Using Cura for Pegasus printers.

[seattle_phil]

I recall there were some questions about this earlier. After about the 100th time that Slic3r crashed on me, I decided to give Cura a try. Right now, I'm finishing up a 1 hr print and it looks ok.

It's fairly straightforward for the most part with a few tweaks needed. For the printer definition, I selected custom FDM printer (settings/printer/add printer/custom/custom FDM). For machine settings, see image below. I didn't go for a full 300x300 bed for my Pegasus 12 though may change it later. I ignored the printhead settings.
cura machine settings.jpg
For the print settings, I quickly gave up on their dumb-mode print setup ("Recommended"). It seemed to just make a mess. With Custom print settings, I had to make a couple of changes - defaults are probably why "Recommended" didn't work well.

• Probably the biggest was Retraction Distance in the Mateial section. They had it as 1mm but that resulted in massive starvation. I set it to .25 and that seemed to result in fairly complete layers with no excess. It might still be a little too high.
• They also had Infill Before Walls set (Infill section). I missed it for the first print and got an ugly pattern in the walls from the infill.
• On Z offset. Cura doesn't have it but I tried setting the first layer bigger by the Z offset amount and that seemed to work.
• I used the grid infill pattern. Not sure I like it. Will try others. No honeycomb available - I like that in Slic3r.
• One thing I like about Slic3r is you can set a different nozzle and bed temp for the first layer. That's not available in Cura.

Based on one print, it is possible to get Cura working for Pegasus printers. So far Slic3r (1.2.9) g-code produces a better quality print than Cura but I haven't fussed with it enough. I suspect that walls before infill will help a lot. The Cura print is on the left in the picture below and a slic3r print on the right. The Cura print has layer 1 on top in the picture. You can see that it is pretty rough though is usable. Note that I still have some filament reel binding (evident in both prints) that I am working through.

Q3313201_DxO.jpg

[seattle_phil]

If you use the end g-code from the screenshot (sorry it's so small, not sure why), make sure you do not use G1 X0 Y0 Z5 but rather put G1 Z5 on a separate line after G1 X0 Y0.

[revol]

I've been trying to get Cura working for my Pegasus 10", after exclusively using Simplify3D. I can't get my first layer to adhere to the bed. I'm using PLA, and with S3D I've never had trouble getting bed adhesion using painter's tape on a non-heated bed. It's not a z-offset issue. I've got S3D configured without an offset, so I'm just using what I have set in Marlin. It seems to me like it might be an extrusion issue, like something about the way that S3D gcode extrudes works better than Cura. My speeds appear to be set correctly, I've tried printing both faster and slower in Cura, and the same thing happens. Instead of the material adhering to the surface, it rolls.

[seattle_phil]

I've been trying to get Cura working for my Pegasus 10", after exclusively using Simplify3D. I can't get my first layer to adhere to the bed. I'm using PLA, and with S3D I've never had trouble getting bed adhesion using painter's tape on a non-heated bed. It's not a z-offset issue. I've got S3D configured without an offset, so I'm just using what I have set in Marlin. It seems to me like it might be an extrusion issue, like something about the way that S3D gcode extrudes works better than Cura. My speeds appear to be set correctly, I've tried printing both faster and slower in Cura, and the same thing happens. Instead of the material adhering to the surface, it rolls.

Since I posted that, I've pretty much switched over to Cura 2.5 exclusively for slicing (pronterface for sending G-code) and am pretty happy with the results. For PLA, I'm printing with a 70C bed, 200C hotend, .4 mm nozzle, 2.5mm layer. First layer is .4mm at 50% speed (30mm/s).

Try turning on bed heat. You can just start it via the LCD panel or pronterface before the print or put it in the start G code. Hairspray on 3/16" glass and I've never had a problem with adhesion. Interestingly, the PLA parts pop off when the bed drops to 60C. Before that they are pretty welded to the plate.

[revol]

Heated bed is what I've been planning to try next, but I shouldn't have to, right? If it works with one slicer, why not another?

[seattle_phil]

I don't have an answer but there are a lot of variables from one slicer to another. For example, I found hidden in the Slic3r settings where it doubles the extrusion for the first layer. Hidden under advanced, IIRC. Sometimes the settings that affect the first layer are scattered about...

[revol]

I've got Cura printing to the bed now. I think it was just that the speed wasn't quite right.

Now to work on the reason I've moved to Cura in the first place: z seam. Will create a separate thread for that.

[mcinsand]

Hi,After taking too much time in my build, I have a Pegasus 10. However, I'm having a little too much 'fun' trying to get Slic3r 0.9.9 to work on my system. How difficult was it for you to get 1.2.9 running on your Pegasus? Regards,Mc

[mcinsand]

Nevermind what I posted. Found the file in the Makerfarm Upgrades folder. Sliced and it printed well.

By the way, I punted on installing Slic3r 0.9.9 Linux version. The Github procedure wasn't working even when I started from a fresh install. What worked easily was using WINE and the Windows Slic3r 0.9.9 version. Tested by slicing the cube STL that comes with the Pegasus software collection as well as with the relay board upgrade. The only difference is that the infill with the cube that I sliced made for a bit heavier of a print.

[mcinsand]

Been enjoying the printer and slic3r... and then went beyond a small model. To configure for a Pegasus 10, just drop to 230 mm or so from the settings that Seattle_Phil had? I'm trying to get a prototype piece, and slic3r chugs along for about 5 minutes and crashes. Anything to add to the above discussion before trying Cura?