Just installed Cura and have one small hiccup when trying to slice and wondering if anyone has experienced this?

[DavidAlexander 0]

For some reason the only a tiny portion of the sliced object appears on the preview and the rest is greyed out (see screenshot).

 

Did I maybe do something wrong?  I'm using a .8mm nozzle, a glass bed and PETG filament and printing with an Ender5.

 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.  I uploaded the Gcode.

 

Oh, and I'm making a PAPR respirator for under $100.  Some brands sell them for almost $2,000.  More than happy to upload the full details to help anyone that would sand drywall, wood, metal, or paint something and not want the dust or fumes.

 

Thanks,

Dave

 

  

Manifold Cura.gcode

[Dustin 143]

you picture shows the whole model sliced in the preview..
If you are referring to the colored lines.. the preview settings you have selected is only showing the color of the current layer..
Move the slider on the right side of the screen down to see different layers.

Your gcode file is also almost 5MB.. thats very much not 1 tiny section. 

[GregValiant 1,287]

That's a poorly sliced model.

[DavidAlexander 0]

Hi Greg,  thank you for the reply.

 

Is there a way I can fix it, or is the drawing bad?  

 

I spent 2 days on the drawing and really don't want to spend a week trying to figure out what I did wrong and how to redraw it and am hoping there's a relatively easy fix?

[DavidAlexander 0]

Thank you so much, Dustin.  I'm a bit embarrassed but I see what you were talking about 🙂

 

Do you think it would be safe to print this file? 

[GregValiant 1,287]

It's always safe.  It's a question of whether it will be acceptable.

There are these spots on opposite sides of the print.  (You can see it on the right of my previous screenshot.)  I have no idea why the flow narrows down so much there.  Is it a model feature?

 

There are these divots on the outside of the model.  They are going to show up in the print.

 

So would it be safe?  Yes.  Would it be acceptable?  You'll have to decide.  For a first effort I would say yes.

Those divots have resulted in a few bug reports on Github regarding 5.3.1.  Cura 5.2.2 didn't have the problem.

It's possible that some of what we see is being caused by the model. 

 

BTW does your layer cooling fan work OK?  I see in the gcode that it is listed on circuit "1".  Typically a single extruder printer will have the fan on circuit "0".

[DavidAlexander 0]

Oh wow, great catch.  Nooo, definitely not a model feature for the flow to narrow.   Also there should be no divots on the model.  Layer cooling fan does work, I must not have turned it on.  This is my very first time using Cura and I'm still figuring out the settings but I will try to find the cooling fan option and turn it on.

 

I designed this in Autocad (attachment 1) and my problem is that when I export to STL, the manifold completely disappears (attachment 2).  I hired someone on Fiverr to correct the drawing so it doesn't leave out the center part when exporting.  I think they might have redrawn the design but I didn't receive the source file and they only sent the STL file so I don't know if the drawing is bad or if some settings in Cura need to be changed?  

 

Can I pay someone to help me?

 

 

Edited May 25, 2023 by DavidAlexander

[GregValiant 1,287]

I'm an AutoCad guy.  Pass me the .dwg file as an ACAD 2000 file (parametric if you can) and I'll take a look (you might have to zip it to post it here).

Sometimes when you get too fussy with the "fits" there will be openings that the slicer will notice even though the gap might be on the order of .000001mm.

You have those gussets on the two end pieces and they look to have flats where they hit the radii of the tubes.  That's the sort of spot that can cause trouble.  If the tube is only touching tangentially to the flat then there will be a tiny gap on either side.  The gusset should be buried by a mm or so to insure the union works correctly.  You can check by putting a fillet there.  If it's successful then the union is fine.

Computers may be stoopid, then they are accurate.

[DavidAlexander 0]

Oh, YOU ARE THE BEST!!!!!!!!

 

Ok, I'll delete the Y and redraw the loft path and circles and upload it!

 

My hiccup was when I tried to make the center Y part.  I made an outer Y, inner Y, and used the Subtract tool for the inner Y.  

 

I should've only done the loft for the outside face of the Y, and used the Shell command.  The problem is that I didn't know how to orbit while in the shell command, and I was only able to shell 2 ends, but the Y has 3 ends.

 

The circles are for the outside shell loft and the inside can be 2mm thinner so the walls are 2mm.  👍

 

M A N I F O L D.dwg.zip

[GregValiant 1,287]

After adding the shell and the first 2 excluded faces you can spin the model, then edit the shell and add the third face.

You need to turn on supports in Cura or the horizontal parts will fail.

Edited May 25, 2023 by GregValiant

[DavidAlexander 0]

Ah ok, I'll give it a try

[GregValiant 1,287]

"Incompatible Version" so I can't open the DWG file.  I'm working with AutoCad 2000 and Mechanical Desktop 4.0 so you would need to do a Save-As in one of those formats, or put a DXF together.

[DavidAlexander 0]

You have NO IDEA how much you just helped me!

 

Followed your instructions and it worked like a charm!  Another slicing software showed 1,623 non-manifold edges.  I created the Y by using the loft and shell commands, re-uploaded the stl file and it now shows 0 non-manifold edges. 

 

Oh, so happy.  I'll make the part and upload the full project to help anyone who want's to build their own PAPR respirator.  I'm not on Youtube or anything so if anyone wants to post this project to whatever forum to help others, be my guest.  3M and the other companies charge way too much and regular people should be able to afford this too. 

 

Thanks again.