Cadence Slicer v1.0.2

Two fixes for the prime tower.

• Body Split now builds the prime tower when the coarse part sits on the bed. With a fine first layer, the big nozzle can't print the very first layer, so Cadence starts the coarse part one layer up. In v1.0 and v1.0.1 that made it skip the prime tower entirely for those prints, so every nozzle change happened with no priming, which can leave blobs or gaps. The tower is now built as intended.
• A stronger tower base from the big nozzle. When the big nozzle lays the tower's first layers, it now uses its own line width instead of the small nozzle's, and the brim keeps its extra first-layer flow. The base comes out solid instead of thin and gappy.

In Feature Split prints, only a few tower lines from the big nozzle change; the part itself is unchanged.

Downloads: Mac (Apple silicon) DMG and Windows installer below. Same install steps as before, in the README.

sha256:

• Mac DMG: 4f09d9af8ebd81c510829123d2ca4468341c9c01aff2ff447c7300f679b0f0e5
• Windows installer: 624328ee322eca7f5b71212caf1d6bb1cf449cfeb84ebd49c706b5d73981e383
• Windows portable zip: d7096faf5a5b2b13f11a45fe8973a250787847222f02b855a0ec65c13de90455

Cadence Slicer v1.0.1

A small fix release. All three come from checking v1.0 slices after launch.

• No more slower-than-stock prints from the prime tower. When Cadence decides the big nozzle isn't worth using on a print, it now builds the same short prime tower stock OrcaSlicer does. Before, it could still build a full-height tower for a couple of filament changes, which made some prints with a separate support interface filament much slower than stock (one test print: 4 h 13 min before, 2 h 40 min now, same as stock).
• The big nozzle no longer prints layers thinner than it should. Thin strips of infill next to a thick coarse layer now print with the small nozzle instead.
• Support kept clear of thin offcuts. The coarse support body now stays a line-width away from interface areas inside it, so the big nozzle doesn't print thin support scraps.

Prints that already used both nozzles well are unchanged: same G-code, same time. The fixes for thin strips add a couple of minutes on long prints.

Windows: this is the first release with the Windows build alongside the Mac one from the start.

Downloads: Mac (Apple silicon) DMG and Windows installer below. Same install steps as v1.0, in the README.

sha256:

• Mac DMG: e81716191dd93087c6618a786b9561c2d9aeb880490f9a27b286dae2edd10daf
• Windows installer: 37bec455c988e09f94364f90ccfa554861d7da3f568a0afb6120a3414277e4b9
• Windows portable zip: a2f18f9712fc50d98bccb54585ebc5593908c5d125b2d8bcf7b4cba5b6cda8fd

Cadence Slicer v1.0 for Windows

Windows build of Cadence Slicer v1.0. Tested on a Surface Book: install, printer pairing with the Bambu plug-in, nozzle and filament sync, guided setup and slicing all work, and it produces the same G-code as the Mac version for the same project. First run can take a few minutes while it loads profiles, and Windows will ask about SmartScreen and the firewall: allow both.

Files

• CadenceSlicer_Windows_Installer_v1.0.0_x64.exe: the installer.
• CadenceSlicer_Windows_v1.0.0_x64_portable.zip: the same build with no installer. Unzip it anywhere and run CadenceSlicer.exe.

First run

• The build is unsigned, so SmartScreen will say "Windows protected your PC". Click More info, then Run anyway.
• When the firewall asks, allow Cadence Slicer on private networks. That's how it finds your printer on your home network.
• If Windows asks to install Microsoft's WebView2 runtime, say yes.

It's the same slicing code as the v1.0 Mac release, plus a one-line fix that was needed to compile on Windows. The known issues in the README apply here too. Windows on ARM is not built.

If something goes wrong, please open an issue with your Windows version and graphics card.

sha256:

• Installer: 748ae99797d785079ac8effec64ff61e1026898642b5293196b83211b7fcb839
• Portable zip: 688aa1b1959d7b24f3423314aa4fa7004109574c673ab283ad6a452b214f575f

Cadence Slicer v1.0

Cadence Slicer v1.0

This is the first release. It's built from commit 1f9b7ad1bb, on top of OrcaSlicer at commit c806a09c7c.

What it does

Cadence Slicer is a fork of OrcaSlicer that lets a multi-nozzle printer use two different nozzle sizes in one print, each at its own layer height. You pick a fine layer height and a whole number N, and the coarse nozzle prints at N times the fine height. The two sets of layers meet every N fine layers.

• Feature Split: by default the fine nozzle prints walls, top and bottom surfaces and solid infill, and the coarse nozzle prints sparse infill. Any feature can go on either nozzle, supports included.
• Body Split: each part or painted region prints entirely on one nozzle, walls and infill both. The part on the bed can be on either nozzle. Touching parts on different nozzles get interlocking beams.
• Supports work in both modes. The support body and interface print on the nozzles of the filaments you pick for them. The usual setup is the body on the coarse nozzle and the interface on the fine one, and the interface can be a different material, such as PETG under a PLA part.
• Setup is four steps. It times every legal N with a full slice and compares it with one nozzle only, and if switching nozzles doesn't save time it tells you.

