"Writing" with a single filament (printing one layer thick)

[tempest 0]

Hi, I'm trying to print just a single filament, just one layer thick on the Ultimaker 2.

You know how Ultimaker quickly prints a border around the actual object to be printed, and it's just one filament thick? That's what I want: to be able to print just single strands.

If I make an .stl design with very narrow and short boxes that are say 0.25mm wide and tall, Cura just ignores the object by saying the print will take "0 minutes" and doesn't give any value for how much material will be used. Even if I adjust layer height, bottom/top thickness and initial layer thickness I can't seem to get it to acknowledge that there's a very thin object to be printed. Before I upgraded to the latest version of Cura I could convince it to print these single layers, but not any more. Any ideas? Thanks

 

[gr5 2,167]

I model the part .1mm high and tell it the bottom layer is .1mm and it works fine. The problem is your width. .25mm is narrower than the .4mm nozzle. In fact Cura won't print anything less than .8mm wide if your shell and nozzle are set to .4mm.

I've printed things skinnier than .8 - maybe down to about .6 by lying about he nozzle width. I set both the nozzle width to a smaller value (I hate going lower than .3 so try that) and the shell has to be a multiple of the nozzle width (so .3 or .6).

 

Then after the text is done I do a cold pull, change filament, and print a part on top. The part on top - I don't bother removing the text from it - I just print it flat on top. The key is that the white part in the pictures above has a bottom layer of .3mm and the red text has a bottom layer of .1mm such that the MUCH THICKER white bottom layer just flows in and around the text and it manages to fit (even though in theory there's not enough room - it just manages fine).

 

To get .1mm thick text you have to level SO much better than normal - I don't use the leveling procedure to get it perfect - the leveling procedure gets you close - then I do the rest by turning the knobs while it's printing the skirt. Once it's at the right height it stays there for months.

 

[gr5 2,167]

Always look at your part in layer view before you print. Otherwise some letters may have gaps or not print at all. And if you really are pushing the limits with nozzle width < .35 I also recommend flow > 100%. Typically 150 or 200%. And also be very aware of the "first layer thickness" parameter which defaults to .3mm.

 

[anon4321 16]

One way would be to make the design of some reasonable height so that Cura slices it. Then save the toolpath and open it in an editor and remove the gcode for the layers after the first layer. But look at the end of the file and copy and "end of print" gcode to after the first layer so the head is moved out of the way and the heaters are turned off etc.

Also note that by default, regardless of your layer setting, the first layer is .3mm. It might be that anything shorter than this is not sliced. You can change this in the advance settings.

 

[anon4321 16]

Cool stuff GR5. How did you generate the text? Neat idea of printing the text and then printing the part on top of it...

 

[Daid 306]

The black magic "only follow mesh surface" option might help you here. It will cut your model into layers, and will just print where there is an intersection of the layer and the model. This gives you a lot of fine control, and takes a lot of intelligence out of Cura. (This mean, no infill, no skins, no nothing)

 

[dirkdirk 5]

I made a programm for easier bed leveling, but i have a similar problem. I would like to print circles consisting of only a single line ( Like the brim )

Is there a possibility that cura goes not every circle 2 times?

That is my bed leveling aid:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ozoen2r40ko5yya/UM2_bed-leveling_circles.gcode?dl=0

thank you

 

[gr5 2,167]

Is there a possibility that cura goes not every circle 2 times?

 

I think you have nozzle set to .4mm and shell to .8mm. The .8mm tells cura to make 2 passes. Is that what you mean?

 

[gr5 2,167]

Cool stuff GR5. How did you generate the text?

 

sketchup. I don't use sketchup for anything other than text now. I usually use DSM (design spark mechanical - it's free) for CAD now.

 

[dirkdirk 5]

I think you have nozzle set to .4mm and shell to .8mm. The .8mm tells cura to make 2 passes. Is that what you mean?

 

no matter what I set , cura moves the circle always 2 times.

somehow I think cura can not only print a simple line. It always needs an inside and outside line. Could that be?

 

[gr5 2,167]

It needs to make a complete circle. But only 1 circle. What are you talking about - can you post a photo instead of posting gcode?

 

[dirkdirk 5]

It needs to make a complete circle. But only 1 circle. What are you talking about - can you post a photo instead of posting gcode?

 

I would like to print several circles with only one line, one layer..like the skirt.

Should look like this:

 

But cura prints every circle two times. 1x cw and 1x ccw. I can't find a setting for the circle width, nozzle or shell that cura print the circles only one time.

If you simulate the gcode in GCodeSimulator (GCodeSimulatorV129.jar) you will see the problem.