A1
Software & Calibration
Before we start a discussion of either software or
calibration I'm going to take a moment to review workflow. That's the
path you take to get from Idea to Finished Part. It's got more than a
few steps, so understanding what they are and how the fit together can
help. Review the material on both the A1 Wiki Software/Electronics page and
the A1 Wiki Printing page first!
Workflow
1 - 3D Design
- The first step is taking the mental image into a 3D drawing format
that allows you to create the part structure. There's lots of 3D
software out there, some was set up for creating artistic rendering,
some was set up as an outgrowth of 2D CAD software. What you use
depends on your experience and budget. The output of your design
software
will be a .stl file (stereo lithography). If you work in English units
(feet, inches..) remember to convert the units to Metric before you
generate the .stl file because everything else from here on will be in
millimeters (mm).
2 - .stl Viewing
& Repair
- The Alibre design package I use can output .stl files but not read
them. Sometimes I get .stl files from other sources and would like to
see what I've gotten. Occasionally a 3D design will have a flaw that's
not obvious in the 3D design package. Flaws like edges that are not
joined together but look like they are. Later steps in the workflow
will complain about these problems. It's nice to have software that can
both view and repair errors.
3 - Slicing
- A 3D printer works by building up layers of material. The "slicing"
software is what tells the printer where to put the material. Slicing
is sometimes more an art than a science as the options given the
slicing software determine how good the result is. The output of a
slicing program is called G-Code and consists of a series of
coordinates for moves (no material deposited) and draws (material
deposited) that create the part. Different machine controllers have
different capabilites and their command sets will vary. As a result
there are various 'flavors' of G-code generated.
4 - G-Code Previewer
- For those times that the slicing software is having problems it's
convenient to have a way to preview the G-code. If nothing, it can save
lots of printer time & filament making parts that are not going
to
be correct.
5 - Printing
- You need to get the G-code to the printer, and you need to
be
able to monitor what the printer is doing. Some printers have front
panels and can be controlled entirely from there, loading the g-code
from memory cards. A computer, with control software, is, however
easier to use particularly for the novice.
Within the basic
workflow there are several options for how you work. Slicing software
needs to know about the actual size of the filament being used in order
to generate G-Code. Filament size varies from roll to roll. You have
two choices: (1) you can re-slice every time you want to print a part,
changing the slicing software paramenters to reflect the change or (2)
you can slice once using a standard size (eg. 3mm) and then adjust the
printer setup to compensate for the difference between the "standard"
and the "actual" size of the filament. Both methods have their
advocates.
I've chosen the second option, to slice once and
adjust printer parameters. I've made that decision because I frequently
do my design work on my latest and greatest (eg, fastest processor
& largest
memory) machine while the one attached to my printer is a few
generations older. While it can be loaded with all of the same software
it won't be as fast to run and it's graphics does not have nearly the
same
resolution as my newer machines.
Software
3D
Design
I'm
not going to cover the choice of 3D design software, it's out of the
scope of this website and there are enough other places that talk about
it. I've been using Alibre Design's
Personal Edition 3D cad package. It's supported professional grade
software and I was able to manage the learning curve from my experience
with Autocad, a 2D drawing package. The rest of
the discussion here will be restricted to the programs
that TL has chosen to support for the A1 when we get to those areas.
stl
Viewing & Repair
There
are lots of software packages that accept .stl input and let you look
at and modify the design. My choice here has been the Netfabb
Studio Basic package. It's a free download and accomplishes
what I need.
Slicing
TL supports Slic3r as it's "slicing software of choice". You can download
it from Slic3r.org.
Note the link to
the "support" page that has documentation and FAQ
pages and the
"download"
page that allows you to download older versions (useful if
you think you've found a bug in the "latest & greatest"
version).
Some additional suggested reading about Slic3r:
Richrap's
article – slic3r is nicer 3 part article. While
this article dates back to Jan 2012 it's a good basic
introduction to Slicing. Newer versions of Slic3r have options not
discussed here.
A note on "installing" slic3r. Those
of you who are used
to windows programs that install themselves you are in for a surprise!
If you download, for example, slic3r-mswin-x86-0-9-7.zip and then unzip
the file you wind up with a Slic3r directory. For
Windows, drag & drop a copy of the Slic3r directory into your
Program
Files (x86) directory. Then using Explorer click
on the Slic3r
directory,
right click on "slic3r.exe", from the drop down list select "send
to" and then "desktop (create a shortcut)". Now you have a desktop Icon
you can click on to start up slic3r. In order to be able to run several
versions of slic3r on the same machine, I rename each unzipped Slic3r
directory to be Slic3r.097 (or 098, or 099). I copy all of these to one
Slic3r directory under Program
Files and then create separate shortcuts for each. That upper level
directory is also a convenient common place to save configuration files
for Slic3r.
You may want to download the three Slic3r configuration files pointed
to on the A1 Wiki Printing page.
The first will download as Aluminatus_Medium_Speed_PLA.ini.
Note that although they are text files they use Unix format end of line
markers and if you open them in Notepad you get one long line. If you
want to edit a .ini file in windows you can use the gedit
text editor. If you follow the link to Ezra's
profiles you wind up on a github page. The first two entries,
gist:4696840 and gist:4696828, are the A1 profiles. Click on each link,
click on the Download Gist link. Save the .tar (tape archive) file.
Shorten the name if you want. Use 7-Zip to extract the .txt file
from the .tar file. After you save it, rename it from .txt to .ini.
G-Code
Previewer
I have not experimented with a lot of G-Code previewers. Repetier
Host has one built in and is free. If you are going to be looking at G-Code, then this reference will be helpful to understand the various M-codes that are particular to RAMPS.
Printing
TL supports Pronterface as it's
"printing software of choice".
The A1 Wiki Software/Electronics page
has a link for downloading Pronterface
which downloads a copy of printrun-win-Mar2012-slic3r.zip. Printrun
(aka Pronterface) has a copy of Slic3r embedded in it. Given the
date on the file you will not be surprised that the version is 0.7.1.
It's really out of date. Before you bother looking for a version of
Pronterface with a more up to date version of Slic3r you might want to
review the Slic3r FAQ "How can I use Slic3r with Pronterface?" as
you need to make some changes in order to get things to work the way
you might think they should. Since I'm only using Pronterface to
control the printer I don't really care.
Configuration/Calibration
RAMPS Firmware Configurations
Quick explanation of configurations. There are 3 configurations: Running, Factory Default
and Startup. When the printer is
powered up, the startup configuration is copied to the running configuration. All
configuration changes you make via G-codes are
stored in the running configuration. The changes to the running
configuration are immediate and will be your running configuration
until the printer is turned off or loses power. To make a
permanent change make the change to the running config and then save
the running configuration to the Startup configuration with
M500. If things go horribly wrong, you can always revert back
to the Factory Configuration with M502. Note this will copy the
Factory configuration to the running configuration. Don't forget to
save it with M500 as well!
The rest is
under construction!