cura settings for pegasus 8"

[jsdspif]

I've succesfully printed a few things on my printer using the slic3r software but had some issues with a new print I wanted to try. The file I got had the part on it's "edge" and I needed to "lay it down" "flat". I couldn't figure out how to do that in slic3r and someone suggested cura, because it has a lay down flat as an option. So I have succesfully layed the parts down flat but now I don't know what all the settings are that I want/need. The slic3r settings were all configured for me by makerfarm(I guess??) . I'm thinking I can try to set cura to match the settings in slic3r, but there seems to be alot more settings in cura that I don't know what to set them to. Thanks. Also, in case I don't figure it out, how do you load multiple parts into cura? Just keep on opening files ? That's something I just now thought of.

[jsdspif]

for now I may have figured it out (kind of). In cura I saved the repositioned parts as new stl files and I then open them back up in slic3r, which already is configured for my pegasus, which seems ok to me. if someone has reccomendations though for cura settings and maybe any opinion on why one is favored over the other I'm all ears.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

The simple answer seems to be that most people pick one or the other and figure out where everything is hidden. Pro CAD software isn't much different. They seem to have a staff member who's only duty is to figure out obscure places to stick things so they are hard to get to ....

Bob

[printbus]

jsdspif - you're evidently using slic3r without going into its "expert mode". Slic3r actually has more settings than Cura does once you're in expert mode.

It has been over a year since I last used native Cura, but I found it quite frustrating to use. I found running Repetier Host with Cura Engine behind the scenes was much easier to use. The way Repetier Host grouped the Cura settings made a lot of sense.

When you get into comparing slicers, there really isn't a best-for-all solution. Different versions of different slicers are better for different people and their different expectations and needs. Get the idea?

As uncle_bob suggests, pick one and learn how to leverage what it can do for you. Google is your friend when trying to understand settings that seem obscure. When you run into limitations or frustrations with that slicer, do some research and pick another one to try for a while.

[jsdspif]

I print so infrequently (almost never) I'll probably never learn the ins and outs. The slic3r settings were all preconfigured by makerfarm (I guess, I don't remember setting any) I printed out a pig that is meant to be a salt or pepper shaker and some pieces that help 'stiffen up" the pegasus and those went well. They weren't my designs I just downloaded the stl's. I want to print a Geneva wheel and show it to a friend of mine. Thanks.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

Regardless of the device you look at: 3D printers, CNC machines, P&P machines, or anything similar -- they all have a learning curve. They all require some sort of CAD to drive them, that has a learning curve. The machines themselves need tweaks to keep them running. The software needs re-learning each time there is an upgrade. This is true on $300 machines, $3,000 machines, $30,000 machines and $300,000 machines. I don't have never had to keep a $3,000,000 machine running. I'd bet they are the same. For as long as I've been buying these machines and running them (about 30 years), the sales pitch is *always the same*. "The new generation solves all the problems and there is no learning curve on the new machines". It was bunk in 1970, it's bunk today. Software is easier to use than it was back then. The hardware has fewer quirks. Mylar punch tape has been replaced with memory cards. What we try to do with the software and hardware today is many orders of magnitude more complex than we would have tried long ago.

Simply put, there is an investment of time required to get things going and keep things running. None of these manufacturing "robots" run on their own. They require a *lot* of human intervention to get them to work right.

Bob