Craftware slicer  

Re: Craftware slicer

Spencer

I haven't read any mention of that slicer on this forum, but the program is still in Beta and there are some great free slicers out there which work very well.

It will have to be a very good product to be taken up by users of those existing slicers.

Peter

Re: Craftware slicer

Thanks for the responce, I'm still trying to find the closet slicer to simplify 3d since its so expencve and sli3er gives some OK but flawed prints no matter what I do

Re: Craftware slicer

Hi Spencer

Just found this which is a results video of a 4 slicer test:

Interesting, to say the least, but I wish he had tested more than 4...

Peter

Re: Craftware slicer

Hi Peter, thanks for sending the video. After seeing those results I guess waiting for craftware to get out of beta (and working on my PC) would be a good idea since it preformed as close as possible to simplify 3d for free. I can get it to work and test it soon.

Re: Craftware slicer

Yeah, not quite the impression I got. I think I will be sticking with KISSlicer for a while, but I am always willing to try something new.

Peter

Re: Craftware slicer

None of the slicing softwares is perfect, not even the S3D.

Thanks for the Craftware tip, I'll check it out.

Re: Craftware slicer

Hi

I have been trying this slicer for a few days. Once set up, it is nice and quite user-friendly. For me, there wasn't sufficient customisation available on rafts and supports, although that may have been down to my lack of knowledge of the software.

The user interface is very clear and quite simple to understand. Standard colour scheme is good and support removal is also an advantage.

The program for me is very stable, but there are a few minor faults which are quite obvious and the biggest issues I had was on loading a model where the program does not give any indication that it is working; it just seems to freeze for a few seconds.

I have however now reverted to using KISS as the models I am currently printing require very specific rafts and supports.

Peter

Re: Craftware slicer

I have been wanting to try out Craftware too since Maker's Muse made his video comparing the major slicing programs. I know some of the configuration in the software needs to be set up because I tried using it on a quick print and it made my printer act really weird. Slic3r crashes on me every-so-often, but it's been working really well for me. I'll have to try out KISS eventually.

Re: Craftware slicer

Yup, you need some specific start gcode. Here's mine:

M82
G21
; set default acceleration
M201 X1000 Y1000 E600
M140 S45
G28
G1 Z5.0 F9000
M109 S210

GCode wiki is a bit of a Godsend...

Peter

Re: Craftware slicer

I can recommend simplify3d 🙂
thought why should I spend money on a slicer programs, but now I understand!
One of the biggest advantages is that you can see visually if a problem occurs before you print. You're guaranteed to save money on the filament if you detect errors before printing. Good luck and happy printing.

Best regards Peter

Re: Craftware slicer

Hello everyone,

Is there any news on Craftware (perhaps even from Prusa Research site?). The software makes a great impression, kind of S3D but without the costs.
I didn't try to print with it yet, but would be cool to hear of experiences =)

Re: Craftware slicer

Just check on their site: http://craftunique.com/craftware , the last update was 1.14 Beta on 14th May but they have their own forums...

Prusa Research is actively developing Slic3r, and there is a new version coming soon with a new GUI: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10209946329472449&set=p.10209946329472449&type=3 .

Re: Craftware slicer

Oh, that seems cool =)
Only thing that I am really missing in Slic3r right now, is to easily set supports only where I need them. That's a feature that is handle really well in S3D and apparently Craftware, that's also the reason I asked here in the thread.
Well, I think I'll just do some tests with craftware until the ned Slic3r Update is released =)

Re: Craftware slicer

Yup, you need some specific start gcode. Here's mine:

M82
G21
; set default acceleration
M201 X1000 Y1000 E600
M140 S45
G28
G1 Z5.0 F9000
M109 S210

GCode wiki is a bit of a Godsend...

Peter
Peter, is this Start GCode for the Craftware?

I have been trying to get the software to print, but I could not get past the initial purge line. I really wanted to try it out and from the looks of it, this thing is even faster than Cura, at importing, slicing and exporting - looks like it is better optimized for multi-threaded processors.

Re: Craftware slicer

SBS

That is very old start code but at the time I had it working with Craftware.

I quite like Craftware, but the version I was using was not particularly intuitive.