With mixed-nozzle slicing off, which is the default for every project, it slices like OrcaSlicer.

The same work is going to OrcaSlicer as pull requests. The first batch is open: seven small fixes to shared code that I found along the way (#16079, #16080, #16081, #16082, #16083, #16084, #16085). The mixed-nozzle work itself follows once the maintainers say how they want it split. Cadence is how you can use it until then.

New since the last test builds

• Supports and support interfaces print in Feature Split and Body Split, including a separate interface material across the two nozzles.
• With a third filament for the interface, the prime tower grows deeper to fit instead of refusing the slice.
• No interface material on the bed or on the tower's first layer.
• Body Split slices when the part on the bed is on the coarse nozzle. That part prints at its coarse layer height from the bed.
• After the start purge line, the nozzle retracts and lifts before its first travel, so it no longer drags through the purge line.
• Supports on the coarse nozzle print at that nozzle's own line width, and the support's first layer goes down with the part's first layer.
• A different interface material, like PETG under PLA, gets a solid layer of the support's own material under it, the same as in OrcaSlicer.
• The prime tower always prints its first layer on the bed, along with the part's first layer.
• Thin sections keep their infill.
• Setup keeps your bed type and all your support settings.
• Bambu printers start on the bed type their printer profile names, Textured PEI on the H2D.

Printers

Printer	Status
Bambu Lab H2D	Print-tested
Bambu Lab H2D Pro, H2C, X2D	Enabled, not print-tested
Prusa XL, Snapmaker J1 and U1, and other IDEX and toolchanger printers in OrcaSlicer's profiles	Enabled, not print-tested

Any pair of 0.2, 0.4, 0.6 and 0.8 mm nozzles, Standard or High Flow. The full list is in Supported.

Install

On macOS, open the DMG and drag CadenceSlicer into Applications. The build isn't signed, so macOS blocks the DMG the first time you open it, and then the app. Each time, go to System Settings, Privacy & Security, click Open Anyway, then open it again. Or, once the app is in Applications, run:

xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/CadenceSlicer.app

It's Apple silicon only and needs macOS 11.3 or later.

On Windows, the first build isn't ready yet. It'll be added to this release when it is.

On Linux there's no build. It should build from source like OrcaSlicer, but I haven't tried it.

Known issues

• On a small part the tower can take more time and filament than the part itself. Feature Split can be slower than one nozzle on small or short prints, so check the one-nozzle time on the Detail and speed step before you apply.
• Tree supports need the support body on the fine nozzle for now. With it on the coarse nozzle the slice is refused with a message. I'm working on this and it'll come in an update.
• Rafts need the support body on the fine nozzle, and they aren't supported in Body Split yet.
• With the support body on the coarse nozzle, the supports use more filament than OrcaSlicer's would. On models with lots of small contact areas, the support body on the fine nozzle can be just as fast, so compare both before a long print.
• The prime tower can get small blobs in its purge area where coarse and fine layers overlap. The part isn't affected.
• In Body Split with the support body on the coarse nozzle, some plates are refused with a prime tower message. Put the support body on the fine nozzle's filament.
• The coarse support body can get a few thin layers just under the interface. They print fine.
• With the support body on the coarse nozzle, the part can get a wider brim than OrcaSlicer would give it.
• Setup's last step doesn't say which nozzle prints the supports. Check Support/raft base and Support/raft interface before slicing.
• Setup can say Ready to apply while the picked coarse layer reads "no time: slicing would refuse this choice". Slicing then stops with a message that says what to change, and nothing wrong gets printed.
• After Apply in "Edit here", the Objects list can still show the old filament number. The G-code uses the new one.
• An exact filament slot set in More options reopens as "Set by Fine or Coarse".
• Some small display glitches: Step 2 can name the wrong slot in its hint line, the nozzle flow names can be cut short in the Printer panel, and the preview legend can be clipped in a small window. The legend's top height includes the start purge line, as in OrcaSlicer.
• Undo right after picking a nozzle diameter doesn't work while the list still has focus. Click elsewhere first, or use Edit, Undo.
• Settings that don't fit the layer grid are refused with a plain message that names the setting. See Supported.

Reporting bugs

Please open an issue with the bug report template and attach the 3MF. With the 3MF I can usually reproduce the slice exactly. The template also asks for the printer, the nozzle pair and flow types, the materials, which mode you used, and photos if it's a print problem. If a slice is refused, include the "Details:" line from the message.

If you print on a printer I haven't, I'd like to hear how it went, good or bad.