Cura 14.01

Looking for slicing software I tested Cura. This software can communicate (US with the ormerod (moving axis, setting bed/extruder temperatures).
Does someone tested Cura and knows how to start a print ?

Were getting near perfect results with Slic3r [slic3r.org].

Matt

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Limited Edition Red RS Ormerod 1 #144 of 200 - RRP 1.09fw
iamburnys Ormerod Upgrades Github
Follow me on ThingiVerse My Designs

Matt, yes me too :-)
I was looking for different support structure strategy and tested different slicer software. I'm curious if its possible to use Cura (I'm looking for another option then always to remove the SD-card). I had not the time to test your web-interface by now.

i actually used cura to print some "cube-gears" (was one of my first prints) so it DOES work.
BUT on last try It did no longer work for me, as It tried to move Z much to fast... I'm now back to using slic3r.

I' did this print with a "rather old Firmware" (I think 0.46 or so) now that ormerod uses relative extrusion and cura does not seem to handle this correctly I would not really recommend cura for ormerod a this point in time.

Hi all,

I have written a cura plugin to convert the extruder values from absolute to relative and now Cura is working very well with Ormerod RepRapPro. PM me and i will send you the plugin and my actual settings for Cura.

Frank

Hi again,

thank you for all the PM's!

i am sorry, but i have do do a few additional tests and therefore need a little more time.

It looks like the ormerod firmware as a problem moving all 3 axis at the same time (Cura want's to do this in the generated g-code). I have to convert this also in the plugin and do some tests again.

Please be patient, i will post the files in this thread as soon as i am finished!

The first try has worked pretty well with some ugly stepper motor noise while travelling, but i thought that this would be easy to fix and the print was nearly perfekt, sorry.

Frank

Ok, i did it! Here is the first version, some cura parameters (like speed) could be optimized surely but it is working pretty well.

Please replace the corresponding 2 files in your cura program folder (programs/cura and programs/cura/plugins) with the attached files! And don't forget to enable the plugin after loading the object, or your slices view will be scrambled and your generated g-code file will not work.

I have tested this only with Cura version 13.12, but i think it should work also with newer versions!

Good luck!

Frank

Edit: Please check the temperatures before you print, i've set the hot end to 210C! I think a lower temperature should be also good for PLA printing!
Edit2: As machine i used Reprap Mendel and changed print sizes to 200mm, all other is default

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/30/2014 06:12AM by Cash.

Thank you very much Frank,

I will test it in the next days and report my results.

Andrea.

You will find a new version of the Cura Plugin attached!

- Fixed wrong E values like: "G1 X41.52 Y43.37 E5e-05", i am not sure if Ormerod will handle this correctly, now it is: "G1 X41.52 Y43.37 E0.00005"
- Added extruder retraction when the layer is changed like Slic3R (to prevent extrusion while layer change)
- Added the Cura "preferences.ini" file with the machine settings to the zip
- Cleaned "current_profile.ini" file from old start/end g-code

Frank

Edit: Fixed small bug

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/30/2014 01:04PM by Cash.

Hi again,

now i have printed several parts working fine with the cura plugin.

But i have a small "startup" problem when printing, possibly someone can give me a hint.
The first Z-command of the generated g-code file will be ignored by the Ormerod and i don't know where the error is. It is the first Z positioning Z0.30 and it doesn't matter if the Z position before starting the print was 0.00 or 10.00, but the first layer will be flat pressed or printed in the air. If i remove most of the other lines of code, the Z0.30 command is executed with no problem.
My workaround is actually doing a "set home" of all axis and the set the Z-axis manually to 0.30 and then start the print. The remaiming G-Code file will be processed fine with no problem.
I am not sure, but i thing i had the same problems sometimes also with Slic3r g-files.
Any ideas?

Frank

What exactly is the gcode that is setting Z to 0.30? Is it by any chance setting X and Y in the same gcode? The current firmware doesn't handle combined XYZ or XZ or YZ moves properly.

---

Large delta printer [miscsolutions.wordpress.com], E3D tool changer, Robotdigg SCARA printer, Crane Quad and Ormerod

Disclosure: I design Duet electronics and work on RepRapFirmware, [duet3d.com].

It is a single line "G1 Z0.30". This line is only ignored in combination with the other code like written obove. If you PM me you email i will send you the file.

