MakerGear Forum

Hi everybody.

Here's an issue that's been frustrating me for the past 5 hours. I just got the M2 this afternoon, and I've been trying to set up Slic3r and Repetier.

I noticed (after hours of staring at the thing) that everything that I slice with Slic3r starts with the print head at 0,0. That makes the nozzle hit the bed retaining clip, which screws up the z-axis and causes the printer to start printing in mid-air.

I fixed it by taking off the bed clip, but I've been trying to change the slicing so that it doesn't ALWAYS start the print by moving the head to 0,0. For the life of me I can't figure it out, and nobody else on the internet seems to be having this problem, as far as I have seen. What am I missing?

I apologize if this is an obvious answer, but I've been trying for hours to fix this.

Thanks!

SeniorShizzle wrote:What am I missing?

The Start G-Code section in Printer Settings -> Custom G-Code, which, if it's any consolation, everybody misses when they're just starting out. You may need to turn on Expert mode to see it, but I think everybody does that after the first few days.

The commands in the Start G-Code block set up the printer before it begins building your model: turning on the motors, homing the axes, heating the platform & extruder, priming the hot end, and so forth. You can tweak those command to do whatever you want, wherever you want it done, after you understand how G-Code operates.

My startup G-Code won't work on your printer, but the comments may help you get started:
https://softsolder.com/2013/04/14/maker ... -routines/

Note that I put the X=Y=0 origin in the middle of the platform, not at the left front corner, for reasons that make sense to me and nobody else. You probably won't want it there, but absolute-mode G-Code coordinates depend on the origin, so a sketch of your layout will be helpful.

The End G-Code section contains commands to position the platform, turn off the heaters, shut down the motors, and suchlike. Mostly, the defaults work, although I've tweaked mine to stick the platform out so it's easier to remove the part.

ednisley wrote:
The Start G-Code section in Printer Settings -> Custom G-Code, which, if it's any consolation, everybody misses when they're just starting out. You may need to turn on Expert mode to see it, but I think everybody does that after the first few days.

I had seen that section, but I figured that whatever was placing the nozzle at the edge of the plate came after that.

I wrote a single line of G-Code ("G0 X100") in the Start Code section and that fixed the problem for good. Thanks so much for the advice and for the sample code!

So much happier now!