A starting point for all of the below settings can be imported using the latest .3df file from our Cura Plugin github repository.
Cura has three unique locations for settings that will affect toolpath generation: Printer, Materials, and Print Settings:
Printer: H-Series users will not need to adjust these settings. This defines number of extruders, bed size and location, and gcode scripts at the beginning of a file and on toolchanges.
Materials: These pre-defined material options usually control print temperature, bed temperature, and retraction. There are exceptions where you will want to override Material settings from within the Print Settings (for example, what bed temperature should you use if two different materials want two different bed temperatures?) You can select the material this is loaded in each extruder by clicking the area, clicking the "Material" dropdown, and navigating to the relevant material:
Print Settings: This is where the bulk of the machine settings are stored. This includes layer height, extrusion width, speeds, support and skirt generation, retraction behavior, travel behavior, etc, etc. A short overview can be found in Cura's support documentation. All the available settings are well-commented and mostly self-explanatory, but can often produce unexpected print quality effects.
These settings are often linked or calculated, so changing one settings could actually change quite a few others. (This is usually desired behavior, but something to be aware of).
Note: Not all settings are always visible. You can configure visibility of settings by navigating to: Settings > Configure Settings Visibility
We recommend starting with our existing profile and modifying carefully to address any print quality issues with new or unknown materials. use the "PREVIEW" tab on the top bar to see how changes in settings will affect the physical behavior of the machine.
All that said, here are some common settings for our materials:
- TEMPERATURE: 225 - 235 (230) for most all materials so far (98A, 88A, 75A, 75D)
- SPEED:
TPU_98A: High (45-60 [mm/s] )
TPU_88A: Lower for more flexible filaments (35-50 [mm/s] )
TPU_75A: Slow (15 [mm/s] w/ 7.5 Wall Speed)
TPU_75D: 45 [mm/s], likes slow for good layer adhesion
TPU_60D: 50 [mm/s] ... still testing - FLOW:
TPU_60A: 120%
TPU_88A: 112%
TPU_98A: 112%
TPU_60D: 100%
TPU_75D: 95% - also applicable to most rigid materials - Infill: minimum 35%, up to 100% for 'thin wall' parts
- Retraction: for soft materials, retraction above 4mm is important to minimize oozing. Rigid materials can tolerate shorter retractions to improve printing speed
- Layer Height: 0.2mm with 0.4mm nozzle
- Line Width: 0.42 to 0.45 with 0.4mm nozzle. More flexible materials like more flow/ wider layer
- Fan Speed/Cooling: 50% for hard materials (60D, 75D, PETG)
Bonus: The post processor does change the gcode, and occasionally in unexpected ways. The intended functionality (and source code) is described in the github repository Readme. The most significant direct impact is to override all toolchange retractions. with settings stored in the H-Series controller "Tool Priming" tab. Normal (non-toolchange) retraction settings can still be adjusted in Cura.