Current start GCode should be something like this:

M201 X1000 Y1000 E600 ; set default acceleration
G21 ; [mm] mode
G90 ; absolute mode
M140 S60 ; Heat the bed
M109 S170 ; Warm it up to calib temp, and wait till it's warm
G87 ; Enable Babystep
G28 W ; Home all (no calbration)
G80 ; mesh bed levelling
M109 S215 ; Warm it up to print temp, and wait till it's warm
M83 ; Relative extruder
G1 Y-3.0 X50.0 F1000.0 ; go outside print area
G1 X100.0 E5 F1000.0 ; intro line
G1 E-1.5 Z2 F1000 ; Retract a bit and lift nozzle
G92 E0.0 ; Zero extruder


Peter

Re: Craftware slicer

SBS

That is very old start code but at the time I had it working with Craftware.

I quite like Craftware, but the version I was using was not particularly intuitive.

Current start GCode should be something like this:

M201 X1000 Y1000 E600 ; set default acceleration
G21 ; [mm] mode
G90 ; absolute mode
M140 S60 ; Heat the bed
M109 S170 ; Warm it up to calib temp, and wait till it's warm
G87 ; Enable Babystep
G28 W ; Home all (no calbration)
G80 ; mesh bed levelling
M109 S215 ; Warm it up to print temp, and wait till it's warm
M83 ; Relative extruder
G1 Y-3.0 X50.0 F1000.0 ; go outside print area
G1 X100.0 E5 F1000.0 ; intro line
G1 E-1.5 Z2 F1000 ; Retract a bit and lift nozzle
G92 E0.0 ; Zero extruder


Peter
Awesome. Thank you Peter.

Re: Craftware slicer

There's a new release of craftware but the name is now craftprint ? Or is it a new software ? Does someone use this slicer ?

Re: Craftware slicer

> I really wanted to try it out and from the looks of it, this thing is even faster than Cura, at importing, slicing and exporting - looks like it is better optimized for multi-threaded processors.

Do you want a fast slicer, or a slicer, which produces a high quality G-code?

Path planning is an optimization problem, which takes time to calculate. It is indeed simple to write a fast low quality slicer. Comparing Slic3r with Cura or Simplify3D, Slic3r tries to be smartest of the three. No wonder it is the slowest. Simplify3D is very fast and robust, but it uses simple strategies. The same applies to Cura.

Vojtech

Re: Craftware slicer

I tried this slicer without changing the default start code which resulted in problems (extruder too low or sometimes even extruding way too much) I want to use a similar start code as the slic3r profiles do. Slic3r worked perfectly so far except I am not happy with the supports.

What part of the G code should I enter in the header field? is it necessary to check the "use G1 for travels instead G0" ?

Craftware G code starts like this while only "G28 X0 Y0
G28 Z0" is written in the header field:
; GCode generated by CraftWare

M190 S55 ;set bed temp (wait)
M109 S210 ;set head temp (wait)
; ------------------------------------
; Layer #0
; ------------------------------------
G21 ; mm
G90 ; abs
G92 E0 ; reset extr
M106 S0
;segType:Skirt

slic3r starts like that:
; external perimeters extrusion width = 0.45mm
; perimeters extrusion width = 0.45mm
; infill extrusion width = 0.45mm
; solid infill extrusion width = 0.45mm
; top infill extrusion width = 0.40mm

M107
M115 U3.0.8 ; tell printer latest fw version
M83 ; extruder relative mode
M104 S210 ; set extruder temp
M140 S55 ; set bed temp
M190 S55 ; wait for bed temp
M109 S210 ; wait for extruder temp
G28 W ; home all without mesh bed level
G80 ; mesh bed leveling
G1 Y-3.0 F1000.0 ; go outside pritn area
G1 X60.0 E9.0 F1000.0 ; intro line
G1 X100.0 E12.5 F1000.0 ; intro line
G21 ; set units to millimeters
G90 ; use absolute coordinates
M83 ; use relative distances for extrusion
G1 E-0.80000 F2100.00000
G1 Z0.120 F7200.000
G1 X60.443 Y78.604 F7200.000
G1 E0.80000 F2100.00000
M204 S1000
G1 F1800