1 Topic by asmacdo

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Topic: Need help with an attractive first layer

I have been trying for over a week now to get a clean first layer. I can get it to be flat but it is susceptible to imperfections that ripple across the whole layer.

Any ideas how to avoid this?

-Austin

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2 Reply by jefferysanders

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Re: Need help with an attractive first layer

I think that has to do with how the nozzle drags and the g-code was generated.  Try concentric fill in slic3r, I personally think it looks much better when compared to rectilinear fill for solid layers.

3 Reply by asmacdo

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Re: Need help with an attractive first layer

Good call on slic3r. I had been avoiding it since there are already so many variables but I just installed it and it seems to actually simply things.

Concentric circles gave a really cool fingerprint look, but it still had the little inconsistencies that I am trying to avoid on this print.

I ended up liking the Hilbert curve for the bottom layer. I think that way the lines interact with each other might be inherent to the medium so better to embrace it with a "consistently inconsistent" look. It is noisy enough that it hides the lines.


The only problem is that it doesn't look great for the top layer... Is there a way to use Hilbert on the bottom and concentric on the top?

4 Reply by jefferysanders (edited by jefferysanders 2013-01-02 16:08:04)

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Re: Need help with an attractive first layer

You can, but it would require directly editing the G-Code at this point as nobody has released the tools for free (that I know of).  The slic3r http://hackaday.com/2012/12/11/an-inter … of-slic3r/programmer talked about directly editing parts of the G-code in future versions of his software.  I suggest you not only play with random settings (not much can break your printer in slic3r (besides heat settings) you will just get mis-prints, but will learn what that setting does.  I don't think all of the fill types have been implemented and I am sure they would love any assistance in developing better looking (high quality structure and atheistic)

Speed settings can cause some problems, so I don't advise making huge jumps (over 10mm/s or so) you can change the move speed up to 190-220 (I have mine at 220) **Don't do this if you are un-sure as it can increase the damage done to your printer by slamming into rigid areas** Don't get your hand smashed 8))!!! It kinda stings...

5 Reply by asmacdo

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Re: Need help with an attractive first layer

Playing with the speed did have an impact on the smoothness, but it still didn't get quite to the level that I wanted. I was able to get the "injection look" by lightly sanding the hilbert curve. Came out well.

I did make some progress on the line fill. Increasing the speed was helpful, I assume that it left less time for the plastic to ooze and be affected by the line before it.  80mm/s seemed to be a sweet spot, I was at 50mm/s. Increasing the speed also exposed another problem that was too minor to notice before, my table was not stable. For those with with this problem in the future, here is a list of attributes that affect the quality of the first layer in order of importance (as far as I can tell.)

1. z offset
2. level platform
3. hot bed (100 seems to work best)
4. glass bed with hairspray for sticking (the screws were noticably colder and left circles in the build)
5. speed
6. clean extruder. lightly stripped filament still works, but is uneven.
7. stable table
8. skirt helps with warping and getting the first part of the part to stick.
9. speeding up travel. This helped remove the lines between the perimeters.

Additionally the number of perimeters and the idiosyncrasies of the individual filament seem to have an effect, though I am not sure how.