Frank

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/01/2014 01:00PM by Cash.

Frank, I suggest you truncate the .g file a few dozen lines after that line, then it will be small enough to attach to a post.

What firmware version are you using?

---

Large delta printer [miscsolutions.wordpress.com], E3D tool changer, Robotdigg SCARA printer, Crane Quad and Ormerod

Disclosure: I design Duet electronics and work on RepRapFirmware, [duet3d.com].

I will try to truncate the file as much as possilbe so that the effect will remain and post it! I am using your 57h-dc42 version!

Hi again,

i found out it is not only the the Z-command that will be ignored. It looks like only the last 2 or 3 move commands/lines from the attached file are executed.
I had to add more and more lines, that the Ormerod does anything. The temperatures are set propperly and after the wait a lot of commands are ignored (normaly skirt commands so it is not so fatal).
You can try it and remove only the last about 5 lines and the Ormerod is doing nothing after the temperature wait.

Frank

Edit: But in about 1 out of 5 tries that problem will not happen!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/02/2014 05:54AM by Cash.

Did a test, and in general seems to look ok!
BUT it did not close the top surfaces (not sure why, could well be some setting I set wrongly).

Hmmm, i have no problem with closing the top surfaces. I am using only cura for slicing now and have printed several different parts...

Nice object!

Frank

Edit: You could use Repetier-Host to view the layers with top surfaces, so you could verify your g-code without wasting material and time...

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/03/2014 03:42PM by Cash.

> Nice object!
it is from thingiverse my 3d design skills are still "evolving" meaning I can do mashups (addin names etc) and very simple geometric parts
>You could use Repetier-Host to view the layers with top surfaces, so you could verify your g-code without wasting material and time...
I could have used the "Layers view" in cura it does show the "open top"...

I'm using Cash's profile and plugin and I'm getting nice PLA prints from Cura.
I have combined it with temperatures and extrusion rate suggested by dc42.

Before printing I always do a visual check of the produced g-code with GCodeSimulator. [www.dietzm.de]

Thanks to both Cash and dc42 for sharing their knowledge and experience.

Quote
Cash

i found out it is not only the the Z-command that will be ignored. It looks like only the last 2 or 3 move commands/lines from the attached file are executed.
I had to add more and more lines, that the Ormerod does anything....

I too have the problem that sometimes cura prints start "mid-air". this is using 57l from dc42 (thanks again for the great FW improvements).
What I did find out, is that to transfer cura-g-code i have to remove the last line which is a comment containing the cura-profile.
so any hints on how to avoid "air prints" AND how to presuade cura to not save the profile into cura-generated g-code is very welcome ;-)

@auser, would you care to post that file so that I can take a look at what is going wrong? Also, are you uploading it via USB or via the web interface? 57l should be OK with files containing long comment lines uploaded via the web interface.

---

Large delta printer [miscsolutions.wordpress.com], E3D tool changer, Robotdigg SCARA printer, Crane Quad and Ormerod

Disclosure: I design Duet electronics and work on RepRapFirmware, [duet3d.com].

test.gcode: contains the cura profile a the end. curaSF amongst others did start as "air print".
FW:57l pretty sure, but will go back to the cellar to check for sure (back in 5).

20:03:44 M115
FIRMWARE_NAME:RepRapFirmware FIRMWARE_VERSION:0.57l-dc42 ELECTRONICSuet DATE:2014-02-07

uploading test.gcode seems to finish but then "hangs" at 99% after that I can not delete or upload any more g-codes



edit: fixed typo

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/11/2014 02:17PM by auser.

Quote
auser
I too have the problem that sometimes cura prints start "mid-air". this is using 57l from dc42 (thanks again for the great FW improvements).
What I did find out, is that to transfer cura-g-code i have to remove the last line which is a comment containing the cura-profile.
so any hints on how to avoid "air prints" AND how to presuade cura to not save the profile into cura-generated g-code is very welcome ;-)

Thank you for the hint with the Cura profile at the end! I think removing the cura profile could also be easily done by that Cura plugin. I will try to add this feature tomorrow.

