Attempts to iron an entire layer that is not the top layer
Hi All,
I find the ironing feature very effective, but it has some minor but ugly defects near the stem of walls that protrude above the ironed surface. I attempted to remedy this by ironing an entire layer and then continuing to print on top of that. This can be accomplished by splitting the model into 2 pieces with a flat surface at the interface and ironing the entire lower stl. The issue I have with this workaround is that the ironing process pushes the layer down slightly in Z and I do not get good bonding to the next layer. My initial idea was the put a modifier mesh at the next layer (the bottom layer of the top model) increasing the extrusion ratio, but extrusion ratio is not an allowed parameter for modifier meshes. Is there another way to increase the extrusion ratio of a single layer? Or perhaps someone else has already encountered this issue while trying to iron an entire layer and found a solution? Thank you for any help.
Gabriel
RE: Attempts to iron an entire layer that is not the top layer
To change the extrusion, the g-code M221 can be used to set the extrusion percentage from that point to it is changed again:
M221 S<percent> [T<index>]
Then the M221 could be inserted just at the end of ironing and reset after the next layer.
Have a look at my models on Printables.com 😉
RE: Attempts to iron an entire layer that is not the top layer
That is a good idea - and the insert gcode feature made it easy enough to accomplish. But, after trying that I discovered the problem is a little more complex: I actually had a full empty layer in between the top STL and the lower ironed STL. When I adjusted the Z alignment between the 2 STL files to remove the empty layer, the slicer stopped ironing the full layer and made exclusions where the top STL had volume.
Any ideas on how to get around this? My best guess so far is to leave the empty layer so the lower STL has a fully ironed top, then manually change the gcode for all layers above that to move them down a layer. This should accomplish ironing a full layer and then continuing to print on top of it, but it is tedious, time consuming, and error prone.
Could Prusa add an "iron complete layer" feature?
RE: Attempts to iron an entire layer that is not the top layer
If you want to raise the problem with the Prusa developers, the best is to make an issue on GitHub.
Have a look at my models on Printables.com 😉
RE: Attempts to iron an entire layer that is not the top layer
Thanks - it looks like there are already quite a few discussions on their Github re: ironing improvement and Prusa plans to implement a better full layer ironing feature in the near future.
In the meantime the best solution I have is to split the STL in two, make a 1 layer gap between them at the layer you want ironed, slice, then change the gcode to bring the upper STL down a layer to print directly on the fully ironed layer. Any simpler strategy would be appreciated.