MakerGear Forum

Well, today has been a real good day, I got the problems ironed out (cross my fingers).

Few things that really helped aside from all the good advice. (I really really appreciate the help and advice that was provided from the forum members.)

1) Glue Stick. I was apprehensive at first to the mess, etc. Its money in the bank. Some windex and it cleans up perfectly when you want to get back down to bare glass.

2) Profiles - Learned that this could really mess up the show if you use incorrect profiles. Safe to say profiles matter based on the hotend your using.

3) Calibration for Extruder With and Z Offset. Necessary to do, nothing more to say, do it.

4) Z Stop - this is really a PITA. No easy way to say it, as there does not seem to be an exact science, but, my take, is, get is close .2mm and with the Z Offset from the calibration above you can get what appears to be good results.

5) Temps - Makergear recommends PLA @220/70. I think this is too hot from what I have read and seen first hand. I'm working at 200/50 now, and with the glue its going great.

Ok, ok, now my questions.

So I'm trying to get my layers down below .2mm. Right now, I am printing something at .18 and so far so good, hoping to get to .1 by end of the day ???
So with that said, as you decrease the layers, what other profiles changes are necessary ?

Do it help to post fff profiles ?

1) I use glue when I think the print will be difficult, It can be impossible to remove a large print if it's glued down, but small footprint will do well with some "Elmer's"

2) the printer is a robot, it does what you tell it to, simple as that.

3) & 4) I spend more time than I care to admit on adjusting my z-stop

5) 70 is pretty hot for PLA, you will see your bottom layer deform on a large print at that temp, I try to keep my bed temps between 55 and 65, 65 being the first layer temp

I would say try to stick with 0.2mm layers for now until the rest of the machine operations come naturally to you. The payout with getting to 0.1mm isn't as great as it sounds, but the problems are much greater. Your z-stop and offset need to be great, but your bed leveling must be perfect.

If you are trying to eliminate the threads that are visable in your prints, go for a spray of Rustoleum Feather Fill and a shot of colored spray paint. No one will ever know it was 3d Printed.

Since you are a bit new, it is prudent to post your .FFF files, just because you may have over-looked something important, or a veteran of the forum could offer you some tips here and there.

Here is my current fff file that I have been working with.

Matt_Sharkey wrote:I would say try to stick with 0.2mm layers for now until the rest of the machine operations come naturally to you. The payout with getting to 0.1mm isn't as great as it sounds, but the problems are much greater. Your z-stop and offset need to be great, but your bed leveling must be perfect.

That depends. I don't like S3D's insistance on using a percentage height for the first layer. Often I have 90% dialed in for a layer height of 0.2mm, but with that percentage height setting, yes, your leveling has to be perfect at a layer height of 0.1mm. But, change the first layer height to 200% when you're using a layer height of 0.1mm for all the other layers, and it's much more forgiving. And then you have to remember to change the setting any time you switch between layer height settings.