpret some of them.

I was wondering if this is the right place to ask for help, because there will be some incremental help as I am going on with stuff.

And, if the request is not too much, once I finish the profile, if someone here owns a Geeetech MeCreator2 and would like to look over the profile, to check it with an expert eye, that would also be a big help.

Disclaimer: - i'm totally new in 3d printing, learning on the go... so please be gentle with me, and slang that might be obvious for you guys, it might be completely new for me.
Thank you for understanding.

[ErenUenal 0]

This is the right place. And you cant really do a profile for a printer. A profile should be filament specific. For example you can print PLA much faster than TPU and ABS requires a much higher temperature than PLA. Also retraction (retracting filament, because its expanding, to avoid stringing) is not always the same. So you could create a profile for Filament, but not for a printer. And you also dont need every single settin. I would start by printing a few things and than "adding" a few settings, one after another. You can get great prints even with the standart settings, but a profile would increase the quality of a print a little.

[derei 0]

Thank you @ErenUenal. I understand what you mean about a filament-specific profile. I'm also using this opportunity to learn more about 3D printers and settings. This is my first time dealing with a 3D printer. I'll focus mostly on printer specific parameters in the json file, as the filament profiles can be created separately once a printer has been set. Plus, having a json profile file might be helpful for other MeCreator2 users. There are already some settings that I have no idea what are, but I'd like to look for answers first, then I'll compile a list of everything I can't fully understand, hoping i'll find the response here.

[derei 0]

Alright... it seems I am missing something crucial, as I cannot make the printer model to appear in Cura printers list. I assume it should appear under Others.

So, for start if someone could help me with the basics (which variables are required), in order for a printer definition to create an entry in printers list... once I can see the model in the list, I hope I can work from there to complete the profile.

Second aspect:
 - should I include "fdmprinter" and add the particular settings as "overrides"? I've seen this is how most profiles are built.

[ahoeben 1,948]

@derei, you don't need to write a printer definition to use Cura if your printer make/model is not listed. You can add your printer as a "Custom FFF Printer" and then fill in the details (dimensions, number of extruders, nozzle diameter) of your printer. Then you can explore all the settings in the Cura interface.

 

Writing a printer definition would normally be done by a printer manufacturer, or an experienced community member and added to the Cura download so it is easier for other users of the same printer to start using Cura. But before you start doing that I would suggest you first get more experienced using Cura and your printer.

 

If you do continue on your effort of writing a definition (and quality profiles) for your printer (which - again - is not necessary to use Cura with your printer), get comfortable with reading the logs (cura.log). If your printer definition does not show up in the list, the logs should tell you why.

 

21 hours ago, derei said:

I started to build a Cura Profile for the MeCreator2, starting from the "fdmprinter.def.json" file... so far so good, but there is a lot of parameters to set and I am not so sure how to interpret some of them.

 

Don't start with fdmprinter.def.json, but inherit from it. Take a simple definition like the 101Hero and learn from that. Note that you also need to create an extruder definition.

 

https://github.com/Ultimaker/Cura/blob/4.1/resources/definitions/101Hero.def.json

https://github.com/Ultimaker/Cura/blob/4.1/resources/extruders/101Hero_extruder_0.def.json

Edited July 8, 2019 by ahoeben

[ahoeben 1,948]

9 hours ago, ErenUenal said:

And you cant really do a profile for a printer. A profile should be filament specific.

 

That is not necessarily true. A profie *can* be filament specific, but you can also create profiles ("definitions") that can contain all the same settings that a per-material profile would have, eg if your printer only supports one filament type.

[ErenUenal 0]

Even if you are printing with only PLA for example the setting can be very diffrent. I usually print with PLA and the temperatures are between 195°C and 220°C. Also the retraction is between 1mm and 5mm. The speed is diffrent aswell, sometimes ghosting appears and sometimes it does not. And the PLA from diffrent brands also behaves diffrent when printing big or small. But of course in this case, if you only have one brand you use, the profile can be printer specific. Thats right.