Python is an easy-to-learn, powerful programming language. It has high-level data structures and a simple but effective approach to object-oriented programming. # apt-get install python-serial python-wxgtk2.8 python-pyglet. Zip $ unzip master.zip $ cd Printrun-master $ python pronterface.py ReplicatorG. This version of. ReplicatorG is used because it is simple and fairly intuitive. For example, after generating GCode, ReplicatorG will let you view the GCode in another tab. There you can edit the GCode and then save the edited GCode to your SD card. ReplicatorG slices the 3D model into small layers. Each layer will be a layer that is printed by the 3D printer. Finally, and this is anecdotal, if you do install the sailfish version, try Python 2.7.1 and place PyPy (a faster Python) directly in the RepG folder as 'pypy.' If you have desktop customization software (like Stardock WindowBlinds) turn it off for ReplicatorG-it screws up the interface.
In this series of articles I plan to go into detail on 3D printing slicing program I come across. I have currently only used a few of these, so this is my excuse to try some more out and see what I think.
No mater how good a slicer is, how may features it provides, and what its bells and whistles are, if you can’t install it or get it to work proper it isn’t worth much of your time… without a slicer you can use that 3D printer becomes a very pricey paperweight for your work area.
Slicing is a part of every 3D printing technique out there. Whether you are using stereolithography, powder bed, or wire printing, your 3d models needs to be sliced into layers in order to be printed correctly. This is the unifying factor in all 3D printing.
I’ll start this all off with the slicer I know best (though I am in NO WAY a master of it,) ReplicatorG. It will act as my baseline upon which all other slicers are judged. This is partly due to the fact that it is the first one I ever used, also the one that I have had the most success with.
A few things to know right off are, I’m doing all installations on a 64-bit windows 7 operating system. The reason for this is I never liked 8, and I know a lot of people that tell me to leave 10 alone too. I will try 10 out on a test platform later. IF they are any big differences in the install information between Win7 and Win10 let me know and I will include details here for you.
ReplicatorG isn’t really updated that often (the last release was in 2012.) It can read either gcode or STL file and display them for you. It doesn’t check if your model is manifold (all parts of the mesh are closed and without holes… I’ll write something on checking manifold issues later) or for any other forms of mesh errors which could lead to failed or poor quality prints. It provides limited manipulations like translation, rotation and scale on the files. It requires Python 2.6 to be installed to run (it must be version 2.6, no other versions will work.)
For me setup was fairly simple. A version of it and python came on the SD card that came with my printer. The documentation gave a pretty good walk-through on what was needed and how to set it up. There are somethings you need to do to set it up, but over all it was pretty easy for me to get it up and running for my first 3D print. I think the total install and setup time was less than an hour.
The details here are for the Flashforge Creator Pro/X, but there shouldn’t be much variation for other printers.
ReplicatorG: Getting Started
Note to Win8 users: Before installing the ReplicatorG disable the Driver Signature Enforcement setting otherwise you will run in to problems. This is a well known issue.
Ok, so first things first, download and install python 2.6.6 here and install it. You can test out 2.6.8 if you like, but I have stuck so far with the one I know works with ReplicatorG. This is actually vitally important to keep in mind, because it is very easy to mistakenly download python 2.7.x or 3.5.x and never realizes that they are the reason ReplicatorG isn’t working properly. The nice thing is that if you need different version on python you can install them, you just have to remember to point ReplicatorG at the right version of python.
Now download the latest version of ReplicatorG for whichever platform you are using from http://replicat.org/download. Version 0040 is the most current right now (and likely forever.) There are three options Windows, Mac, and Linux… it’s pretty straight forward so far. So start the exe file (RepilcatorG-0040-Installer.exe) and follow the instructions. Most of it is pretty standard, choose where you want it to install, it may ask about making sure you have python for Skeinforge (this is the tool chain used to convert your 3d model into gcode using python,) you should already have installed python but it still may miss it, you can tell ReplicatorG where to look for python laters so just hit the install button.
It should unpack a bunch of files and then a device driver installation wizard should come up. Let it do its thing and you should be done. Now a shortcut to RepicatorG should be on you desktop and you should be ready to go.
Opening up ReplicatorG you will see something like this:
There are a few things you need to do to setup everything. First select the “File” menu and click “Preferences” (or just hit “Ctr+,”.) Now under the Advanced tab you will find the a button called “Select Python interpreter”, use this and navigate to the folder where you installed python (or pypy if you went that route,) and select python.exe and click “Open.”
Next let’s setup the machine to connect to your PC via USB. Flashforge Creator Pro is based on Replicator Dual. So under the “Machine” menu we select “Machine Type (Driver)” and go down the list until we see The Replicator Dual, you might have something else though, so look thought the list for you machine, it might be called something else so make sure you know what your machine is based on. Find and select your proper machine driver. Under the same “Machine” menu you can check the COM port that your computer sees the machine on (if it is plugged into the computer and the printer is powered on.) Check that is connects by selecting “Connection (Serial Port)” if nothing comes up check your cables and try rescanning.
Last we need to make sure Skeinforge is set correctly for generation of your gcode. Got to the “GCode” menu and click on GCode Generator, and make sure “Skeinforge (50)” is the one with the dot next to it.
Now everything is ready to start printing… almost we still need to open up a file and actually turn it into gcode. But I am out of time and this post is already several hours late as it is.
Replicatorg Slicer
Tomorrow while I am cooking the sacrificial turkey with all the fixings I’ll also finish my review of ReplicatorG.
Hi, All,
I grabbed ReplicatorG 0017 (v2) for Linux and had no problems
unpacking and running it, but when I went to convert an STL to GCode,
I ran into a bit of a problem. I'm running CentOS on my build laptop,
and it comes with Python 2.4. I built Python 2.5 from source into
/usr/local and had no problems invoking Skeinforge 0006 manually
('/usr/local/bin/python2.5 ./skeinforge-0006/skeinforge.py'), but I
seem to be having difficulty getting ReplicatorG 0017 to invoke the
right Python.
I've tried an alias of python2.5 for python; I've tried fiddling the
shebang line in skeinforge.py. What's tripping me up appears to be
some sort of version check in RepG itself. I get a dialog box that
says:
Replicatorg Python Version 1
Generating gcode requires Python version 2.5.0 or later. Python
version 2.4.3 was detected
Make sure your system has the 'python' and 'python-tk' packages installed.
I'm not a Java guru, so I'm hoping someone who is can ferret out how
RepG 0017 determines what python(s) is/are installed and how I can get
it to let me proceed with an alternate version of Python installed
since RedHat and CentOS don't take kindly to upgrading the system-wide
python install above 2.4.
Replicatorg Python Version Download
Thanks for any tips.
Replicatorg 0040
-ethan