New software - GCode splitter!
Published on in 3D Printing, Projects
Over the last few months, I’ve been silent as I transitioned from the life of a student to the life of a professional. But! I have finished that transition (for the most part) and am now back. I even bring new software with me.
This new software (which has the rather uncreative name “gcode splitter”) is a utility for use in 3D printing. I have acquired a 3D printer for me to experiment with. The printer I own has one printhead. However, many of my designs require two or more materials. (I’m using a lot of “exotics”, like conductive or flexible plastics). It occurred to me that as long as the two materials never shared a layer (or only shared one layer at the interface), I could split the print into parts, change the plastic between prints and thereby end up with multi-material objects.
The code is available on my github. The utility has fairly simple inputs - it takes a (specially formatted) gcode file, followed by the locations in which the print should be split. Obviously, some limitations exist:
- The gcode must have special formatting or to have no setup/cooldown instructions
- Units to determine where to split are only millimeters (mm) or layers (l)
- The movement instructions must be absolute
- Layers must be visited sequentially from bottom to top (tool does not work with sequential prints)
There are several major improvements I plan to make to this tool, especially if there is interest:
- Support for relative movements and layers
- Support for input gcode which does not go strictly bottom to top
- Support for additional units
- Support for adjusting the temperature for each portion of the print
- Unit tests
- Installer
I welcome suggestions for additional features to add. At some point soon, I will probably post pictures of results of printing in this method. In the meantime, enjoy!