NOOB- Is this normal looking PLA print?  

Re: NOOB- Is this normal looking PLA print?

ive noticed that to, well at least with the beta version of slicer pe. are you using the beta version?

Re: NOOB- Is this normal looking PLA print?

I have noticed that the tops of my prints look a little ununiform in appearance. Like some lines just have a different look to them.

Anything like this?

Re: NOOB- Is this normal looking PLA print?

Your layers look a little thin with visible gaps between lines. Upping your extrusion multiplier may help. This might contribute to the visible banding issue.

The visual difference is caused by the gcode telling the extruder to move around on top layers. Some of this is unavoidable, and you'll see why if you watch it print. There are parts on a complex surface that can't be printed in one contiguous uninterrupted set of moves. Try a large cylinder or square with one large top surface and it will print as one. Add in holes and protrusions and the slicer has to work around them.

Some slicers (Cura and Simplify 3D IIRC) do allow setting the angles for solid infill, which may help. Most of the effect is purely visual, with the odd layers simply being laid down while flowing in the other direction. Silver filament will really highlight the effect. Matte or other colors may obscure it completely.

The bumps and ridges on conical or cylindrical walls are seam layers. You can move them around or tuck them I to corners if any exist on the layer. Otherwise, hiding them is about the best you can do. Look into coasting, wiping and retraction settings. Try to tune Linear Advance to your filament. Slic3r is limited. Cura has a raft of options. KISSlicer has extremely powerful options, but is the path to madness.

If you're really concerned about smooth even top layers, check out Cura's ironing feature.

Re: NOOB- Is this normal looking PLA print?

ive noticed that to, well at least with the beta version of slicer pe. are you using the beta version?

I’m running the newest 1.40.1

Re: NOOB- Is this normal looking PLA print?

Anything like this?
[/quote]

Yup. Pretty much.

Re: NOOB- Is this normal looking PLA print?

Your layers look a little thin with visible gaps between lines. Upping your extrusion multiplier may help. This might contribute to the visible banding issue.

The visual difference is caused by the gcode telling the extruder to move around on top layers. Some of this is unavoidable, and you'll see why if you watch it print. There are parts on a complex surface that can't be printed in one contiguous uninterrupted set of moves. Try a large cylinder or square with one large top surface and it will print as one. Add in holes and protrusions and the slicer has to work around them.

Some slicers (Cura and Simplify 3D IIRC) do allow setting the angles for solid infill, which may help. Most of the effect is purely visual, with the odd layers simply being laid down while flowing in the other direction. Silver filament will really highlight the effect. Matte or other colors may obscure it completely.

The bumps and ridges on conical or cylindrical walls are seam layers. You can move them around or tuck them I to corners if any exist on the layer. Otherwise, hiding them is about the best you can do. Look into coasting, wiping and retraction settings. Try to tune Linear Advance to your filament. Slic3r is limited. Cura has a raft of options. KISSlicer has extremely powerful options, but is the path to madness.

If you're really concerned about smooth even top layers, check out Cura's ironing feature.

Well this is all super helpful and enlightening and exactly what I was after. I will start working on and looking into all of the options. I’ve never even heard a few of those terms you’ve mentioned so I have some reading to do!

Thank you much!

Re: NOOB- Is this normal looking PLA print?

Correction: The team is "layer seams". Typing on mobile, sorry.

Re: NOOB- Is this normal looking PLA print?

Those are the Prusa Enclosure mounts. I'm new as well, so someone with more experience can probably answer this better, but you may want to consider PETG. I'm not sure PLA will provide the strength and temperature resistance over time necessary for the enclosure. Just a thought...

Re: NOOB- Is this normal looking PLA print?

Your layers look a little thin with visible gaps between lines. Upping your extrusion multiplier may help. This might contribute to the visible banding issue.

I'm not sure which parts of this are/were aimed at who. 😕
My layers weren't (AFAIK) that thin; my poor photographic skills may be why it appears that way.

The visual difference is caused by the gcode telling the extruder to move around on top layers.

So it is gcode(?)

Some of this is unavoidable, and you'll see why if you watch it print. There are parts on a complex surface that can't be printed in one contiguous uninterrupted set of moves. Try a large cylinder or square with one large top surface and it will print as one. Add in holes and protrusions and the slicer has to work around them.

In this case, I watched the whole print--start to finish. (I'm retired--I have nothing better to do--NOT!) This shape wasn't all that complex; in fact, it did print continuously around the complex parts, and still prints in bands on top layers of simple featureless polygons.

Checking out other slicer options is in the plan, but I'd rather become familiar with the frying pan before diving headlong into the fire...

Re: NOOB- Is this normal looking PLA print?

Your layers look a little thin with visible gaps between lines. Upping your extrusion multiplier may help. This might contribute to the visible banding issue.

I'm not sure which parts of this are/were aimed at who. 😕
My layers weren't (AFAIK) that thin; my poor photographic skills may be why it appears that way.I hit reply below the OP, so comments were directed at that post and pics. This forum software doesn't seem to do threads very well. I was responding on mobile, so couldn't easily do the quoting bit.

Rufus, I'll reply to your print in the other thread to (hopefully) avoid confusion.

The visual difference is caused by the gcode telling the extruder to move around on top layers.

So it is gcode(?)What I'm seeing in the OP's pics looks like it, yes. Some lines appear lighter, others darker depending on the extruder "stroke" in relation to the light. On a contiguous surface, it'll give that light/dark "striped" appearance we're used to with FDM prints. Where the extruder has moved and started filling in "against the grain", the light/dark pattern is disrupted (you get a light/light or dark/dark line pair) and it looks odd. Turn the print and it may look different depending on the lighting.

