Better slicing, Gcode for faster printing?

[braddock 1]

Hi guys, I think I have asked this before, but wasn't really resolved.

I always set the infill overlap to 0% and never print with fill anyway.

If you watch this video, you'll notice there's lot's of short perpendicular print movements and retractions, as well as the longer shell tracing movements.

Why is it necessary to print the little short movements at all? why can't cura just do a tool path for the shell? wouldn't this speed the print up a great deal and also reduce wear and tear on the machine? It would greatly reduce overall movements and retractions.

 

 

 

[illuminarti 18]

The extra stuff going on is adding small amounts of (technically, bottom) solid fill just inside the shell in order to ensure that the vertical thickness of the shell on overhanging parts meets whatever you set for bottom/top thickness.

It's annoying for hollow, vase-like parts, and I wish there was the option to turn it off. However, for organic shapes like this that have zero proper infill, and just a shell, it helps the finished print quality a lot. Indeed, I think it's a big part of what makes zero-infill prints possible. It basically builds support for inward leaning parts as needed, anchoring them to the sides of the print below.

Btw, your travel moves seem rather slow.

 

[braddock 1]

I keep travel set to about 100, I know it can handle faster speeds, but I'd rather baby the machine a little to avoid too much wear and tear.

I hear what you're saying regarding the fill, but I'd like the option to turn it off and see what I get.

 

 

[illuminarti 18]

You'd get better results with faster moves, as there would be less time for the head to ooze, reducing blobbing on entry as the head moves into a new print island.

 

[IRobertI 521]

That has annoyed me quite a bit as well. A lot of the time it seems unnecessary, especially when printing with a thicker shell. An option to turn it off would be much appreciated.

A thought I've had is if it would be possible to do an extra perimeter pass or two instead of the infill pattern to achieve the same thing. I have a feeling it would be quicker in a lot of cases and it seems like it would work in my head but I'm sure there's something I'm not taking into account.

 

[Daid 306]

but I'd rather baby the machine a little to avoid too much wear and tear.

 

Other then some screws vibrating lose, I've never seen much of wear or tear on an Ultimaker.

 

[braddock 1]

Are there other slicers that have an option to only print a shell?

 

[braddock 1]

Anyone? should I have posted this in "software" perhaps?

 

[IRobertI 521]

I don't know off the top of my head but you could give slic3r and KISSlicer a try. With slic3r you'll have to use something like Repetier Host to check what the gcode is doing after slicing. KISS gives you a preview.

 

[braddock 1]

Ok, thanks.

 

Check out how many small moves and retractions in this print.

 

 

[IRobertI 521]

Hehe, yeah, that's a bit nuts It must increase the print time 10 fold if not more. Have you tried tweaking the expert settings for retraction (minimum travel and minimal extrusion before retraction)? I've seen people recommending to put both of these to 0, I'm not quite convinced that is the best approach due to what you're seeing in the video.

 

[braddock 1]

I thought about that, but overall 0 and 0 gives me the best results. Retraction is only part of the issue anyway, it's still making all those small perpendicular extrusions.

Others must get this as well?

This part has been printing for over 24 hours now, and it's not even half way through. It seems unnecessary?

 

 

Hehe, yeah, that's a bit nuts It must increase the print time 10 fold if not more. Have you tried tweaking the expert settings for retraction (minimum travel and minimal extrusion before retraction)? I've seen people recommending to put both of these to 0, I'm not quite convinced that is the best approach due to what you're seeing in the video.