I would like the community’s opinion on an issue that my printer had from the very beginning? I believe. Essentially, the models similar to this:
would end up with gears “baked” into the outer shell, the part is one solid piece.
Recently, I’ve read this article:
and I adjusted the extrusion multiplier, and did some calibration prints.
I did measure the filament.
I reduced speeds on small perimeters.
None of the above helped.
About a year ago I did print the 20mm calibration cube - the dimensions were acceptable. Obviously I can reprint.
Question: Please, help me brainstorm what else might cause the problem?
Also, my printer is sitting on top of what used to be a (small) dining table(from Wallmart). When printing, I could feel the vibrations of the table. COuld it be the cause?
Any other areas I need to specifically look into?
while i was on my quest for “perfect hole size” i accidentally found that it is a combination of extrusion multiplier and temperature. you need to print the hollow cube (0 top, 0, bottom, 0 infill) with 2 or 3 perimeters. adjust multiplier to the point you get the correct extrusion width. this should fix or at least help with your problem.
yes, that is correct. say you are using a .4 nozzle and you have the extrusion width set to .4 (manual - not automatic). printing 3 perimeters shell should get you 1.2mm width walls. anything more your extrusion multiplier is too high. anything less your multiplier is too low. try getting that width as precise as possible (make sure you measure on top ignoring the first layer as that one will be wider)
Simplify3d is great if you don’t mind paying for it. Slic3r is fine though. Measuring perimeter thickness like @Cristian_Nicola mentioned is the correct way to calibrate extrusion volume for Slic3r. It should also work with a single-wall box, but you might get better accuracy with a multi-wall box.
@Ryan_Carlyle Thank you. I checked their website, the price seems reasonable. But before using the [to some extent] commercial software I’m curious to see if I can achieve better quality with just open source. So, I will try to print 3-perimeter wall box first.
@Vera_Dobrianski table wobbling is usually such a low frequency compared to the print move details that it won’t cause consistent problems. Could be an issue if your printer is very wobbly though. For example, if rapid X motion causes the frame and table to move and then a wobbly build plate moves around.
First, I checked the vibrations on an industrial printer that I have “observation access” to. Seems to be comparable to what I see with my home printer.
Second, an update - reducing the extrusion multiplier (based on 3 perimeters width) helped a lot. I was able to produce the part that actually can rotate.
Finally, and I have no explanation for this, but with lower extrusion multiplier value I had to adjust Z-offset, specifically, start the print at higher Z.