3D-Printing
3D-Catalog
To produce gorgeous objects with the 3D printer on the 3rd floor, you need to install a slicer on your desktop or laptop. The recommended slicer is cura.1)
There is no card reader on the printer and no wlan, either. All data is communicated exclusively via cable based network.
Install cura
- Linux:
Cura is probably natively available in the repo of your distro.
- Microsoft Windows:
Download the installer of the latest release
from github.
- Apple MacOS:
Download the installer of the latest release
from github.
accept the terms and conditions
do not make an account at ultimaker.com → skip
add a printer → see the next paragraph
go to: Settings → Printer → Add_Printer…
click 'Add a non-networked-printer'
scroll down to 'Custom'
choose 'Custom FFF printer'
change the printer name to something more specific. E.g.: 'Leapfrog'
click the button 'Add' on the lower right
in the dialogue 'Machine Settings', tab 'Printer':
Print Settings (left column)
Printhead Settings
In tab 'Extruder 1' of the 'Machine Settings':
To revisit this dialogue later, go to: Settings → Printer → Manage_Printers…
Recommended Cura plugins
It recommended to install some plugins in cura:
Configure the printjob naming plugin to put your name in front of the job name:
Cura profile
Cura maintains 'profiles' which are essentially set of slicing parameters. The application comes with several default profiles suggestively named “extra fine”, “fine”, “normal”,…, “extra coarse”. While the parameters of these profiles are reasonable, it is recommended to add our own blends, which reflect the current state of the leapfrog.
download localized profiles:
import the profiles to cura:
go to Preferences → Cura_settings…
choose Profiles in left tab → button Import
navigate to the downloaded file and click open
the imported profile should appear under “Custom profiles”
select the imported profile in the list
click the button activate to actually use the profile for the next slicing. Alternatively, you can choose the profile from the drop-down menu at the top of the Print settings dialogue.
These profiles will get you started. Feel free to tweak the parameters to suit your needs even better. This is especially true for layer height and speed. With large prints every additional mm/s reduces the time to print significantly. Small models with delicate details benefit from slow nozzle movements.
By default, cura only exposes a severely reduced set of parameters in the GUI. Use the three-horizontal-lines button next to the search field to switch to your preferred level of settings detail.
Connect to the printer
To connect your local cura instance to the leapfrog printer:
make sure, the printer is switched on
-
in cura, go to Settings → Printer → Manage_Printers → Printers
click 'Connect OctoPrint'
click 'Add'. (Do not use one of the existing entries, even though they may announce themselves as “leapfrog”.)
type in ..
click 'OK'
click 'Request…' under 'API Key'
API key requests are currently not available. Copy
F4223B8E2C1B486B9445ABB58D1431E0
to the edit field instead. The
API key is used by cura to authorize itself to the octoprint instance of the leapfrog printer. It lets you print directly from cura without the need to login on the leapfrog website.
in the web browser a new tab should have opened which asks you to allow API access → confirm
in cura, the API key should manifest itself as a string of obscured characters
click the 'connect' button on the bottom right of the dialogue – The label of the button should change to 'disconnect'. Congratulations, your instance of cura is now connected to the 3D printer!
If the above recipe does not work, you can still use cura to print on the printer:
slice your model
go to the preview tab
press the blue button on the lower right to save the *.gcode to a file
-
click the button “upload” on the bottom left. A file chooser dialog pops up. Select your gcode file. Your file will show up on the top of the list of print jobs.
click on the tiny printer icon in the row of buttons associated with your file → the printer should immediately start the print job by heating the bed and the nozzle.
Archive of cura profiles