Different priming methods

[Balu]

Hello,

I've heard that people started using straight lines along one of the sides of the bed to prime the extruder instead of doing a skirt.

Using a skirt can have disadvantages because the plastic quite often does not stick yet (which is why we prime it in the first place) and can be dragged into the build area. I usually try to rip the wrong "line" from the skirt off the bed manually before it moves to the real object.

A skirt also takes a lot of space in comparison to just doing a few lines on one side of the bed and is more difficult to remove.

For my lines along a side of the bed you'd have to choose between the direction (X/Y), the length of the line(s) and the position on the bed?

Someone suggested another option to start with a line before doing the skirt here:
viewtopic.php?f=23&t=5665&p=24563&hilit=prime#p24563

Perhaps you can have a "prime" section on the Additions tab where you can choose different methods?

[CompoundCarl]

That takes about 2 seconds to add to your starting script. It's literally just two G1 commands to move to a location and then move to another point while extruding some plastic to draw the line. So quite simple to add on your own if that's what you want.

[Balu]

Yes, but it'd be nice to have it as a configurable option, so I don't have to fiddle around in the scripts each time I want to switch it off for example.

[kohjb]

I'm also very much for this feature. It is relatively doable to manually add in the G-code, but it would be much cooler and better to have it as part of the settings. There are several variables and it could be much more intelligently done in SW. E.g. how long the line is, how many lines, where it should be placed (can automatically choose an empty location), etc etc. Would be great!

Another alternative is where the number of rounds of skirts should really be a variable too. When I print very small parts, the overall skirt length is too little to get a smooth extrude even after 3 rounds, whereas for large objects, 3 rounds is a way overkill and 1 would have sufficed. I need to change the process manually each time, so automatic would be much appreciated.

Lastly, the distance of the skirt should/could also be a variable. With the examples of a small and a large part, the chance of a skirt dragging and influencing the part is much higher when the skirt circumference is small and surrounds a small part. So perhaps a way to increase the skirt distance automatically when the SW can detect that the area of part print is small.

I love the SW btw!

[kabali16]

I'm also very much for this feature. It is relatively doable to manually add in the G-code, but it would be much cooler and better to have it as part of the settings. There are several variables and it could be much more intelligently done in SW. E.g. how long the line is, how many lines, where it should be placed (can automatically choose an empty location), etc etc. Would be great!

Another alternative is where the number of rounds of skirts should really be a variable too. When I print very small parts, the overall skirt length is too little to get a smooth extrude even after 3 rounds, whereas for large objects, 3 rounds is a way overkill and 1 would have sufficed. I need to change the process manually each time, so automatic would be much appreciated.

Lastly, the distance of the skirt should/could also be a variable. With the examples of a small and a large part, the chance of a skirt dragging and influencing the part is much higher when the skirt circumference is small and surrounds a small part. So perhaps a way to increase the skirt distance automatically when the SW can detect that the area of part print is small.

I love the SW btw!

It is already available under Skirt options. The only thing you cant select is the length of each loop, this is part dependent