i appreciate the help! I'm just getting started with 3d printing, and this is the first one we got for the family. I've been watching some intro videos. Anything you'd recommend?
GregValiant 203
#2 is getting the first layer down. It's the base for the rest of the print. @gr5 is a moderator here and put together a nice video on bed adhesion. It's a tad long and you might want to make some popcorn, but it covers a lot of material.
CHEP videos (Filament Fridays) on YouTube are pretty good. He's kind of Creality centric, but a lot of the material crosses over to different machines very well.
#3 Print. The best way to get going is to make mistakes and learn to trouble-shoot. Most of the stuff people call upgrades are just bling for the printer BUT you're printing and learning.
#4 Practice disaster recovery. Emergency pauses can save a print, but you need a plan. If a print is looking bad, instead of simply aborting and starting over, use it for a bit of practice. Pause, do a hot pull of the filament, re-feed it and restart the print. It can't hurt - the print was junk anyway.
#5 The machine uses Firmware as an operating system. The slicing software resides on your computer. A GCODE file goes between the two. Spend some time going over the various gcode commands at Marlin or RepRap just to have some idea of what you are looking at in a gcode file.
#1 Put the machine together square where required and parallel where required. Put it on a nice solid surface. Calibrate the E-steps. Check everything on it. Tighten screws and nuts and belts. That gives the printer it's best chance to make good parts for you. Just because some (or all) of it came pre-assembled doesn't mean it's right.
Recommended Posts
GregValiant 203
If it's a brand new model then it's likely no one has submitted a definition file to the Ultimaker Cura Team. If you happen to know what other Anycubic printer it's close to then you can load that one, change the name, adjust the bed size, etc. If you get the Gcode flavor correct ("RepRap (Marlin/Sprinter)" is common among Anycubic printers) then the rest is just detail work. After looking at the Mega X on the Anycubic site I don't see another one quite similar to yours. It actually looks more like a Creality CR-10.
A second alternative is to open an Anycubic definition file (that is close to your printer - same problem as above) and using a text editor and making adjustments to the information in the file (it isn't terribly hard to read) and then do a Save-As and change the file name. Re-starting Cura should make your new definition file visible in the drop-down.
You can also add a CustomFFF printer and go through the machine settings and set them all to match your printer. Again, getting the Gcode flavor correct is the biggest single thing to get right. The build size is 300 x 300 x 305. The Center Origin is probably not the center, but rather the left front corner.
Therefore the answer to your question is a definite maybe.
Link to post
Share on other sites