Frank

The problem with the Cura profile at the end of test.gcode is that the line is about 5300 characters long. This results in the web interface waiting forever for the firmware to report that it has a buffer large enough to accommodate that line, which never happens. So it isn't enough that the firmware truncates long comment lines. Matt's web interface needs to truncate long lines too, or else we need to modify the protocol so that a long line can be split into multiple transactions. I'll send Matt a PM referring to this post.

I've just tried curaSF.gcode and it air printed. Looking into it now.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/11/2014 03:57PM by dc42.

---

Large delta printer [miscsolutions.wordpress.com], E3D tool changer, Robotdigg SCARA printer, Crane Quad and Ormerod

Disclosure: I design Duet electronics and work on RepRapFirmware, [duet3d.com].

I've tracked down the problem with curaSF.gcode. The web interface is not doing complete URL encoding, in particular the # characters in that file are confusing it. If you are running a local web server, you can modify line 32 in reprap.js like this:

if (reqType === 'gcode' && code != "") {
code = code.replace(/\n/g, '%0A').replace(/\+/g, '%2B').replace(/-/g, '%2D').replace(/\s/g, '+').replace(/#/g, '%23');
query = "?gcode="+code;
}

This isn't a complete fix, because % characters in the file may also cause problems. I'll leave Matt to fix that.

---

Large delta printer [miscsolutions.wordpress.com], E3D tool changer, Robotdigg SCARA printer, Crane Quad and Ormerod

Disclosure: I design Duet electronics and work on RepRapFirmware, [duet3d.com].

I'll fix this for the upcoming update.

Matt

---

Limited Edition Red RS Ormerod 1 #144 of 200 - RRP 1.09fw
iamburnys Ormerod Upgrades Github
Follow me on ThingiVerse My Designs

Quote
Cash
Ok, i did it! Here is the first version, some cura parameters (like speed) could be optimized surely but it is working pretty well.

Please replace the corresponding 2 files in your cura program folder (programs/cura and programs/cura/plugins) with the attached files! And don't forget to enable the plugin after loading the object, or your slices view will be scrambled and your generated g-code file will not work.

I have tested this only with Cura version 13.12, but i think it should work also with newer versions!

Good luck!

Frank

Edit: Please check the temperatures before you print, i've set the hot end to 210C! I think a lower temperature should be also good for PLA printing!
Edit2: As machine i used Reprap Mendel and changed print sizes to 200mm, all other is default

Frank, thanks very much for making this plugin - I have a couple of models that slic3r slices OK, but takes over four hours to export (roughyl half of the time they take to print!!) - Cura does both the slicing and the export in less than a minute, but of course has the snag of using absolute E distances (actually, for small prints, I find that this is OK, just that at some stage in a large file, Cura wraps round from 19,500 or so mm to 0 again, and the Ormerod then rewinds the Extruder all the way back to 0 which takes a hell of a long time, and I need to pause your print, and carry out a lot of stuff to get it to continue).

I didn't get around to trying your plugin until tonight (I use a mac, and it wasn't obvious to me how to go about adding plugins), but I installed it eventually this evening and have tried some slicing and the files look good to the eye - tomorrow I'll try a print

For other mac users who want to try this, you need to copy the plugin to "home/.cura/plugins" (in my case rayhicks/.cura/plugins) and the .ini file goes in home/.cura/13.12/ (in my case I have cura 13.12 and the defaults are stored in a folder using the app version number). Files and folders starting with a "." aren't generally visible on the mac, and you'll need to open the terminal and enter

defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE
killall Finder

for the cura folder to become visible - you can then copy and paste the files into the target directories as normal (in my install, the /plugins folder didn't exist so I had to make it first).
Of course people who are happy with Unix and command lines (unlike me) will already know how to navigate create and copy files in the terminal and won't need these no0bish hints

Thanks again Frank - hopefully your effort will massively decrease my turn around time in trying out slicing prototypes, just as dc42's excellent improvements in USB communications (and other features) have cut down hugely in turnaround on printing them.

Cheers

Ray
[edit - oops just noticed the version update post in this thread I'll try that tomorrow ]

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/11/2014 06:06PM by rayhicks.

I have modified the Cura plugin (see attachment). The Cura Profile line and lines containing "#" will be removed in the final gcode file.
Not testet yet on the real hardware, but i think it should work.

Frank

Edit: Tested 2 small prints now and it works!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/12/2014 03:32PM by Cash.