Cura settings for Craftbot flow idex

[MarjorieFinnigan 0]

Hi all🙂

 

Please be gentle, quite new to all this, but was hoping someone could help with setting up cura for a craftbot idex xl

Any help greatly appreciated!

[MarjorieFinnigan 0]

Hi again. 

I guess I could rephrase the question and ask what information I need to put into cura and can I get it by reading the g code from a craftbot print?

Thanks again.

[MarjorieFinnigan 0]

Hi again again - you can't beat talking to yourself!😁

 

So think I'm going to have a bash at this...

In machine settings put the printer settings in.

 

 

Start G code is now

G28 X Y ; home horizontally

G28 Z ; home vertically

 

And end code is

G91

G0 E-1 F2400 ; retract 1mm

G0 Z5 F2400 ; lift Z 5mm

G90

G28 X Y ; home horizontally

G0 Y250

 

 

Think I may need to add

M425 S1; Wiper Strip enabled

to the header code.

 

If anyone wants to comment I'd be grateful!

 

 

Update... Have given it a run on benchy and it appears to work well.

 

 

Edited March 24, 2021 by MarjorieFinnigan

[Techie1961 0]

Hi Marjorie, I am trying to do the same with with my Flow IDEX XL and found your post. Now it will be the two of us chatting, not just you.

 

Did you get yours working well?

[AEtherScythe 3]

I'm on this journey with you, also, as of today.  =D

[GregValiant 1,411]

I have to start with a disclaimer as I don't have an IDEX printer.  I've played around a bit with virtual machines and different slicers.  Normally Cura doesn't support IDEX printers as it only generates X and Y axes.  If a printer wants to see code for the additional axes (A B or V W or whatever) then Cura likely won't work.

 

I found that the Raise3D IDEX machine handles the extra axes within the printer so their machines can be made to work with Cura.  The trick was to install three instances of the printer:  One for regular printing (M605 S0 in the StartUp gcode), another for Mirror printing (M605 S1 in StartUp) and the third for Duplicate printing (M605 S2 in StartUp).

 

It looks as though your printers are similar but they have a 4th mode.  You can install 4 printers in Cura all with the same firmware flavor (Marlin?) the same bed size and other physical settings.  They would be named something like Flow Dual, Flow Mirror, Flow Duplicate, Flow Backup.  The StartUp G-Code for each instance will be the same EXCEPT:

The normal Dual printer will have M9006 S0, the Mirror printer have M9006 S1, the Duplicating printer will have M9006 S2, and the Backup mode printer would have M9006 S5.  Here is the front gcode from a Craftware "Mirror" gcode file:

G28 X Y ; home horizontally
G28 Z ; home vertically

M425 S1; Wiper Strip enabled

M9006 S1; Selected Mirror Dual Extruder Mode
M104 T0 S215 ;set head temp 1 (no wait)
M104 T1 S215 ;set head temp 2 (no wait)
M190 S60 ;set bed temp (wait)
M109 T0 S215 ;set head temp 1 (wait)
M109 T1 S215 ;set head temp 2 (wait)

 

The temperature lines are typical gcode.  You will have to experiment for the other settings in Cura.  I have no idea what your speed, accel and jerk settings might be but reviewing a Craftware gcode file will tell you.  If the printer has a USB port you could use Pronterface and send an M503 and the printer will send back it's settings.

 

[AEtherScythe 3]

I am making very good progress with CURA and my Craftbot FLOW IDEX XL.

I am using a set of files provided and documented over here:

 

https://www.ilab-creations.com/en/4064-craftbot-flow-printer-package-for-cura.html

 

It isn't really commercial.  The money goes to charity.  Based on the huge leg-up it gave me, it was worth it to me to make a much higher donation than the minimum $5 Euro.   Since I am in the USA, I had to create an account with my country stated as Germany (Deutschland), and then correct that during the PayPal checkout.

 

A few tips for other Mac users.

 

It isn't necessary nor advisable to actually modify the resources inside the Cura application.

Instead, I copied the files into ~/Library/Application\ Support/cura/4.12.

I did it from a command-prompt as follows (note the paths could change based on versioning but you get the idea).

This assumes you've already run CURA at least once.
Please exit CURA before running the commands.

 

$ cd ~/Downloads/Craftbot_Flow_Cura_4.10/resources
$ cp -pr definitions extruders materials quality variants ~/Library/Application\ Support/cura/4.12

 

Then start CURA.

 

Be sure to open one of the meshes from ~/Downloads/Craftbot_Flow_Cura_4.10/resources/meshes, because that will import the PLA profile which includes G-Code for the Extruders and the four necessary post-install scripts.

Use the dual color project if you have an IDEX of any variety.
 

I cleared the build-plate and saved an empty project to use as a template to save me having to paste those four modify G-Code post-processing scripts every time.

 

Since my printer is a slight variation of the one used in the package, I did add the correct printer variation and made a minor modifications to the printer settings.
In particular I changed the max Z-height from 250 to 500 for my XL printer, and I imported the same printer definition multiple times to make PARALLEL, MIRROR, and BACKUP versions.  I made the corresponding change to the first line of the printer G-Code, as well as adjustments to the X dimension.   From the Craftbot data sheet for the FLOW IDEX XL:

 

Mirror:  X: 396mm(2x198) x Y: 250mm x Z: 500mm

Parallel:  X: 425mm(2x212.5) x Y: 250mm x Z: 500 mm

 

It sure would be nice if CURA supported the RepRap firmware in such a way that those four scripts are not needed.
But anyway, I am well on the path to having a VERY good workflow for using CURA with my lovely Craftbot FLOW IDEX XL.

