First Print Surface finish issue
Hello,
Here is a shot of the first print after assembly. What is the cause of the layer stack up imperfection?
Your help is appreciated.
Thank you
Re: First Print Surface finish issue
Those are the z-seam, created when the nozzle is moved from one layer to the next. You can move the seam location around, and Slic3rPE and most other slicers offer options to try to hide them in corners. Unfortunately, with cylindrical layers with no corners, they have to go somewhere. You can tune them to a bit, but with the current state of FDM printing, they'll be present on every print.
You can confirm all this for yourself by slicing the part, then spending some time zoomed in in preview mode. Look for the little gaps that correspond to these imperfections. Much more detail in this thread.
and miscellaneous other tech projects
He is intelligent, but not experienced. His pattern indicates two dimensional thinking. -- Spock in Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan
Re: First Print Surface finish issue
Those are the z-seam, created when the nozzle is moved from one layer to the next. You can move the seam location around, and Slic3rPE and most other slicers offer options to try to hide them in corners. Unfortunately, with cylindrical layers with no corners, they have to go somewhere. You can tune them to a bit, but with the current state of FDM printing, they'll be present on every print.
You can confirm all this for yourself by slicing the part, then spending some time zoomed in in preview mode. Look for the little gaps that correspond to these imperfections.
I always preferred selecting the "random" positioning, to try to keep from getting groupings of them together, which I think looks much worse than if they were spread around the whole object.
Prusa i3 MK3 kit
MK3/S Upgrade Kit
FW 3.7.0
Slic3r PE 1.41.3
Re: First Print Surface finish issue
For me it depends on whether I can hide the seam, either in corners or on a surface that will be hidden. Aligning them together can also help if you're planning on sanding, priming or other post-processing. Otherwise, yeah, random can be the best overall balance.
[...] I always preferred selecting the "random" positioning, to try to keep from getting groupings of them together, which I think looks much worse than if they were spread around the whole object.
KISSlicer has some insane and effective methods of hiding the seam. Unfortunately, it's not very friendly to use and doesn't seem to be under active development lately.
and miscellaneous other tech projects
He is intelligent, but not experienced. His pattern indicates two dimensional thinking. -- Spock in Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan
Re: First Print Surface finish issue
Thank you very much for the quick reply. That explains it.
Those are the z-seam, created when the nozzle is moved from one layer to the next. You can move the seam location around, and Slic3rPE and most other slicers offer options to try to hide them in corners. Unfortunately, with cylindrical layers with no corners, they have to go somewhere. You can tune them to a bit, but with the current state of FDM printing, they'll be present on every print.
You can confirm all this for yourself by slicing the part, then spending some time zoomed in in preview mode. Look for the little gaps that correspond to these imperfections. Much more detail in this thread.