This has been a mystery to me with Cura, Lulzbot Cura and Simplify 3D so I am fully willing to accept it’s my issue and not the issue with every brand of software I use.
I was posting a modified version of a Material Profile (I want to make sure I am using the correct terminology so it’s not more confusing) and I noticed that there isn’t a lot of data included in the profile; mostly 7 types of temperatures, a speed setting and a retraction setting. A few things I changed specifically for that filament are not included in that profile; initial layer temperature, initial fan speed, regular fan speed at layer, etc… Ok I say to myself, that’s a printer setting, not a material setting, remember that each time I print, BUT… When I change from one material to another, I see a whole host of settings change, including stuff I don’t want to have change like Flow %.
What is actually going on here? When is something a material setting versus a printer setting and how can I ensure I can print the same set up each time without writing down each parameter and rechecking each circular arrow in the Print Setup menus to make sure I do or don’t have to revert back to previous settings that I have no control over? Do I need to make a regular “Profile” for each material as well as a “Material profile”? Is there a guide somewhere that explains how they overlap? Any help is greatly appreciated.
Cura comes with a set of predefined material settings for LulzBot’s tested and recommend filaments. However, “your milage may vary”.
The materials are the filament. The material profiles would be those basic settings such as High Speed, Standard, and High Detail. In Cura, you can create your own Custom Profiles. Let me use 3.6.20 as an example.
Let’s say that you are printing with PolyLite PLA under the standard settings, but you need to change a cooling setting such as the layer height that your side fans turn on.
You would select Prepare at the top of your screen and then Custom at the right of your screen. You would expand the Cooling section. Then you could change your Fan Speed at Height setting from, say 0.425 to 5 mm. After the change, you’ll see a black star by your profile setting. You can then create a custom setting by clicking on the down arrow next to the star. This will bring up the menu. You can then select Create Profile from Current Settings/Overrides. Give your new setting a relavant name and then it will show up in your profile as your new setting. A nice tutorial can be found here: https://www.lulzbot.com/learn/tutorials/cura-lulzbot-edition-whats-new
Look under the filament setting.
LulzBot’s documentation was always lacking, so there isn’t a new Cura User’s Guide. However the TAZ Pro user manual has a great section on Cura. It’s hidden, but you can find it here: http://devel.lulzbot.com/TAZ/quiver/documentation/manual/