Material properties bug

[georgei]

I have just found out that whatever filament you choose the properties ( i.e. diameter, price and density) remain the same.

I am using different filaments and every time I change filament I have to go and change everything manually.

These parameters they should update with the material choice.

George

[CompoundCarl]

Sure, you can do this, but it means you will need to enter a material price and density for each one of your materials.

If you want to add it, then go to File > Export FFF Profile, and select the profile you want to edit. This will save the .fff file to your hard drive, then go ahead and open the file in a text editor. Scroll to the bottom and you should see several <autoConfigureMaterial> sections. Just add the <filamentPricePerKg> and <filamentDensity> options into each of those sections. For example, it might look like this:

Code: Select all

  <autoConfigureMaterial name="PLA">
    <globalExtruderTemperature>190</globalExtruderTemperature>
    <globalBedTemperature>60</globalBedTemperature>
    <filamentPricePerKg>46</filamentPricePerKg>
    <filamentDensity>1.25</filamentDensity>
  </autoConfigureMaterial>
  <autoConfigureMaterial name="ABS">
    <globalExtruderTemperature>230</globalExtruderTemperature>
    <globalBedTemperature>100</globalBedTemperature>
    <filamentPricePerKg>48</filamentPricePerKg>
    <filamentDensity>1.27</filamentDensity>
  </autoConfigureMaterial>

Make sure you add those options to EVERY single <autoConfigureMaterial> section, then just save the file and go to FIle > Import FFF Profile to load it back into the software.

[georgei]

Hi Carl,

Thank you for the tip.

Why they haven't done it to be done automatically?

George

[CompoundCarl]

Probably because everyone has a different opinion on what they want to change. Personally, I don't think it makes sense to change the density for each material since they are so similar across different plastics. But others will disagree. You have the same problem with many of the other settings - some want to adjust them, others want them to stay the same for all materials.

So instead, they just gave you the ability to customize it exactly how you want. Now everyone can be happy.

[georgei]

I will agree that not everyone wants to change these values but they could program it in such a way that if you do not change them they remain the default values and if you change them they are saved with the filament properties. Much better than have to go and correct each profile in my case 3 by the type and brand of filament (10). It becomes a task on its own that you want to avoid if you do a living from 3D printing.

George

[Johncoffee]

I fully agree with George - I also think that this is a bug. A different filament should also store a different value for it's diameter. Event weight and density remains identical.

It is still not clear to me how to enter different filament diameters for different materials.

I have for example:
Red 1.75mm
Blue 1.71mm
Green 1.78mm

How do I enter this now that these values are updated correct in the parameter files?

CompoundCarl mentions filament density & price - but where are the diameters here?

Thanks for clarifying.

*John*

[dkightley]

Not wanting to detract from the item under discussion, but I see this as a "deficiency" as opposed to a "bug".

Lifted direct from Google:

A software bug is an error, flaw, failure or fault in a computer program or system that causes it to produce an incorrect or unexpected result, or to behave in unintended ways.

Declaring this as a bug is effectively accusing the developers of inadequate testing.

I agree that there really ought to be an easy way of adjusting these settings. Not everyone is proficient in editing the set-up files, and having such parameters editable via formatted settings pages is far preferable. A deficiency in the design of the package....not a bug!

[dorsai3d]

Declaring this as a bug is effectively accusing the developers of inadequate testing.

I agree that there really ought to be an easy way of adjusting these settings. Not everyone is proficient in editing the set-up files, and having such parameters editable via formatted settings pages is far preferable. A deficiency in the design of the package....not a bug!

I have to wholeheartedly agree here. It's not a bug, but a glaringly bad UI/UX deficiency. At least it can be worked around, unlike in some other CAM software I've used, but it would be much better to be able to assign things within the software. Would also be more reliable, I know I've made a fair few errors updating XML files, and I'm reasonably detail-oriented.

[Johncoffee]

Well - I also agree and don't agree

When I store a new material like e.g. "PLA green" or "PLA red" and at the same time I change filament diameters accordingly. They do not get stored as they should. So one could call it a bug, no?

The parameters for a filament should definitely include it's diameter. Changing this doesn't store the parameter in the file. So its a bug.

(When I change a character in a Word file - and it doesn't get stored - but with a Hex editor I could easily change that character - I also wouldn't call this a deficiency - but a bug, right? )

Anyway - can we expect a update for this functionality ? I would really appreciate it !


Best,
John

[CompoundCarl]

The way it works is well documented, and it's already been explained why it was done. Some users will prefer different choices, so if they forced things like the filament diameter to be different for every material, the other users will get upset. Same for speed, density, etc. Everyone has their own preference, so they made it so that anyone can customize it exactly how they want.

For me, I frequently switch out the extruder on one of my homemade printers, and every time I do this, I also have to load different filament (since one uses 1.75mm filament, and other uses 3mm filament). I have about 20 material presets, so if they had forced the filament diameter to be controlled by the material choice, then I would have to go make this change 20 times each time I swap my extruder. Thankfully, they allowed it to be customizable, so I can change it one time and it applies to everything.

So please please please allow this to remain customizable and don't force unnecessary restrictions on us!