Cube 3D printer community

I was able to cut out step 4 of my workflow. The Python script still runs, but now it's automatic using the post-processing automation in S3D. 

In the CTRL-V2 test, KISSlicer on top and S3D on the bottom. This shows one negative of S3D; It won't print walls smaller than your nozzle size. Most slicers are willing to fudge this and print it anyway even though it will be wide, but S3D aims for accuracy and simply refused to print them at all.

The Benchy tug boat is hot of the press. You can see a bit of blobbing on the surfaces. If anyone figures out better retraction settings for S3D I'd love to hear it. I'm not sure how much more I'll tweak this before moving on to a better supported printer.

I moved from the Cube software to KISSlicer using the settings posted here with decent success. High quality, but man what an awful slicer interface. Never really been super happy with it.

I tried Cura which has a pretty decent UI, but was not able to get the settings nailed down to the point where it would match KISSlicer.

So I bought Simplify3D with the thought that I could use their return policy. It was a struggle, but I was finally able to get pretty close to KISSlicer in quality so I can have my cake and eat it too.  I am using thefoxsmart.com cheap-ass PLA at 235 for the first layer and 195 for the rest. I also added an amazing ZebraPlate on top of the glass build plate. I don't have to mess with tape or glue anymore! Seriously I just hit print and it sticks every time. I did properly level the bed first.

Here's my workflow:
1) Attach ZebraPlate to the glass using printed clips.
2) Slice using Simplify3D on Mac. Using a FFF profile (machine settings) adapted from a profile posted for CubePro/CubeX over on the S3D forum. (Attached here)
3) Run through s3d2cubex.py. This only takes a few seconds. (File attached here and original post here).
4) Switch to Windows and compile using CodeX utility. Did you know someone made a Mac version of this? I tried it and it works, but it's just the Windows version emulated on Mac and it is dreadfully slow. Would not recommend this.

Step 2 is required because S3D unfortunately does not support the outdated BFB style printers like the Cube, so someone came up with a python script to fix the flowrate that has to be manually set for this printer throughout the print. Most printers these days do this automatically and it's not required to be explicity declared in the G-Code. If you use the script I attached, you're probably going to have to play with the FeedFlowRatio to find a setting that works for you. The author used 0.006 and my machine works better with 0.021.

The only remaining issue I see in my many calibration prints is there are some zits/blobs on the outer shell that I believe to be related to retraction. It's not always clear which settings in S3D can be used by this printer, as again, it does not fully support BFB style. S3D has the option to randomize the starting point of each layer so I just leave that on to minimize this problem.

Friendly reminder to anyone reading this that you DO NOT need to buy a device for the Cube 3D to use generic filament. Just "abort" the print and leave the printer on that screen. You can remove the chipped cartridge and use whatever filament you want! 

The hack works on any firmware. My cub is on 2.08 and works find. I "abort" print but leave it on that screen for the rest of the time. Works great.

Just to update from my last post in case anyone is reading this... The copy protection expects Windows style LFCR line feeds and I generated the file on a Mac. I edited those line feeds (Google it to find out how) and now the Cube is happy. I also updated the g-code section in KISSlicer to make sure it uses Windows style line feeds, even on my Mac.

Thanks a lot for uploading the KISS settings so everyone didn't have to redo all that work! Did you find that this those settings were the fastest (when set to "fast" quality in KISS) that you could get from your Cube and still produce accurate prints? It's noticeable slower than the Cubify slicer, so I'm not sure if the settings are simply conservative or you found that it wasn't worth going any faster due to significantly lowered quality.

Did you have any luck getting Simplify3D to work with the Cube? Everyone seems to rave about it and I wouldn't mind paying for a license if it truly is the "one slicer to rule them all" it seems to be.

I'm going to try to get Cura working next and see how it compares to KISS. Slic3r doesn't seem to be capable of outputting BFB-style g-code, so I've given up on that one.

This weekend I'm plan to go through a 3D hobbyist rite of passage and compare slicers: Cubify, Kisslicer, Cura, and Slic3r. 

Do you use Pronterface directly with your Cube somehow or are you talking about using it with a different printer? I guess I don't understand how it could ever be used with the Cube since there is the requirement of decoding/recoding cube files with CodeX each time. I so wish that code was open source or that the tool could be easily scripted because that step is super annoying.