 

I printed the 2-color bench from the project last night and it's a huge improvement over Craftware PRO, out-of-box experience.  With Craftware, I had a ball of filament floating just off the part.  With Cura, I merely have some stringiness and temperature vs. flow issues, for which I have moved on to doing some proper temperature tower tests.

 

Hope this helps!

[AEtherScythe 3]

I spoke with the author of the Craftbot profile for CURA package, mentioned above, because I had made some improvements to the start G-Code.   I was printing exclusively with Extruder 2 and his start G-Code had Extruder 1 hard-coded.   There is a CURA variable to cover my use-case, so I took advantage of that and updated my start G-Code accordingly.

I didn't want to usurp the author's handiwork, so I sent the updated G-Code to him, but he said he doesn't mind if I post it here.   Give this a try and lemme know your feedback.

 

M9006 S0                                         ;set DEFAULT mode 0=DEFAULT, 1=MIRROR, 2=PARALLEL, 3=not used, 4=INVERTHEAD, 5=BACKUP
                                                 ;if you want to be able to set the mode on the HMI, you have to comment out the above line
M900 K0                                          ;turn off linear advance
G28 X Y                                          ;home X and Y axes
G28 Z

M104 T{initial_extruder_nr} S{material_standby_temperature, 0}       ;set extruder temp (no wait)
M140 S{material_bed_temperature_layer_0}         ;set bed temp (no wait)

G21                                              ;mm
G90                                              ;absolute positioning
G92 E0                                           ;reset extruder

M425 S1                                          ;use wiper blade
M430 Z1 F1800                                    ; Set head change elevation 1mm
M431 E4 F1800                                    ;Head change exit retract 4mm
M433 E4 F1800                                    ;Head change enter prime 4mm

                                                 ;wait for all temperatures
M190 S{material_bed_temperature_layer_0}         ;set bed temp (wait)
M109 T{initial_extruder_nr} S{material_print_temperature_layer_0, 0} ;set extruder temp (wait)

;move head to the wipe position so any ooze ends up in the bucket
G1 F1800 Y160

M300                                             ;signal start of print
T{initial_extruder_nr}                           ;Send gratuitous T0, T1 (avoids defaulting to T0).
;Pre-extrude some filament. That way the nozzle is primed and when the print starts,
;the filament is wiped off.
;G1 F1800 E5

 

[AEtherScythe 3]

BTW, as much as I have had success with Ultimaker CURA and my Craftbot Flow IDEX XL, I may have given up on CURA for anything but single head, parallel, or mirror.

The reason is I found that unlike the CURA-Lulzbot edition I was using before, Ultimaker haven't added the necessary variables to independently control the temperatures of each extruder.
There is only one material_standby_temperature, only one material_print_temperature_layer_0, and only one material_soften_temperature.
That causes  problem for example if you want to print with PETG on extruder 0 and PVA for support on extruder 1.   Those two materials have vastly different melting points and printing temperatures and if you heat PVA to above 225 and let it sit there it will vulcanize in the head and and completely ruin the extruder.

 

To call this out, here are the CURA variables that are available:

 

http://files.fieldofview.com/cura/Replacement_Patterns.html

 

Take for example, material_standby_temperature.  Lulzbot handled that via multiple separate variables:

 

material_soften_temperature_0

material_soften_temperature_1

material_wipe_temperature_0

material_wipe_temperature_1

material_probe_temperature_0

material_probe_temperature_1

 

In other words, separate variables for T0 and T1 (extruder 1 and extruder 2).

 

Until Ultimaker CURA supports this kind of independent toolhead / extruder temperature control, I can't use it for many of the reasons I have dual head printers.  The most common use-case being the use of PVA for support material via the second head.

[ahoeben 2,012]

11 hours ago, AEtherScythe said:

Ultimaker haven't added the necessary variables to independently control the temperatures of each extruder.
There is only one material_standby_temperature, only one material_print_temperature_layer_0, and only one material_soften_temperature.

That is not true. Ultimaker Cura fully supports multiple extruders.

 

In your start- and end-snippets, you can use the following syntax:

 

{material_print_temperature, 0} # first extruder print temperature
{material_standby_temperature, 1} # second extruder standby temperature

 

You can even use replacement patterns to specify the extruder:
 

{material_print_temperature, adhesion_extruder_nr} # the print temperature of whichever extruder is configured to print the skirt/brim/raft
{material_standby_temperature, support_extruder_nr} # the standby temperature of whichever extruder is configured to print the supports

 

Edited February 7, 2022 by ahoeben

[TheVirtualTim 0]

On 2/7/2022 at 6:01 AM, ahoeben said:

That is not true. Ultimaker Cura fully supports multiple extruders.

 

In your start- and end-snippets, you can use the following syntax:

...

That's great news and EXTREMELY helpful.  I was also stumped.  

Thank you for posting this!  I'll go put this new information to good use.  
 

[ahoeben 2,012]

I'll add the information to http://files.fieldofview.com/cura/Replacement_Patterns.html since people are finding that more and more, though I am reluctant to make it into a full-on documentation page with all sorts of tips and tricks.