Start ReplicatorG
First, start ReplicatorG!
Configuring your machine
If it's your first time using ReplicatorG, you'll need to configure it to connect to your machine. Select the "Machine>Driver" submenu from the main window:
Select the entry that best describes your machine. If you have an unusual machine or one that does not appear in this menu, you may need to add a profile for it yourself. For detailed configuration information, please see the machines.xml configuration page. (If you've created a working profile for a common machine type, drop us a line and let us know so we can include it in the next release!)
If (like most users) you're connecting to your machine via a serial port (like a USB-TTL cable), you'll need to tell ReplicatorG which serial port to use. Select the appropriate entry from the "Machine>Serial Port" submenu:
The naming of serial ports varies from platform to platform, so it may not be obvious which one to select at first. On most platforms, the phrase "usb" will appear somewhere in the port name; on Windows, you'll probably want to select the highest-numbered COM port.
Once you've selected a port, ReplicatorG will attempt to connect to the machine. If it's having trouble, it will time out after about fifteen seconds or so. If it's successful, the status bar will turn green, and the window will look like this:
Printing from an STL file
With ReplicatorG 0017 and later, you can load STL files and print them from within ReplicatorG. To start, find an STL file! There are plenty on Thingiverse which are appropriate for printing. I'll be using a model of a face, but most any model of the correct size will do. The stellated octohedron is a fun one to start with!
Open the STL file
You can open the STL file by selecting the "File>Open…" menu option:
This will bring up an open file dialog. Select the STL file that you want to print:
Now you'll see the 3d model you've selected:
The model will be enclosed in a box 10cm by 10cm by 10cm. You can use this to judge how large your final print will be, and whether it will fit on your machine's build platform.
You can use the mouse to rotate and zoom your view by following the instructions on the toolbar at the right:
Keep in mind that you're just changing your viewpoint— you're not actually changing the orientation or size of your object!
Manipulating the object
(Note: if you're happy with how the object looks right now, you can skip ahead to "Generate the toolpath".)
Warning: ReplicatorG by default saves modified objects on top of original files! If it's important to you to keep an original, unmodified copy of your model around, consider making a copy of the file before you begin!
This towel clip is a nice object, but we'd like to make it a little larger. First, we click on the "XY" view button in the preview panel to see what the object looks like from above:
Next, we need to scale the object up a bit. Click on the "Scale" button at the bottom of the toolbar. Then, click and drag in the preview window until the object is the desired size.
As placed, this object is too big to fit on the build platform, so we'll want to rotate it. First, we'll click on the "Rotate" button in the toolbar. Then check off the "Rotate around Z" checkbox, as shown.
This will ensure that the object only rotates around the Z axis. Now you can click and drag your mouse in the preview window to rotate the object to the correct angle.
Now, we select the "View" tool and click "Default" to see our default view. As you can see, the object is not centered on the build platform, and in this case even extends a bit below it.
Click on the "Move" tool, and then the "Center" button. This will move the object to the center of the platform and place it so its bottom rests on the build platform.
You'll need to save the object by selecting "Save" from the menu before you generate the toolpath. If you forget to do this, clicking the "Generate toolpath" button will prompt you to save the object.
Generate the toolpath
Next, you'll need to generate the toolpath— the directions that explain how to move the extruder to print the object. These instructions are currently written in a format called gcode. The model must be converted to gcode before it can be printed.
We usually use a tool called Skeinforge to convert a model into gcode. Skeinforge is very powerful, but can be difficult to use. To make it a bit easier, we've integrated Skeinforge into ReplicatorG. All you need to do to generate a toolpath is click the Generate GCode button on the toolbar on the right. This will pop up the Profile Selection dialog:
Choose a profile that best describes your machine and material, and click "Ok". (We'll discuss how to create and edit profiles later in this document.) If your system is configured correctly, a progress dialog will appear. You're on your way!
Keep in mind that Skeinforge is a very computationally intensive program, and generating a toolpath may take several minutes for complex models. If it's taking too long, you can always hit the "Cancel" button to abort.
When toolpath generation is complete, the dialog will disappear and you'll see a "gcode" tab appear above your model:
You're ready to start printing! If you like, you can click on the gcode tab to review the generated gcode before you print:
Print!
Now you can click the Build button, and let your machine make you something! Check your machine's documentation before you start to print— often you'll have to do some setup first. (For instance, most Cupcake CNCs require you to manually set the print head to the zero position before printing.)
Printing from a GCode file
If you already have a gcode file you want to print, just load it directly and click Build to print.
Editing profiles
Most users will want to tune skeinforge for their particular machines, or create new profiles. You can do this by selecting "Manage Profiles…" from the profile selection dialog:
This will bring up the profile editing dialog. You can create new dialogs or edit existing ones by selecting a profile and hitting the "Edit…" or "Create…" buttons:
When you edit a Skeinforge profile, you'll see the familiar Skeinforge configuration interface appear. Change whatever you like— the settings are stored in different directories for different profiles, and won't interfere with any other Skeinforge configuration you may already have on your computer. If you come up with a good profile for any machine, let us know so we can include it in the next release!
Conclusion
Thats about it! You should probably read up on the various generators that will create GCode for you. If you want to write your own GCode or generator, you should start with the GCode Primer.
