I have been trying to tune for small features and retracts recently for an

3D Printing
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I have been trying to tune for small features and retracts recently for an upcoming project. The make 2015 print test really helps on this. I am still not exactly where I want to be, but I think its not to bad for a Bowden setup and a few hours of tuning. Printed on my Eustathios at 30mm/s with $15 micro center inland PLA.

I am used to printing larger items, so if anybody has some trade secrets for small features let me know.

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+1 for make 2015 shoot out test geometries! And nice results! Did you try to lower further your temperatures? I tend to favor very low temps and slow fan when printing very small stuff. IMHO black is often the most difficult color to use for such small prints, probably b/c of its higher content of carbon that conduct heat much more than other colors (cooling is slower, deformations are more important). Oh, and actually I favor large “static” 120mm fans over tiny blowers that often impact the geometry as well.

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Considering Bowden, I think that looks really great man! Are you varying your speed as you come to the tips?

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sonic wont like that print

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Holy cow, if my printer turned that out, I’d not have much to complain about! :slight_smile:

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@Brandon_Satterfield yes simplify3d does a great job of adjusting speed based on layer/feature size. I think others do this also with minimum layer time fields.

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@Folfie_LeKrix_Lukath I don’t understand?

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@Eclsnowman spikes are annoying in the sonic games :slight_smile:

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One hint I’ve read so far is to print it twice in the same run. Than it has more time to cool down between the layers. With the space between the two objects you can control it a little bit. But it’s not an option in every case.
I’m still waiting for my first printer so I have no real experiance.

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Mine is certainly buzzword compliant.

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wow eric.

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In addition to what others have written, we find that running your fan at 100% (override auto fan speed) is important, and prime pillars are super helpful. The prime pillar(s) give the extruder somewhere else to go in between layers so those small features have an a little time to cool between layers.

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There’s a bunch of useful info on the reprap forums - some guys were competing to get the smallest prints possible so their machines were all highly optimized for tiny details.
My thoughts in no particular order:

  • The hysteresis of bowden systems may be the principal limiting factor in the quality of the print - Ooze control and nozzle priming will be critical.
  • You want travel moves as fast as practical to reduce ooze but that will likely effect the positional accuracy of your nozzle - any play in any part on the x/y axis could result in minor changes in x-y position, particularly if you are accel and decel’ing hard.
  • As above, cooling the part between layers will help but that will reduce the inter-layer bond strength. You can also reduce your nozzle temp if you are printing at slower speeds.
    -Try a tiny nozzle size - I had success using 0.25mm nozzles on an E3d V5. They do suffer from blockages more often though.
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@American_3D_Printing ​ & @Jeremie_Francois ​​ thanks for the tips. I was avoiding priming pillars at first to stay true to the print test. But for my project that is driving this tuning I will use one for sure. Also I really need to dump the 40mm axial part cooling fan for a centrifugal blower. I have just been putting off the carriage redesign for eustathios due to limited time.

I printed this at 210c which seems to be the sweet spot on this cheap black PLA to avoid jams while also avoiding undue backpressure.

I also purposely tested with cheap filament first. I figure if I can dial in a good profile with this cheap stuff… Then good filament should be easy.

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@Tim_Rastall thanks. It’s nice to see you on here more often recently. I miss your insights. It is inspiring how much information I have absorbed and knowledge I have gained from people half way around the globe that I have never met in person.

Thanks everyone for the tips.

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Nice looking print! Your foray into cheap filament has faired better than my own. :stuck_out_tongue:

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@Matthew_Satterlee ​ it looks good. But it is so brittle. I won’t even make figures for the kids in the black version. It snaps like dry twigs.

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that’s how all the cheap stuff I’ve bought at fry’s has turned out. Trying to explain that to our purchasing rep at work right now.