loads of issues with netfabb - calibration anyone ?

[vincentp 0]

hi !

I'm quite a noob with 3D printing, proud owner of an ultimaker 1.5.x (2580). Assembly and the first tests were flawless overall, printing a few models from replicatorG with the fail safe PLA profile it "worked".

(of course, stringing etc)

we bought netfabb to be able to manage materials and generate GCODE (faster). I just can't get things to work and I can't print the calibration.

Z axis is calibrated precisely. I printed various things with repG and also Cura, got the latter run all the tests, everything is working nicely. Belt tension seems nice, I'll probably have to triple check the orthogonality of the axis but overall it works.

What I need is to calibrate the materials so that I can have a choice of like 3 setups (low / mid / super) for quality and that's it.

I've upgraded to marlin, got a custom firmware via the online tool to support the ultipanel I just bought, it's setup on 115200.

nettfab recognizes the machine, I can do keyboard control. Homing works terrific.

Nettfab 4.9.1

when I try to calibrate a material, netfab will do random crazy things.

doesn't wait for proper temp (need to preheat)

big offset on Z. While homing went right, it starts printing circles at like 1-2 mm above. It's not a switch error, it a deliberate move.

then if I leave it printing, it will go for a crazy feedrate, extruder gear spins at like 60 rpm

after I cancel the print, ultimaker will keep doing things, small movements, like if nettfab keeps streaming Gcode.

I don't mind printing from repG or ANYTHING. All I want is a stable and fast solution to have the proper Gcode generated based on quality / print time constraint.

what am I doing wrong ?

nettfab version I should use ?

firmware I should use ?

material profiles I could use as is ?

thanks

[IRobertI 516]

Unfortunately Netfabb is still stuck in the stone age when it comes to calibration. You should NOT use the builtin routines to do the calibration. See here instead:

http://wiki.ultimaker.com/NetFabb_Setup ... alibration

A new version that uses volumetric printing like slic3r/cura/skeinforge/every-other-slicer-out-there uses has been "coming soon" for a few weeks now. Hopefully it wont be much longer...

In short, calibration in Netfabb is a pain in the ass (but prints awesome once it's calibrated and has a vastly superior interface) so if you can wait a while longer I'd suggest sticking with the alternatives for now.

[thedudevt 0]

See also this thread - viewtopic.php?f=9&t=194

I second sticking with cura for the time being.

[ian 32]

tip ! bin netfabb and use cura ! Daid is making Cura a world class piece of software and its becoming the new standard for ultimaker users !

Best wishes.

Ian