QIDI X-CF Pro OrcaSlicer support
If you have one of these bad boys:
Then you understand my plight with using the dinosaur that is QIDI Print:
It's Cura-based, which is nice because Cura has always been pretty friendly, but the QIDI proprietary modules haven't kept up with open-source slicers including Cura itself and OrcaSlicer. Understandable, but an unfortunate state of affairs. QIDI does offer plugins and profiles to use the X-CF pro with newer versions of Cura, but it's still not quite up to date. (I should clarify that the QIDI team and their support is excellent. Since QIDI has shifted towards developing Klipper-based printers I don't fault them for not keeping older printer models at the bleeding edge.)
It would be better to adapt the X-CF Pro profiles to be used in 3rd-party slicers. Luckily, OrcaSlicer brings in most of QIDI's filament profiles and base models for the X-CF Pro, however the Marlin-based G Code at the start and end of prints does not properly bias the extruder offset, and also appears not to wait for the nozzle or bed to heat up. When I tested this my printer tried extruding in midair.
To get around this I had to take QIDI Print's default start/end G Code and adapt it to OrcaSlicer's syntax. Below are the modifications I had to make to get the printer properly integrated into OrcaSlicer.
Pre-Print
| Original G Code (QIDI Print) | Old G Code (OrcaSlicer) | New G Code (OrcaSlicer) |
|---|---|---|
G28 | G28 | G28 |
G0 X{machine_width} Y5 Z50 F3600 | G0 X300 Y5 F2400 | G0 X300 Y5 F2400 |
M140 S[hot_plate_temp_initial_layer] | ||
M190 S{material_bed_temperature_layer_0} | M190 S[hot_plate_temp_initial_layer] | |
M109 S{material_print_temperature_layer_0} | M109 S[nozzle_temperature_initial_layer] | |
G92 E-19 | G92 E0 | G92 E-19 |
G0 Y5 Z0.3 F3600 | G0 X5 Y5 Z0.3 F3600 | G0 Y5 Z0.3 F3600 |
G1 X5 E0 F2400 | G1 X5 E0 F2400 |
Post-Print
| Original G Code (QIDI Print) | Old G Code (OrcaSlicer) | New G Code (OrcaSlicer) |
|---|---|---|
M104 S0 | M104 S0 | M104 S0 |
M140 S0 | M140 S0 | M140 S0 |
;Retract the filament | ;Retract the filament | ;Retract the filament |
G92 E0 | G92 E0 | G92 E0 |
G1 E-3 F300 | G1 E-3 F300 | G1 E-3 F300 |
G28 | G28 | G28 |
M84 | M84 | M84 |
Bonus: Retraction modifications
I found that the retraction distance was way too low in OrcaSlicer. I had to bump up the retraction to 6mm at 50 mm/s -- at least for Hatchbox PETG. I printed at 240-245 deg. C.