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2019-08-25 2:12 am
It's been a couple of years since I used Cura,
what it this cura ive only printed use the sd card ive heard there are programs for window it this is this one of those and is it worth it to hook my printer up to a computer or are the prints the same using an sd card.
what are the benifits?
Cura is a Slicer for 3d STL files. You will need it to generate new gcode for your printer for files you make or download. These files will be STL files and not gcode. The slicer will generate the gcode for the 3d stl files and allow you to changes settings like print speed, temp, layer height, etc...
See https://ultimaker.com/software/ultimaker-cura for more details on Cura.
Scott
Topic starter
2019-08-25 2:51 am
i had no idea. huge thanks. i was just going to try to download STL files and print. just got done reading over and watch the videos on that site and now im off to in stall cura
Topic starter
2019-08-25 4:40 am
here are the gcode setting ive found for the are printer for use in cura
i have fallen down the rabbit hole. i should have taken bills advise and bought 12 rolls of filament.
2019-08-25 4:21 pm
Was finally successful in getting the filament loaded! I successfully printed the "box" (looks like the smallest breakfast in bed tray I've ever seen!) that I think you printed from the Anet samples. Took 2 hours and 17 minutes and used most of the sample filament they sent with the printer. Now ready to load up the spool of red PLA I purchased and print a Raspberry Pi 4 case for my new RasPi 4B. It has a mount for a fan and from everything I've learned it will probably need it. Once I get the RasPi 4 all together I'll turn one of my RasPi 3 CPU over to Octo Print duty for the 3D printer.
By the way I used what seemed to be the default temp of 200 for the extruder and 50 for the bed and it seemed to have worked perfectly.
Bill, it's time you looked into the A8 Plus (be sure to order some blue PLA!). It was a bit of a challenge but did I ever learn a lot! Now it's time to return the replacement printer Amazon sent me. Looking back I think the one I was originally sent was a previously opened item (the tape looked that way) since in addition to the defective bottom rail there were several missing parts as well.
Bring on the printing jobs!
SteveG
Topic starter
2019-08-25 4:25 pm
congrats im glad to hear it
yeah that "box" was kinda funny i mean its cute but hey it was a test 🙂
2019-08-25 4:43 pm
The music in the video almost drowns out the ladies(?) voice that is trying to explain things. You did make adjustments to the "numbers' she was mentioning for the print bed size didn't you? The video was for the original A8 not our A8 Plus.
SteveG
Topic starter
2019-08-25 5:07 pm
You did make adjustments to the "numbers' she was mentioning for the print bed size didn't you?
yeah i did this was the only gcode i could find for the printer from what i can tell there isn't much difference between the a8 and a8 plus other then the frame, bed size i may be wrong
i still have no idea what im really doing
2019-08-25 5:48 pm
Tried to start printing the RasPi 4 case I found on line, but I think I need to double check the settings that got put into the gcode by CURA! It was trying to print with the extruder temp at 240 and the bed temp at 60. That test print of the box/tray at 200/50 worked like a champ, but the filament just kept getting drug around on the bed for the case I was trying to print. Like it wasn't sticking to the bed.
Is that from being too hot? I thought not hot enough might cause that, but what the heck do I know.
SteveG
2019-08-25 5:52 pm
Is that from being too hot? I thought not hot enough might cause that, but what the heck do I know.
I normally print with the bed @60-65c for PLA, so that's fine.
The 240C would be the issue me think. Try 200c or so.
Topic starter
2019-08-25 5:55 pm
when i printed the box it stuck just fine. then i tried another print to use up the rest of that filament and it was having a problem with the first layer so i went out and got the glue sticks to try on my next print im hoping that will fix it but i think im going to set my temps in cura at 185/50 and play around with it from there
Topic starter
2019-08-25 5:58 pm
when it got into some detail on the print at 200 it wasnt clean and seemed like it smeared abit im think thats because it was too hot
2019-08-25 8:34 pm
Just because the printer just finished a job perfectly doesn't mean that you don't have to check the z adjustment before you start the next print
Filament not sticking to the bed can be caused by temp, z height, or a non sticky bed
2019-08-25 8:51 pm
I've started the print 5 times now, but can't seem to get the first pass to stay down It seems to start off ok then some of the first outline of the base seems to get 'tangled' (best word I can come up with) and it starts to pull some of the already laid down base up and really tangles in a mess. So I've had to stop it each time!
I've tried extruder temps from 190 to 200 (getting ready to try 220) and bed temps of 50 to 60 (getting ready to try 65). The filament I printed my first ever object with was just a small sample that came with the printer so I have no idea of the brand. I bought a spool of NOVAMaker PLA from Amazon. That's what I'm trying to use now. I keep hearing the brand name Hatchbox mentioned, but haven't bought any of that yet. Have you had any experience with either of these?
Printed anything else? I have started to edit some of my gcode files directly to change the temp of the extruder and bed.
SteveG