FGF-specific settings

GingerSlicer inherits most of OrcaSlicer’s settings, but several parameters behave differently — or exist only — for pellet printing. This page explains the settings that matter most for FGF on the G1.

Pellet Modded Printer

Where: Printer settings → General → Pellet Modded Printer

This toggle must be enabled for the G1. When active, the slicer changes how it interprets the E axis:

Disabled (filament mode): E = millimeters of filament to advance
Enabled (pellet mode): E = cubic millimeters of material volume to extrude

Without this toggle enabled, the slicer would emit incorrect G-code values and the G1 would severely over- or under-extrude. The G1 printer profile ships with this already enabled — do not disable it.

Rotation Volume

Where: Pellets (material profile) → Extruder Rotation Volume

Rotation Volume (mm³ per screw turn) is the pellet equivalent of “rotation distance” in filament printers. It tells GingerSlicer how much material the screw delivers per full rotation.

This value is material-specific and must be calibrated for each pellet you use
It replaces the concept of “flow rate %” — you do not adjust a percentage; you calibrate the actual physical volume
After adding SmoothFlow or changing nozzle diameter, re-run calibration

See Rotation Volume calibration for the full procedure.

Max Volumetric Speed (MVS)

Where: Pellets (material profile) → Max Volumetric Speed

MVS (mm³/s) caps the material delivery rate. For pellet printing, MVS is a more meaningful speed limit than the linear print speed (mm/s) because it captures the physical limit of the screw extruder.

Why MVS matters more than print speed:

The G1 screw motor has a maximum torque threshold — exceed it and you get motor skipping, clicks, gaps, and eventual layer shift
Print speed (mm/s) alone does not tell you whether you are within the extruder’s limits; MVS does
GingerSlicer enforces MVS by capping the actual extrusion rate; the head may slow down even if the nominal speed seems fine

Typical safe starting values:

Without SmoothFlow: 200–250 mm³/s
With SmoothFlow: 300–500 mm³/s depending on material

See Max Volumetric Speed for how to find your material’s ceiling.

Multi-Heating Zones

Where: Pellets (material profile) → Multi-zone print temperatures

The G1 barrel has three independent heating zones. GingerSlicer exposes these as separate temperature inputs in the material profile:

Slicer label	Zone	Position	Role
Extruder 0	Feeding Zone	Top (hopper entry)	Softens pellets
Extruder 1	Melting Zone	Middle	Full melt
Extruder 2	Nozzle Zone	Bottom (nozzle exit)	Final viscosity control

Each zone is tuned independently per material. Starting temperatures for common materials are listed in Creating a material profile.

See Multi-Heating Zones for detailed hardware context.

Retraction behavior

Where: Printer settings → Extruder 1 → Retraction settings

Pellet extruders cannot retract mechanically the way filament printers do. The screw cannot pull material back up the barrel. What GingerSlicer calls “retraction” on the G1 is actually pressure-based ooze reduction:

Retraction Length: reduces the pressure at the end of a line by briefly reversing screw direction slightly — the effect is limited compared to filament retraction
Extra Length on Restart: additional extrusion on restart to compensate for pressure loss during the move
Wipe Distance: nozzle travels without extrusion to clean up ooze before the next move

For detailed retraction troubleshooting, see Ginger Slicer — common settings questions.

Pressure Advance

Where: Pellets (material profile) → Pressure Advance and Smooth Time

Pressure Advance compensates for the delay between the screw starting/stopping and material flow actually changing at the nozzle tip. The G1 screw extruder has significant internal volume, so this delay is meaningful.

Default values shipped with GingerSlicer:

Pressure Advance: 0.3
Smooth Time: 0.5

These defaults work for most materials at standard speeds. Signs that tuning is needed:

Blobs at corners or sharp direction changes
Inconsistent line width at acceleration/deceleration
Oozing during travel moves

To tune live during a print:

Open Mainsail → Macros → Pressure Advance
Adjust ADVANCE and SMOOTH_TIME while observing the print
Once satisfactory, copy the values into the material profile

For full tuning guidance, see Ginger Slicer overview.

Arachne wall generator

Where: Process → Quality → Wall generator

Always use Arachne for large-nozzle prints (3 mm and 8 mm nozzle).

The Classic wall generator divides object walls into a fixed number of lines of fixed width. When the wall thickness is close to the nozzle diameter (e.g. a 7 mm wall with a 5 mm nozzle), Classic produces incorrect Z-moves, blobs, and wall doubling artifacts.

Arachne adapts the wall count and width to the actual geometry, eliminating these artifacts. Set it in Process → Quality → Wall generator → Arachne.

Z-hop

Where: Printer settings → Extruder 1 → Z hop height

Z-hop lifts the nozzle before travel moves to avoid clipping the print.

Default: 0.5 mm

Increase to 1–1.5 mm when using infill patterns that create tall internal structures (lightning infill, open grid infill with tall cells). With a large nozzle the bead height is significant, and insufficiently tall Z-hop causes the nozzle to hit infill peaks during travel — resulting in motor step loss and layer shift.

Vase mode (Spiralize outer contour)

Where: Process → Others → Spiralize outer contour

Vase mode prints a continuous single-wall spiral with no layer changes. GingerSlicer positions the extruded line so that the outer surface of the bead follows the model geometry — because the slicer knows the wall thickness (nozzle diameter) and offsets the line center inward accordingly.

Practical implication: if you model a cylinder of exactly 400 mm diameter, the outer surface of the print will be 400 mm — the center of the extruded line will be offset inward by approximately half the line width (e.g. ~1.5 mm inward for a 3 mm nozzle). Design to the outer dimension of your intended geometry.

Pressure Advance in vase mode: set PA to 0. Any non-zero PA value produces repeating texture artifacts on the continuous spiral wall. Restore your normal PA value after printing in vase mode.