Hi, Today this is my best setting on Cura 4.1.0. This is the best compromize bettween speed and Quality. FILES PROFILE: There is my cura profile file: CURA4HIGHTQUALITYPROFIL-AM8.curaprofile MATERIAL SETTINGS: You need personalize the temperature regarding you material (PLA / PEGT /.) There pictures of my settings for PLA and PETG. SUPPORTS: You can add suport if needed. Anet A8 start end gcode. GitHub Gist: instantly share code, notes, and snippets. Application version Cura 4.5 Platform Windows Printer Anet A8 (but applies to all profiles that derive from Anet) Reproduction steps Default installation Select Anet A8 Select a model (benchy for example) Slice Preview See infill wipe pr. Continue to expand the section of our forum dedicated to the world of 3d printing, which this time is enriched by a guide dedicated to how configure and use the Cura software to 'pilot' the increasingly economical printer Anet A8. Healing, for those who do not know, it is one of the most popular software slicing.The program then deals with 'slicing' a three-dimensional starting model, usually.
Last week, we reviewed the Anet A8 printer. We believe it has brought the cost of 3D printing so low that every true hobbiest now owes it to themselves to look into owning one. During the process of building and customizing our A8, we took a ton of notes in the hopes that it might prove useful to others. In this article, we’re dumping our build guide, set-up guide and upgrade guide in massive write-up. For those of you who recently purchased an Anet A8, we hope this helps you get started!
Anet A8 Build Log with Pictures
The printer came with a digital manual that can be accessed on the SD card that comes packaged with it. I was actually pretty impressed with the quality of the manual. Much like the manuals you get from Ikea, it expressed the entire process pictorially and I generally found it pretty easy to follow. It was, however, missing a section and really needed some extra pictures at certain points. To alleviate this, I used a video released by the Anet team in tandem with the written instructions. Here is part 1 of that video:
I took pictures of the process of building my Anet A8, which you can find by expanding the section below this paragraph. I want to note that this was my first 3D printer build and I screwed up in a few places (which I have documented). I would not use the pictures below as your sole source of information for building this printer.
The extruder head and bed will begin heating up immediately. Once they are up to temperature, the printing process will begin. Watch it carefully for the first few minutes to ensure the first layer is properly laid down onto the bed and is sticking fine. If it is – you’re free to walk away. If not, you’re in for some troubleshooting.
Printing some STL files
This is the real reason you likely got a 3D printer – you wanted to turn some camera mounts or other quadcopter parts from STL files into real plastic bits you can actually use. In this section, I’m going to walk you through how I printed out my first few STL files on my Anet A8.
Cura
As mentioned above, I will be using Cura as my “slicer” – the program that will convert STL files to gcode files the printer can use. I recommend using Cura 14.07 with the Anet A8. It is almost a year old at this point, but I was able to get it working very quickly.
Version 14.07 of Cura should come on the SD card that comes with the printer. You can find it under “A8*A8*A8SoftwareCura 14.07”. You can also download versions of Cura here. We highly recommend you download Cura 14.07.
I briefly tried to get the latest version of Cura – 2.5.0 – working, but was unable to due to some printing problems with the settings I was using. I will continue to attempt to get this to work and will update this guide if I figured it out. Honestly, though, unless you are trying to do some pretty advanced prints, Cura 14.07 should be more than enough for your needs. I have yet to find a model it could not print.
Configuring your Printer in Cura
Configuration of Cura is pretty simple. When you first launch the application, you’ll be prompted with the “Machine Creation Wizard”. Click “Next” to access the first configuration page.
In the next step, select “Custom”.
Finally, copy the settings seen in this screenshot on the next page:
Finally, copy the settings seen in this screenshot on the next page:
With that completed, you’ve told Cura the hardware specs for your printer. You still need to configure it to tell it how to best print. I recommend doing this by loading a pre-programmed “profile” file from Anet. This profile can be found in the ini file on the SD card that comes with the printer (under “A8*A8*A8SoftwareCura 14.07”).
