Is there a comprehensive delta printer optimisation guide.

Now that I have my printer working thanks to a lot of help from DC42 and others I would like to really optimize it as far as accuracy and speed are concerned. Has anyone done a good idiots guide explaining how to do this?

Currently I can get good prints as slow speed but I would like to find the printers ideal configuration.

I would be interested in that also. I've gotten to where I get what I consider "decent" prints but not great ones.

check out my thread here, they were nice enough to post their slicer settings

[forums.reprap.org]

Although those are my settings in DrDoggy's thread, I'm still interested in hearing how other people are solving their printing problems.

I've found that you need to keep tweaking, watching, adjusting, hypothesising, reading, and just generally practicing before you'll find some settings that work really well for you.

In my case I'm printing a set of interlocking pieces (similar to Lego) for a friend, that we've designed together. As each piece is only 10 or 20mm wide, I need the best detail I can possibly get. Also if the printer isn't set up really well, then you don't get a good interlock. So it's something that I've been continuously tweaking for the past 3 months since I finished building my printer.

Some things that I've learnt:

* Set your outer perimeters to print Sloowwwwlly if you want nice detail on them. Otherwise you get ringing, which looks horrible.
* Several parameters in Slic3r are based on layer height, not nozzle width (eg using percentages in the extrusion width screen). This confused me greatly, it doesn't make sense to me but there you go.
* Don't be afraid to use wider extrusion widths than your nozzle size, especially for the first layer to get it to stick properly.

Good luck, please post some pictures of the issues you're having, it will help everyone if we can see the problem and help to sort it out.

I don't know of one comprehensive guide for Deltas, but there is quite a bit of information in the Slic3r Manual, and the Calibration section here. If you find another guide or useful information then please update the Calibration section with it.

I agree that "%" settings can be confusing - however you don't need to use them at all.
See the bottom of this thread. There are some rules of thumb there for extrusion width that I have gleaned from Slic3r's documentation and reading here.

To control ringing you can set different accelerations in Slic3r, on the Speed Tab, Acceleration Control.
- Set the default to your Travel acceleration, and then set a lower acceleration for perimeters.
- To test it: get or create a simple single walled part that has a rough outline, with some strait lines as well. It needs to print quickly so you can perform multiple tests with increasing or decreasing acceleration settings to find the right point. You can do the same with speed.

The test shape might look like the following I use in the proof of concept test generator I'm creating:


This would create a test tower with 6mm tall sections, with increasing acceleration set for each section (and a ridge at each section to show where the Accel changes). I really think that Guided Calibration with test generators is going to be what's needed.

This could be done manually by slicing an object, and inserting the gcode for different accelerations just after different Z height changes. See the M204 gcode.

You can also slice an object with Slic3r with Verbose Gcode turned on, and Acceleration Control turned on, and look at the gcode to see how it's done.

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My printer: Raptosaur - Large Format Delta - [www.paulwanamaker.wordpress.com]
Can you answer questions about Calibration, Printing issues, Mechanics? Write it up and improve the Wiki!

Hey guys sorry for the late reply I am on holiday in the US for Christmas so haven't been actively monitoring the forums. Thanks for the replies, I will check out the suggestions when I get back home.

that program looks sexy! wondering if you have plans to release it, if so pretty please add a jerk modification option as well

lalalandrus,

Yes, I am planning on doing Jerk / Junction deviation.
That is one (M205) I had initially missed in the Smoothieware supported documentation, thanks for prompting me.

That will make for a series of 27 step by step "Guided Calibration" tests (and counting) that will build on each other, and that will also support the additional features in the post-processor I'm developing (for Slic3r features). This will turn calibration on it's head.

My goal is for Guided Calibration to be an integral part of Slic3r.

I have no intention whatsoever of selling this, none at all. However, I know if I don't develop this it will not just happen.

I've been a software developer for over 30 years, and I have software in thousands of commercial offices, so I'm quite familiar with the mechanics of software development, interface design, distribution, and support. I'm using a full suite of rapid prototyping tools that I've used for many years, but not the same language as used in Slic3r.

So my thought at this point is to develop the testing suite, and prove them as part of my research, and then support others in putting these into Slic3r. But that last part is the sticking point. I don't know if anyone will ever do it. So I'm thinking about checking on the interest in starting a collaborative project here, perhaps in a month or so when this post-processing and guided calibration suite is finished.

And I'm thinking about the alternative, if I released it directly, how I could support it. I can't take time away from work to do it as I'm having health issues anyway and need to work. But I have never had any intention of selling it. So that's a bit of a conundrum.

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My printer: Raptosaur - Large Format Delta - [www.paulwanamaker.wordpress.com]
Can you answer questions about Calibration, Printing issues, Mechanics? Write it up and improve the Wiki!