Yes, I have heard that 3D printing has been a real boon too model railroaders. My FiL was one. He would have loved 3D printing but he died in 2009.
Uncheck that setting (Origin at center) as its for Delta printers. Then try re-slicing the model and printing the gcode file from an SD card.
Thank you very much for the website! My brother-in-law is a train enthusiast.
Cheers
I agree. Typically, on a Cartesian style printer, the origin will be at the front left corner. Some are at the back right, but the point is that the origin is at a corner, not the center.
I’m somewhat confused now - so, IF I understand this correctly -
- A Cartesian style printer is larger, and has a square build plate - “common style”,
- Delta style, usually tall with a circular build plate.
- Origin for my Cartesian printer is the front left corner - the same place where it tried to print.
- The “g-code” - properly added to the print file, should tell it to print at 0,0 IN THE CENTER or wherever you wish it to print.
So perhaps I DO understand this better than I originally thought I had!
You have most of it pretty good. Item 4, however, is incorrect for Cartesian. The 0,0 point is always in the same place. If you place your model in the center of the build plate in your slicer then the slicer will calculate (based on what you set the bed size to) the co-ordinates of where to print. So, if your build plate is 200x200, and you put the model in the center in the slicer, it will set the co-ordinates to around 100,100. The actual co-ordinates will, or course, depend on the size & shape of the model.
Just completed my most recent “print”.
And, it was NOT pretty!
As I expected, the print head moved to the printer’s point of origin, prior to starting the print. I
t spewed filament on the build plate in what somewhat resembles either a raft or berm on the side facing the “1:00 O Clock” position, the rest simply fell off
I’m sure that IF the proper gcode was entered, the “0,0” origin would be the CENTER of the build plate, the EXTRUDER would pre-heat to 200C and the BUILD-PLATE to 60 C
AND the print could NOT start until ALL these parameters were met
My understanding is this is dealt with when the model is sliced and the proper printer parameters are entered.
It’s now 12:50 am, I was up at 5:30 from a left foot that felt as if a “Russian was in my sock, jabbing away with a bayonet!”
G’Nite to all!
Maybe this will help with setting up Cura to get your printer printing correctly Setting Up A Cura Profile For The Geeetech A30 For The First Time - YouTube
Was worth a shot BUT as I checked it out it simply was not to be. The video was posted in 2018 - with an A30 and Cura from that era. Since then Cura has changed - now they have a profile for the A30. As for changing to a Custom printer, as far as I can tell,not all of those settings are adjustable in the manner he demonstrated.
I’ve been working on adapting the gcode to better suit this printer.
Two steps forward, one step back. I attempted to print your file last night after trying to print one of my earlier files. In the first print, the Z axis failed to raise the extruder. After a couple of minutes, I killed the print. I pulled & replaced the clogged nozzle, pulled the filament back for a dry print then tried your file. STILL NO activity on the Z axis - it refuses to raise DURING a print. It Cura it works fine as selected by the mouse on the screen. I altered the gcode, now it prints in the center of the build sheet/ The dry print was to keep the nozzle from clogging again IF Z axis went on strike again. (As it apparently did)
ORIGINAL gcode AS PER CURA 5.2.1.pdf (420 KB)
It could be that I need more coffee, but I don’t see any commands to heat the hotend or bed. I’m also unsure what “G28 X160 Y160” does per the Marlin documentation for G28 (it doesn’t take numbers after the X or Y). I’ve modified the start g-code in the PDF after one DRVAX recommended for the Monoprice MP10 (also a bed slinger) to add the bed and hotend temperatures (red text) and replaced the stationary purge with a line (green):
G21 ;(metric values)
G90 ;(absolute positioning)
G28 ;(Home all axes)
M82 ;(set extruder to absolute mode)
M107 ;(start with the fan off)
M104 S[first_layer_temperature] ; set extruder temp
M140 S[first_layer_bed_temperature] ; set bed temp
M190 S[first_layer_bed_temperature] ; wait for bed temp
M109 S[first_layer_temperature] ; wait for extruder temp
G92 E0 ;(Reset the extruder to 0)
G1 Z2.0 F1500 ; (Move Z Axis up little to prevent scratching of Heat Bed)
G1 X10 Y5 Z0.3 F1500.0 ; (Move to start position)
G1 X100 Y5 F500 E31 ; (Extrude a purge line in the front of the print bed)
G1 X200 Y5 F500 E60 ; (purge some more)
G92 E0.0 ;(Zero the extruder)
G0 Z0 ;(Zero the Z Axis)
;Put Printing… on LCD screen
M117 Printing…
Cheers
Perhaps you ALMOST had enough coffee, Alan. Looking at the files, the file sent to you had lines M104 to M190 in them. At this point, it’s possible I may have sent the incorrect file entirely. I tried changing the file in Cura with little success as well. Finally, I’m STILL banging my head against the wall with the IDIOTS at Geeetech. I’m able to log onto their site to see lots of information - support pages, and software downloads, I can even message the site administrator. However, I’m NOT able to access tech. support. I managed to create a “Ticket” regarding an issue, simply unable to see what the result is.
Well, back to Cura to mod that code. Returning the file so you can see what was missed (Or what I failed to send) Thanks again.
According to the Marlin guide that I linked to previously, M104 without any parameters disables autotemp. Similarly, M190 also lacks parameters.
Good luck with customer support! I hear that is a major drawback of some of these companies.
Cheers