I need clarification.......

davidhk129

davidhk129

Well-Known Member
My printer is Creality Ender 3.
My slicer is Cura 4.3 which is added to my printer.

Scenario :
1. I made a gcode file A using Cura 4.3 which had Ender 3 as the network printer.
2. Now I bought another printer, say, Monoprice Select Mini, and I added it to my Cura 4.3.
3. So, now I had 2 printers in the network.

Question :
What issue will I get if I use the gcode file A and try to print it in Monoprice Select Mini?
I realize that the "size" of the model will be an issue. What else ?
 
wafflejock

wafflejock

Well-Known Member
The slicer will depend on the printer settings when making the g-code file in particular it will use the build dimensions to find the 'center coordinate' of the build platform and will initially place any imported models at that 'origin'.

The printer firmware actually deals with how many steps it takes to move 1 mm the gcode just tells it how many mm to move so the printer firmware will deal with differences at that level but the positions it uses will be all wrong in terms of centering. Other thing that might vary is the target temp for turning on the bed and hotend though these are generally controlled at the filament settings level in slicers (the printer settings may indicate a printer simply has no hot bed in which case that gcode will be excluded for setting bed temp and waiting for it to come to temperature).

Other things that would change between printers might not be in the printer settings but in the filament or extruder settings where you might need to make small tweaks to the retraction, flow, or temp to get the best quality prints (not over or under extruding). There isn't a clear easy answer for setup because filament manufacturing quality and tolerance varies a lot so you sometimes need to adjust settings to make things work well (or at all).

The Prusa MK3 has Prusa Slicer that they develop for doing the slicing and includes the ability to update the printer firmware (which it notifies you to do) and has very specific custom profiles setup for all their machines to make it easy and presets for their own filaments as well as generic ones you can use or copy and tweak to make work for generic filaments (but all the support and "ease of use" comes at a price, I don't mind paying them for the quality control and relatively solid machine).
 
wafflejock

wafflejock

Well-Known Member
Also good way to see what is different between gcode is to use any old diffing tool. "Meld" or KDiff or Diff are all options https://www.git-tower.com/blog/diff-tools-windows/

you can generate two gcode files with different printers selected and simply open them both in the diff tool and see side by side what lines were changed (generally used for programming but useful for comparing configurations or any plain text files in general)

If the position of the model is changed or which model is used is changed then the gcode will all vary drastically but if dimensions are kept the same and/or position of the model relative to the actual 0/0 (top left typically) then it should only show a few differences. Can also try tweaking extruder settings and see what changes that makes depending on what settings are pressed.
 
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