Once you have the file, load it into Cura by clicking File->Open Profile.
Generating your Gcode File
Now that Cura is set-up, you can start generating Gcode files that your Anet A8 can use to print objects. This process isn’t too difficult but has a small learning curve to it. To start “Load” an STL 3D model file into Cura using the button in the main window. Position the 3D object inside of the printing box where you want it. You can rotate, resize and move the object using tools which you can find in the main window of Cura. Once you’re done, you can create the GCODE file by clicking the “Toolpath to SD Card” button, which saves a GCODE file to an attached SD card.
From here, the printing process is identical to the steps above “Printing your first GCODE file”. Plug your SD card into your printer and cross your fingers!
Anet A8 Upgrades
Purchased Upgrades
Mosfet Upgrade – Highly Recommended for Safety
The extruder and hotbed FET drivers are one of the big weak points of this printer. Left to their own devices, they will slowly melt the plastic connectors on the main board where you plug in the extruder / hotbed wires. A couple of people have even reported smoking boards. For this reason, I highly recommend bypassing these FETs by using a specialized expansion board. Luckily, these are pretty cheap and readily available. I picked mine up for $16 on Amazon. How to make a print screen on macbook pro.
The installation process is pretty simple and covered in this guide:
https://3dprint.wiki/reprap/electronics/heatbed_mosfet
https://3dprint.wiki/reprap/electronics/heatbed_mosfet
I did the mod on both my hotbed and extruder, though most people only suggest the hotbed. This removed all load from my Anet mainboard:
Borosilicate Glass Bed
The stock aluminum bed must be covered with painters tape or kapton tape to print well (or at all). This is a little frustrating to work with because it needs to be replaced regularly and it is extremely difficult to get it perfectly flat. The result is 3D prints that have imperfections on the bottom and issues with the first layer of the print.
The best workaround I’ve come across in the printing community is to use a glass sheet on your bed. You can have this sheet made by a local glass specialty store, or you can purchase one on Amazon. Living in a small community with no glass artisans, I opted for the latter. Unfortunately, Amazon only offers glass beds that are slightly smaller than the 220x220mm printing surface available on the A8. Here is the one I picked up: Signtek Heated Bed Glass Plate.
There are many ways to install a glass plate on the bed. I opted to just use Kapton tape to do it. Installation is relatively simple:
- Remove the heated bed.
- Place glass sheet in center of the bed plate.
- Use Kaptop tape to secure it.
- Screw heated bed back on.
- Re-level bed – always necessary!
Printed Upgrades
This might be the coolest thing about the Anet A8 for me – when you first build it, you have a low-end 3D printer, but you can actually upgrade it to a pretty decent machine by simply using it to print out upgrades for itself. I find the notion of the machine improving itself pretty pleasing. Maybe I’m just a little weird though. Anyhow, here are some of the upgrades I printed for my Anet A8 that I can recommend to anyone:
High-Efficiency Extruder Cooling Fan Duct
Upgrading the fan duct had an immediate improvement on the quality of my 3D prints. Had I known what I do now, it would have been one of my first prints. Unfortunately, it is a pretty challenging object to print (it requires supports, among other things). So – if you’re new to 3D printing, don’t try this as your first print! But try it soon.
Anet A8 Cura Printer Settings
Spool Holder and Top Mount
Getting my filament spool attached to my Anet A8 was a top priority. I didn’t like having to place it on top of a workbench or cabinet. While I was at it, I printed a proper spool adapter / holder, which was a massive print which took almost 16 hours! I recommend both – they really improved the ergonomics of the printer.
Spool mount for A8: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2162266
Spool holder for A8: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1624641
Spool holder for A8: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1624641
Extruder Harness Chain
This is a feature that came with the higher-end Lulzbot mini we own that I wanted on my A8. It confines the movement of the wiring harness for the extruder to simple push-pull motions and protects the wiring. It looks really snazzy once completed.
Extruder harness chain for A8: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1872473
More.