In the OP's pics, I do see bits of the lower layer visible through the top layer, so the extrusion does seem a bit thin.

Re: NOOB- Is this normal looking PLA print?

Anything like this?

Yup. Pretty much.
I don't think so. Rufus' pics seem to show Z-height issues which I'll respond to in his thread. Bryan's seem to be a bit of under-extrusion, resulting in lower layers being visible through the top layer, and some visual effects caused by the extruder direction changes while printing the top layer. To be clear: I'm referring here to the "ununiform appearance" aspect of Bryan's 1st pics in this thread.

Bryan, if you simply rotate your model before slicing, those striped patterns should "move" but not go away completely. You do have a couple of thick lines where the slicer had to decide what to do when the area to be covered wasn't a tidy multiple of extrusion width. Think of trying to put pencils tidily into a pencil box. If the box is sized correctly as a multiple of the pencil width, you can lay the pencils in all nice and tidy. If your box is not a multiple of pencil widths, you're either going to have a bit of a gap or have one pencil riding on top of the others. (As a young child with tendencies to want things all nice and neat, this bugged me to no end.)

Filament fits into available space much the same way, except it can be mushed to fit. The slicer can try to print one line extra thin or thick. This will show as one odd line that is parallel to the others but noticeably different in thickness. That will really pop out with a shiny filament.

Re: NOOB- Is this normal looking PLA print?

Those are the Prusa Enclosure mounts. I'm new as well, so someone with more experience can probably answer this better, but you may want to consider PETG. I'm not sure PLA will provide the strength and temperature resistance over time necessary for the enclosure. Just a thought...

Well NOW you tell me! I just finished them all too.

Just kidding. But, I was told by someone that you wanted to print the PSU support in PLA w slightly higher infill to provide the proper support. I actually printed that first in PETG and it does fill a bit flimsy at 20% infill. I was considering printing it in PLA or trying PETG at 40% infill. Since all the parts are in PETG I was hoping to use it. Maybe 40% will make it stiff enough?

With regards to the strength or temp resistance of the PLA parts, I can’t really comment. I don’t think that they’d be subject to that high of temp. or mechanical stress. Guess since they’re all printed I’ll just try to use them.

Thanks!

Re: NOOB- Is this normal looking PLA print?

Anything like this?

Yup. Pretty much.

Bryan, if you simply rotate your model before slicing, those striped patterns should "move" but not go away completely. You do have a couple of thick lines where the slicer had to decide what to do when the area to be covered wasn't a tidy multiple of extrusion width. It can try to print one line extra thin or thick. You sometimes get one odd line that is parallel to the others, but noticeably different in thickness. That will really pop out with a shiny filament. You can try tweaking your extrusion widths, or use filaments that don't show it. If it really bothers you, Cura's ironing feature will give very consistent top layers, at the expense of time spent doing the ironing passes.

Thanks again. I’m going to get this figured out and you’ve given me the tools to start that quest.

Re: NOOB- Is this normal looking PLA print?

[...] Thanks again. I’m going to get this figured out and you’ve given me the tools to start that quest.
I did some ninja edits on that response, so be sure to re-read it. There are several things you can try. If I'm understanding what you're after, this is just a cosmetic issue.

Re: NOOB- Is this normal looking PLA print?

[...] Thanks again. I’m going to get this figured out and you’ve given me the tools to start that quest.
I did some ninja edits on that response, so be sure to re-read it. There are several things you can try. If I'm understanding what you're after, this is just a cosmetic issue.

Nice edit! I’m a bullet point fan!

Good suggestions. I’m on it.

It is definitely just a cosmetic issue. It feels totally smooth and uniform. I can see how it happens with the extruder doing the outline of the object and the hole in the center, then it starts to fill around the hole and eventually moves away and then returns later to do the other part. I almost feel like my photos exaggerate the appearance some but it’s certainly there. If I print a solid flat surface it just fills it all at one time and looks totally uniform.

I’m thinking I’ll try to see if I can make it less noticeable through some test prints of the single part and play with the extrusion multiplier and widths of top layer first. Then I want to work on the conical parts and the layer seams.

These parts are all fine but if I can improve the print quality going forward and learn what these other changes do and their effect on prints, that’s what I’m after.

Thanks again

Re: NOOB- Is this normal looking PLA print?

[...] It is definitely just a cosmetic issue. It feels totally smooth and uniform. I can see how it happens with the extruder doing the outline of the object and the hole in the center, then it starts to fill around the hole and eventually moves away and then returns later to do the other part. I almost feel like my photos exaggerate the appearance some but it’s certainly there. If I print a solid flat surface it just fills it all at one time and looks totally uniform. If you are a perfectionist and are able to spend time watching 3D prints, you've found the perfect hobby. 3D printing is like doing a Zen rock garden, except you can rake all night or when it's raining.

I’m thinking I’ll try to see if I can make it less noticeable through some test prints of the single part and play with the extrusion multiplier and widths of top layer first. Then I want to work on the conical parts and the layer seams. That's a good way to start. There may be some cases where you simply can't do anything, but a bit of repositioning models on the bed, different infill patterns and just plain sneakiness can help. It's an endless pursuit. If you use carbon fiber filaments, everything tends to look intentionally techie, so there's that strategy.

These parts are all fine but if I can improve the print quality going forward and learn what these other changes do and their effect on prints, that’s what I’m after. Find some old Kung Fu shows to play in the background as you walk the earth in pursuit of the perfect layer!

Re: NOOB- Is this normal looking PLA print?

😆

Re: NOOB- Is this normal looking PLA print?

Anything like this?

Yup. Pretty much.

Here is a new one (left) where I adjusted the “Top Solid Infill” from 0.40 to 0.43 only. It helped! Thank you! I’m pretty satisfied with that.