FF Creator Pro with Makerbot Desktop - how to change startGcode?

[curious aardvark]

What sebastien said :-)

One thing I have discovered recently is that editing a custom profile is actually much easier using the notepad than using proftweak.
The proftweak layout, colours and added bits just get in the way. weird but true.

Just seems to be much easier to see the actual settings.

That said proftweak has committed suicide on my computer anyway, so i didn't have a choice :-)

[Sebastian Finke]

That said proftweak has committed suicide on my computer anyway, so i didn't have a choice :-)

Java error? Easy to fix...

[curious aardvark]

tried that - but to be honest it's way simpler with notepad. And pretty much the only thing I ever wanted to change with makerware was the first layer speed.

Did that and it works fine for dual extrusion - which is all i need it for until simplify3d adds a proper purge wall.

[Hoth]

So I've been using Makerware 2.4 on Sebastian's recommendation for a bit now. It fixed the issue of the bed dropping after the priming bead, but I find that I get badly sliced models pretty often now. Specifically, for some horizontal holes or other through features, it'll make them into slots that extend out of the model. Here's an example.
Before slicing...model.jpg
After slicing, in the preview...sliced.jpg

So I'm trying to find Makerbot Desktop 3.6 which, Sebastion tells me, will also have the correct behavior at the beginning of a print, but I'm hoping will also slice better.

Anyway, I can't for the life of me find where to download that. There's a post on this forum that announces its availability, but it just goes to makerbot.com which only has 3.7

Any suggestions?

Thanks!!!

[curious aardvark]

your models are NOT manifold.

They look fine in the preview - but the slicer reads the actual data and shows the actual model.

I have never had any slicing issues from makerware 2.4. But it can be pretty sensitive to dodgy models. This would appear to be your problem.

Try running that model through netfabb and then slicing.

[Hoth]

Thanks, Aardvark. That apparently was it. Funny that when I import the .stl (which I didn't model myself) into SolidWorks and run diagnostics, it doesn't find anything wrong with it. Just saving it from a solid to a .stl again appears to fix it. Either way, problem solved - just need to preview every print and now I have a way to fix them.
sliced-again.jpg

[Sebastian Finke]

Thanks, Aardvark. That apparently was it. Funny that when I import the .stl (which I didn't model myself) into SolidWorks and run diagnostics, it doesn't find anything wrong with it. Just saving it from a solid to a .stl again appears to fix it. Either way, problem solved - just need to preview every print and now I have a way to fix them.
sliced-again.jpg

What software do you do your design in? I ask because I have never had that problem, not once. Certain free softwares, however, are known produce poor stl's.

[Sebastian Finke]

... pretty much the only thing I ever wanted to change with makerware was the first layer speed...

Really? You don't change the feedstock multiplier, extruder temps, bed temp, support options...?

[Hoth]

I design my parts in SolidWorks 2015, but I download stuff from Thingiverse occasionally and these are the parts that usually give me trouble. The part I'm showing was a download.

Although I did make a part myself that was basically a flat plate with some through holes and Makerware sliced it such that it printed the holes and nothing else - the inverse of the part. And that was built in SW, saved as an .stl and opened in Makerware. I tried flipping it sideways and other holes did the "slot thing" I mentioned. I ended up just deleting most of the holes to get it to work.

Come to think of it, I made all the holes with Hole Wizard (which I usually do since it's easy) so maybe something's buggy about that...

[Sebastian Finke]

I know from several of my solidworks-using contemporaries that there are occasional issues when exporting an STL form Solidworks. Not sure what causes it though. Netfabb is the usual remedy.