Sometimes, for whatever reason, I need to print an object off of the bed or print only half an object. Either way, the solution is to move the object vertically in Cura.
It’s pretty easy to do. In your settings menu, unselect “Drop to Bed” and then in your main screen you move the object in the appropriate direction.
Each 3d printer owner buys their printer for their own reason. Some of the most common reasons are that they enjoy making models or that they like to tinker and invent. I do both. I picked up a ceiling fan for $10. It was listed so cheap because it was missing a piece. A small plastic piece. Ha! I thought, this is perfect. I’m teaching my two boys about design, drafting (on paper) and cad drafting. This was a perfect real-world opportunity to have them put their skills to use. We looked up the OEM piece online, took some measurements on our parts to get the sizes right, sketched out some ideas on paper, then created some cad files. Bing bang boom! For about $0.05 we now have a working fan, but the lessons that they learned are worth so much.
I’ve seen some users having issues when using Cura 5. After doing some experiments myself, talking to some folks, and looking around through the help forums, it seems to me that Cura 4 profiles don’t carry over well into Cura 5. I’ve personally had the best success, and seen others with the same conclusions, when they create brand new profiles in Cura 5. The default action is for Cura 5 to import all of your Cura 4 profiles. It will work, but most users end up with ugly prints. I’ve found that Cura 5 works much better when I create brand new Cura 5 profiles and update them.
Sometimes people want to create parts that have an aesthetic top surface. This can be done with the ironing function in Cura. It’s similar to ironing clothes, in the sense that it uses the heat from your nozzle to smooth out the top surface. One caveat, though, is that that it only works on flat top surfaces.
Every once in a while I want to pause a print at a specific height. Sometimes it is to change filament, other times it is to add a weight or embed something into the print before it continues printing.
Frustratingly, many printers come with this functionality disabled. If you run into this roadblock too, you have a few options, all of them require reflashing the firmware.
Whatever option you choose, it does require a certain comfort level with flashing new firmware onto your printer.
When it comes to 3D printing, the orientation of your model can have a big impact on the quality and success of the final print.
FDM printing works by heating a filament of thermoplastic material and extruding it through a nozzle, layer by layer, to build up the model. The orientation of the model during printing can affect how the filament is deposited, and can cause issues such as warping, poor surface finish, failed prints, or the failure of a part while it is being used.
It’s this last failure that I want to elaborate on. When I am making functional parts, I try to make sure that the layer lines are in the same direction as the force that is being applied. Where each layer line joins is a weak spot and a potentail point of failure for your part. But, by changing the orientation so you can reduce the negative impact of the layer lines.
Another factor to consider is the location of overhangs and support structures. Orienting the model so that overhangs and support structures are minimized can help to reduce the need for additional support structures, which can save time and material. It can also improve the surface finish of the print, as support structures can leave marks on the final print.
In summary, orientation is an important factor to consider when 3D printing using FDM technology. By understanding the impact of orientation on the final print, you can optimize your model for the best results. This includes selecting the best layer direction, minimizing overhangs and support structures, and more.
Someone printing an object had an issue where the printhead would move off to one side after each layer. This can be set by several slicer settings. You can enable/disable, depending on what you are trying to do.
Most slicers have a camera setting. After each layer the printhead moves off to the side to give a clear shot of the progress for the camera.
Minimum layer time. For small cross-section prints, you can run into issues if you print too many layers on top of each other too quickly. Minimum layer time moves the print head off to the side for a moment to allow the last layer to cool down a little bit before moving on to the next one.
Sometimes you will see small holes in your print when viewing the first few layers. This can happen if your line width is set too high. Too high? Wouldn’t I need to increase my line width to cover more of the surface?
Running your parts with a thick line width will cause larger gaps in the “corners” where the nozzle steps over to the next line to lay down. I usually don’t worry about it too much. In most prints, these holes don’t matter and eventually get filled in anyway. However, in cases where it matters, just reduce your line width. Or, even better, replace your nozzle with a smaller nozzle.
The topic of first layer adhesion comes up often in 3d printing. Sometimes, the footprint of the part itself is not enough to keep the print stuck to the bed. I’ll go through some of the bed adhesion options below.
Priming Line: One of the main reasons for making an extrusion before you start on the part is to make sure that there is filament in the nozzle. A priming does this and nothing else. I don’t use this option much, but using a 50mm priming line accomplishes the purpose of filling up the nozzle.
Skirt: Your printer will create a quick circle all the way around the perimeter of the part. I use this option frequently. It accomplishes a couple of things for you.
Brim: I use this option for tall, skinny parts. A brim is actually attached to the part, whereas a priming line or skirt are not. A brim provides more of a base for your part that is pretty easy to remove when you are done printing.
Raft: Every option is a compromise between robustness and printability. A raft leans heavily towards the robust side of the scale, but the cost is a longer print time and the fact that you will have to remove the raft from the print later. A raft creates a base for your print to build off of, rather than printing directly on the bed.
Someone asked how to change some settings halfway through a print. If you use Cura, this is pretty easy to do.
Cura is pretty powerful, right out of the box. It’s my go to software for print slicing. I’ve tried others, but I always come back to Cura because of the capability that it provides.
However, sometimes even Cura doesn’t have the functionality that’s needed. Thankfully, many people in the community have created different extensions that offer capability for the gaps in Cura’s capabilities.
One of these is the Post Processing Script extension. One of the options inside of the extension is to change a setting at a specific Z height. You have the ability to change speed, retraction settings, temperature, etc. If you haven’t experimented with it, it’s definitely worth checking out.
