Month: February 2018

I created 3 new Cura Plugins: Scalable Extra Prime, Print Temperature Offset, and Enclosure Fan

Scalabe Extra Prime: Linearly scales the amount of extra prime after a travel based on the distance that was traveled. I was having issues with my volcano nozzles under-extruding after long travels. Adding extra prime after a retraction helped, but I didn’t like how it added the same amount whether you traveled 200mm or 2mm, so I wrote this plugin that allows you to scale the amount based on the travel distance(And optionally, add the extra prime whether you retracted or not).Print Temperature Offset: This allows you to set an offset temperature that is added to the default printing temperature. I have all of my filaments in Cura with the best printing temperature based on my 0.4mm nozzles. Some printing profiles, like faster speeds or larger nozzles, need a slightly different temperature. With this, I can set an offset temperature for the profile that will work with all of the default material temperature. For example, if I’m printing Hatchbox PLA with a default printing temperature of 200 and the printing profile has an offset of 10, the print temperatures in the gcode will be set to 210. Negative numbers can be used to lower the temperature if needed.Enclosure Fan: I have an exhaust fan on my enclosure that used to run 100% at all times. This was good for removing fumes, but bad for keeping heat in the enclosure for materials that like it (Like ABS). With this, I can set an exhaust fan speed while printing and when printing has completed. So for ABS, I can set the fan to 50% while printing, and 100% when printing completes to evacuate the remaining fumes. Obviously, this requires you have your enclosure fan connected to your controller and have setup your firmware to control it. You can set the fan control command in the plugin, so for Marlin that is “M106 P1”. I’m using Smoothieware, and with it set up using the Smoothieware subcodes, my command is “M106.1”.All of these plugins are available in the plugin browser if you are using Cura 3.2.0 or later (I did not test these on any earlier versions of Cura).Shout out to u/ahoeben whose ZOffsetPlugin got me started working on my own.I hope some people find these useful. http://ift.tt/2BRaDj5