These are just my favorite parts I gathered off of Thingiverse. There are hundreds of parts on that site though. Simply search “Anet A8” to see them.
Anet A8 Cura Gcode
Related Posts
README.md
anet_a8.def.json
{ |
'id': 'anet-a8', |
'version': 2, |
'name': 'Anet A8', |
'inherits': 'fdmprinter', |
'metadata': { |
'visible': true, |
'author': 'Ultimaker', |
'manufacturer': 'Custom', |
'category': 'Custom', |
'file_formats': 'text/x-gcode', |
'has_materials': true, |
'first_start_actions': ['MachineSettingsAction'] |
}, |
'overrides': { |
'machine_width': { 'default_value': 220 }, |
'machine_height': { 'default_value': 240 }, |
'machine_depth': { 'default_value': 220 }, |
'machine_heated_bed': { 'default_value': true }, |
'machine_center_is_zero': { 'default_value': false }, |
'gantry_height': { 'default_value': 0 }, |
'machine_nozzle_size': { 'default_value': 0.4 }, |
'machine_head_with_fans_polygon': { 'default_value': [ [0, 0], [0, 0], [0, 0], [0, 0] ] }, |
'machine_start_gcode': { |
'default_value': ';Basic settings: Layer height: {layer_height} Walls: {wall_thickness} Fill: {fill_density}nM190 S{print_bed_temperature}nM109 S{print_temperature}nG21 ;metric valuesnG90 ;absolute positioningnM82 ;set extruder to absolute modenM107 ;start with the fan offnG28 X0 Y0 ;move X/Y to min endstopsnG28 Z0 ;move Z to min endstopsnG1 Z15.0 F9000 ;move the platform down 15mmnG92 E0 ;zero the extruded lengthnG1 F200 E3 ;extrude 3mm of feed stocknG92 E0 ;zero the extruded length againnG1 F9000;Put printing message on LCD screennM117 Printing..' |
}, |
'machine_end_gcode': { |
'default_value': 'M104 S0 ;extruder heater offnM140 S0 ;heated bed heater off (if you have it)nG91 ;relative positioningnG1 E-1 F300 ;retract the filament a bit before lifting the nozzle, to release some of the pressurenG1 Z+0.5 E-5 X-20 Y-20 F9000 ;move Z up a bit and retract filament even morenG28 X0 Y0 ;move X/Y to min endstops, so the head is out of the waynM84 ;steppers offnG90 ;absolute positioning' |
}, |
'material_bed_temperature': { 'default_value': 50 }, |
'material_diameter': { 'default_value': 1.75 }, |
'layer_height': { 'default_value': 0.2 }, |
'material_print_temperature': { 'default_value': 190 }, |
'speed_print': { 'default_value': 40 } |
} |
} |
commented Feb 6, 2020
What is the location of the definitions file located on a linux installation? |
commented Feb 7, 2020
@rpierce6610 i’m not sure. haven’t been using Cura myself for quite awhile already.. |
commented Feb 7, 2020
Ok thank you. It doesn't seem to work the same way as windows.Your post did help me resolve my windows issue.What are you using in place of Cura? If you don't mind me asking? …On Thu, Feb 6, 2020 at 6:00 PM Brennan Neoh ***@***.***> wrote: @rpierce6610 <https://github.com/rpierce6610> i’m not sure. haven’t been using Cura myself for quite awhile already.. — You are receiving this because you were mentioned. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <https://gist.github.com/bcba6fd922cfead8f32bf921ea023e14?email_source=notifications&email_token=AJQ5HTK5OZOAJYBEKJAGP7TRBSQAPA5CNFSM4KRF2H7KYY3PNVWWK3TUL52HS4DFVNDWS43UINXW23LFNZ2KUY3PNVWWK3TUL5UWJTQAGBNLO#gistcomment-3168951>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AJQ5HTNYH2ZQ3IEA2PYD3TLRBSQAPANCNFSM4KRF2H7A> . |
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