3D Printing Stack Exchange
3D Printing Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [print-quality]

Questions about troubleshooting and achieving certain print-quality. Please include photos of your problem, and also describe what the limits of your 'good' prints are.

For questions related to troubleshooting and/or achieving a desired print quality through mechanical or software processing. For example: slicing engine settings, nozzle size, powder grit, etc.

If you are looking for help to diagnose a problem, it helps when you can show the problem with a photo, and sometimes it also helps if you can show what your calibration cube or Benchy looks like (in case these are not as good as you assume).

461 questions
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2 answers

Mushy small top layers?

I just added a fan to my printer because very small layers seem to come out very badly. For example, the 5mm PLA cube that's the top level of the test shape shown below. Watching closely, I can see that the newly-extruded fiber is pushing the…
TextGeek
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1 answer

How does one use a heat tower?

I've been asking around on how to choose the right temperature for a given filament. I noticed that with two different brands of pla I have to print at different temperatures, and the manufacturer specifies a broad range of print temperatures. I…
linuxdan
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9 answers

First 3 mm prints poorly, then fine after that

I have an Ender 3 that I have been pretty happy with so far, however it recently started an odd behavior and I can't figure out what's causing it. What happens is that the first ~3 mm of the print comes out "sloppy". After that, everything clears…
Steve In CO
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17
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2 answers

How do I 3D-print fair dice?

As 3D printers become more and more reliable, their prints get better and better. But FDM printers do have their problems too: you print tiny ovals that smooch together at the edges, and infill makes it awkward at times. So, how do I make a…
Trish
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17
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6 answers

What causes bubbles in extruded filament?

I've noticed this on almost ever print I've ever had. On the initial first line that clears the extruder nozzle tiny little bubbles/craters seem to form on the line. While I don't think these are causing any issue with my prints I'm curious to know…
Diesel
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16
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2 answers

Differences between moving build plate vs. extruder

What are the differences, and pros & cons, between 3D printers with varying layouts for moving head vs. moving build plate? Example layouts would include: X Head; YZ Bed; XY Head; Z Bed; XYZ Head; etc. In particular, what are their…
agent provocateur
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15
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3 answers

What causes ripples on part of first layer?

I'm having issues with ripples on the first layer of big flat prints. The initial corner of a big flat print is fine, but then ripples begin to form as shown in the screenshot. I'm just a newbie, so I was thinking they might have something to do…
Kevin
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15
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1 answer

How to improve face that are printed on support?

Is there anything I can do to improve the bottom side of surfaces that are printed on support? I always try to rotate the model so that surfaces that need to look nice are on the sides or top, and, if possible I divide the model into smaller parts…
Nir
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13
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1 answer

Can I 3D-print a PET bottle?

I want to print a transparent PET bottle for my homemade lemonades and thought about 3D-printing them. I would like the printed bottle's quality to be as fine as a Coca-Cola PET bottle for coke and the printing substrate or material be something…
LiNKeR
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12
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5 answers

Lines of PLA not sticking to the bed

When I am printing objects that have a lot of surface area on the first layer parts of that layer will rise up causing there to be gaps in the first layer. Here are two pictures. The first one was printing with a raft and the second one was without…
Loanb222
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12
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2 answers

Second layer: gaps, poor adhesion - why?

I'm seeing the following pattern on my Prusa clone: The first layer prints OK, layer adhesion to the bed is good. The second layer shows the weird gaps. On larger pieces, or with an increased feed rate, it sometimes gets so bad that parts of the…
vwegert
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11
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2 answers

How to choose an extrusion temperature?

From what I've been able to find out, online sources recommend around 205ºC for PLA and around 240ºC for ABS. But these are only guidelines, of course. Optimal printing temperature can be different depending on the printer, the filament, the model…
mhelvens
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11
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4 answers

Layer delamination

I've printed mostly ABS in the past and encountered delamination between layers many times. I've ensured the following conditions regularly: Build plate is level Base of print isn't warped (using ABS slurry) Prevent air draft. I've added acrylic…
tbm0115
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10
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2 answers

How can I improve the overhang angles my printer can successfully print?

Using an FDM printer and PLA or ABS, without adding support material. What modifications can I make to improve how steep an overhang my printer can print before it starts having problems? The obvious first answer is to add a cooling fan, increasing…
Martin
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10
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3 answers

Printing with colorfabb XT fails after several successful layers

I'm printing parts for a HEVO (HyperCube Evolution CoreXY), using Colorfabb XT filament. After several successful prints. I'm having a lot of failed prints. They start off pretty well but after ~15 layers the filament starts to string and blob.…
Toon
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