MakerGear Forum

Notice that the top layer on my object looks pretty smooth but its rough to the touch on my FlashForge. Everything's been tweaked the best it can, but it still leaves this "rough" surface making me think the nozzle design isn't conducive to a smooth top layer, at least not when used with S3D (But probably true of all slicers). Is there a type of nozzle that's ideal for a glassy smooth top layer? Is the M2's nozzle the best you can get? My M2 leaves a pretty smooth top layer when used in conjunction with S3D, but not with Cura nor Slic3r. That actually makes me suspect that there's a setting I can tweak in S3D to increase top layer smoothness on my FlashForge, just like the M2's top layer smoothness, but what setting would that be? I've already tried adjusting extrusion multiplier, there's not a single value that will achieve the glassy smooth top surface effect. (Ok, doesn't have to be /glassy/ smooth, just more like leather rather than sandpaper, lol.)

I'm suspecting tweaking extrusion width might get a smoother feel, since that actually increases the width between each pass. But I swear S3D seems to produce a fine top layer on the M2, regardless if the extrusion width is .35 or .38, suggesting S3D was specifically optimized for M2's nozzle in a way that's not accessible in the settings (Or is there a setting I'm not seeing?). The M2 can easily create the same sawtooth like surface with Cura and Slic3r, as S3D does with the flashforge.

Part of this is the design of the nozzle. The flat area of the nozzle around the opening has a big effect on how well it presses down the filament; MakerGear's nozzles have a pretty wide flat area compared to others I've seen (like E3D), and it is wide enough to be over an adjacent filament line, helping to keep it down so that it doesn't warp from the heat, but fuses nicely to the filament coming out of the nozzle.

If you're printing in PLA, you can put the whole print upside-down on a hot plate and crank it up to the temperature that makes it soft (which is not very high for PLA), and that will smooth it out. I have thought about using wax paper and an iron, like T-shirt transfers, but I have never tried it. Also you can do a vapor bath (easiest to do with ABS because an acetone vapor bath is a lot less hazardous than the methylene chloride vapor bath you need to use for PLA and PETg).

Well, just reviewing my top layers. It appears to be relatively smooth on large 'normal' surfaces (Squares, rectangles, etc.), but pretty jagged/rough in irregularly shaped (Like letters and squiqqles) and/or thinner areas like narrow 5mm-10mm wide bridges and the such. I guess it might be more of a "tight area" kind of problem, rather than a "my flashforge sucks" problem, lol.