We have been 3D printing for quite some time now and and throughout this time, we have learned several lessons. We keep these lessons here in this tips and tricks collection, so this is not just for you, but also for us to remind us from time to time what we should do and should not do when 3D printing. This list keeps updating, so feel free to come here often to see new tips and tricks.
Avoiding stringing in 3D prints
Stringing is a quite common issue where all you see is spider webs everywhere in your 3D print. To avoid stringing, the best way is to just heat your filament before printing.
Essentially, stringing is a side effect of moisture absorption by the filament, and this issue is quite common in filaments that are left exposed to the environment. Before printing, you can heat it up for 4 to 12 hours in a filament dryer. If you don’t have a filament dryer, you can use a DIY filament dryer, or a kitchen dryer will also work. If nothing works, just put that filament on the heated bed and make sure that the heated bed temperature is set to 60 to 80°C, but not so high that it melts the filament spool. Let it sit there for a few hours, and then go for the printing.
Creating a smooth top surface using Ironing
Now, if you are making a decorative item, then you need to ensure that the top surface is smooth. If you want to avoid as much layer line as possible on these top surfaces, then you should start using ironing. Ironing is a setting which is available in almost all the slicers, and when you select ironing, it simply smooths out the topmost visible surface of any 3D printed part. You can see the difference between ironing and a non-iron surface right here.
Using Variable Layer Height
Now, when you are printing dome-shaped features, usually it ends up printing it like a staircase, as shown in the bottom picture. You can use variable layer height to make it smooth. When you do that, wherever it encounters this kind of dome shape, it automatically reduces the layer line height and prints with a very fine layer. When the surfaces are just flat, it uses the default layer height. This results in a very smooth appearance where you would usually get a staircase type of effect. Yes, it increases the print time, but the result is really good.
Creating good quality bridges
Bridges are officially, for me, the most annoying feature to 3D print because undersides of the bridges are always ugly, and the reason is obvious. When printing bridges, there is nothing underneath it, so the 3D printer just prints it in air, and that creates soggy layer lines that simply end up looking really bad. You can make these bridges really clean-looking by making small tweaks in your slicer software.
The first thing that you should go for is reducing the speed for bridges. In the slicer, reduce the bridge printing speed to 10 mm/s. Also, make sure that the flow rate is 1.5, and that usually ensures really good-quality bridges.
Hiding layer lines using Fuzzy skin
If there are surfaces where you simply cannot hide the layer lines, then you can use the fuzzy skin feature. It creates a rough layer or a rough skin, which feels like a feature rather than a limitation. All you got to do is just activate this fuzzy skin feature in your slicer setting, as shown in the following image. You’re good.
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