First half cm of PLA height kinda flops over itself
Printing this cable hanger type deal (just CAD practice) with a locally available PLA, default settings in PrusaSlicer, I get this strange warping of the first few layers, what could be causing this? Too fast? Bed too hot? This part was meant to have a circular profile but the bottom half (relative to the print, shown upside down in the second picture) looks very incorrect.
If I print it floating, half a cm up, (with supports of course, I don't have the antigravity module) then it prints correctly.
RE:
Bottom curves are very difficult to get cleanly printed. Each of the first few layers are extreme overhangs that can't cool quickly due to proximity to the heated bed. What you did with printing it elevated from the bed with supports is very similar to printing with a raft (and supports). The supports blocked the extra heating from the bed allowing the plastic to cool towards rigidity before slumping down too much.
See my (limited) designs on:
Printables - https://www.printables.com/@Sembazuru
Thingiverse - https://www.thingiverse.com/Sembazuru/designs
RE: First half cm of PLA height kinda flops over itself
Yeah, that makes sense physically of course. Kind of a shame, because I really like the textured bottom layer.
I'll experiment more with just supports and raft, without elevating.
RE:
On parts like this, I often will design a chamfer only along the printing plane first (rather than a fillet) and then follow that with a fillet only on the elevated vertex. This gives you a designed manageable (and therefore clean printing) overhang with a similar aesthetic above. Fillets along the bottom of items always look bad.
*edited to add- It actually looks like this was done, but the angle of the chamfer was still a bit too much for the chosen settings and/or printer.
-J
RE: First half cm of PLA height kinda flops over itself
Thanks for the tip!
Re. your edit, actually the chamfer is caused by the warping, my design originally was just the fillet. I guess the print is telling me how it wants to be designed!