Using Slic3r on UM2

[baymaker 1]

Hi everyone,

This is my first post on the forum, so if I'm posting in the wrong section (shouldn't be the case but maybe I missed something) or something like that, please forgive me.

I've looked around both on the forum and on google, and couldn't find an answer, so here goes.

I've had my Ultimaker2 for a couple of days now, and I'm seriously impressed by its ease of use, precision and print quality !

I also love Cura, which I find to be pretty much at the perfect balance with an accessible UI while still offering a wide range of parameters !

Unfortunately, when trying to print some vases without infill, I had some trouble in the slicing process.

What I was trying to print were simple vase models, with a width of 0,8mm, so that it would only have 2 perimeters line, with 0 infill. I set everything accordingly in Cura, however I ended up (on different models and even when trying with a thicker shell and an extra perimeter) with some random infill at different layers in the model.

From what I've understood so far, it seems that Cura creates extra infill when it feels it's needed because of the slope or geometry, however this can't be turned off. I'm pretty sure these slopes should print just fine, and the whole point was being able to print it a lot faster having only perimeters to do.

Because of that, I'd like to try using Slic3r for these kind of scenarios (not familiar with Kisslicer, and even though I've heard it's a pretty good alternative to Cura, I'd like to avoid having to get used to yet another new software, interface and such) and some other options that Cura doesn't offer at the time (randomizing the start of each layer to hide the Zscar and infilling every "n" layer for instance) .

Unfortunately, the Ultimaker 2 doesn't have a "default profile" to load into Slic3r. This wasn't that big a deal, as most information can be found pretty easily (however if anyone can confirm what should be put as the printer origin .. is it 0,0 or half X and half Y ?).

I managed to slice my models the way I wanted (with only 2 perimeters and no infill in between), but I'm stuck after exporting the Gcode ...

I set up Slic3r to export with the "reprap gcode flavor" setting, but I don't know what to modify exactly to make it work. I tried to load one gcode file, the UM warned me that it would override the UM settings to use the slicer one, I accepted, and ... it failed. As I don't really want to have my brand new machine going through silly mistakes like the printer's head smashing into one axis's limit or other stuff like that, I thought it would be both easier and safer to ask here.

So long story short : Is anyone using Slic3r to slice their models, and if so, what do you modifiy in the Gcode to have it like it was exported out of Cura ??

Thanks in advance to anyone able to help me out,

Happy printing,

Max.

 

[oliver3d 2]

Hello!

I haven't used Slic3r myself, so I can't help out that much, but I can still give my 2 cents.

Have you checked this out?:http://wiki.ultimaker.com/Manual_First_Print (THIS IS FOR THE ULTIMAKER ORIGINAL NOT FOR ULTIMAKER 2!!)

There's some help with setting it up for Sli3er.

Edited March 7, 2016 by Nicolinux
make clear that the link is for UMO not UM2

[baymaker 1]

Hey,

Thanks, I did checked that out, and even though there is some help regarding the global settings, it doesn't cover everything. For instance, I'm still not sure what I should put as the printer origin and such.

The only time I tried a Gcode from Slic3r, after the UM2 warning about this gcode replacing the machine settings, it just went straight to the front left corner, a bit too far (even though I set the bed size a bit smaller to avoid exactly this ..), didn't preheat the extruder, and just tried to start printing from there ... I immediatly canceled the print, and haven't tried back ever since, as I don't want to damage the printer with some faulty Gcode.

I'll probably try again later, but I don't really want to have to pre-check all the Gcode by myself to be sure that it won't do some weird stuff. Also, if I could avoid having to go through the whole steps per E setting of Slic3r, and just using the UM2 one, it would be pretty nice.

Basically, I'd like to get just the path from Slic3r, and have the rest copy pasted as if it had been generated by Cura.

If anyone has some tips on this, they'd be very welcomed !

 

[troy-nachtigall 0]

BE VERY CAREFULL, the link above if for the Ultimaker 1.

Running it with the instructions above caused the extruder to run into the back left clip of my UM2 and nearly cracked my build plate.

.

Slic3r needs some G-code to run.

Here is the g-code adjustment I made thanks to http://umforum.ultimaker.com/i...

G21 ;Metric Values

G90 ;Absolute Positioning

M82 ;Extruder to Absolute

G28 ; home all axes

G1 X5 Y10 F9000 ;Move Head to ~Origin

G1 Z20 F9000 ;Raise Bed to Head

T0 ;Select Extruder 1

G92 E0 ;Zero Extrude L

G1 F100 E18 ;Forward 18mm @ 100mm/min

G1 F50 E28 ;Extrude 10mm @ 50mm/min

G92 E0 ;Zero Extrude L

It doesn't start off well, and the first layer has to be tuned and turned some more. But its a start.

 

[turlututu 0]

Hi,

My print's head smashed also the plate... Maybe UM should warn people about it...

Thanks troy-nachtigall, it works fine.

Edited September 25, 2015 by Guest

[frederiekpascal 193]

I have been using Cura since the start but I bought Simplify3D last night. At the first look the program looks awesome. I'll keep you posted of my experiences with this slicer.

[neotko 1,417]

I have been using Cura since the start but I bought Simplify3D last night. At the first look the program looks awesome. I'll keep you posted of my experiences with this slicer.

 

Try to play with the Support area and test the 'dense support layers'. Also thinks to play with, the infill support angle (great to no need to rotate stuff or to do a 45/-45 support grid. On advanced the 'Only retract when crossing open spaces' if desactivated will retract always when moving the head, so the head won't kill a clean surface, specially if you activate the 'Avoid crossing outlines' that works like combing on cura, but you can adjust the factor to make it better for each print needs. Also on Layer, remember that the first layer height it's a % of the actual layer height, so you need to do your math of how height will be the first layer.

Another note. Remember that on each processes you can press 'Select Models' So that process only affects one object or many. S3D latelly added quite a bunch of tutorials for the rest of the stuff.

[frederiekpascal 193]

Also on Layer, remember that the first layer height it's a % of the actual layer height, so you need to do your math of how height will be the first layer.

 

Awesome tips, thanks a lot.

About the first layer height. When I print at 0.1 quality, then the first layer height should be 300% to fit a 0.3mm first layer height (like my settings in Cura). It was default 200% in Simplify3D, I changed it to 300%. Is that ok?

[neotko 1,417]

Indeed. I use to go for a 0.2-0.25 layer but that's just a personal preference.