Layer fill

[CCVirginia]

Question about "dialing in" This picture shown Makergear black PLA @ .2mm layers. Note how the fill between the edges doesn't seem to really match up with the edges and just looks sloppy.

Phone case

Case.jpg (229.71 KiB) Viewed 12700 times

I'm looking for suggestions. What is printed molds to my cell phone so it has fine gradation.
This is mostly default Simply3D profile (for the V3B which is supposed to be about the same as the V4). 215c End, 70c Bed. I slowed it down a bit and set the filament diameter. I also ran test cubes to set the extrusion multiplier (came out to 1!). It has 3 outside layers, infill 25%. 3 layers top, bottom and sides. It seems it could look better. I'm not sure why simplify changes direction on an exterior surface at all (from edge to fill).
Note also on the ends, how much the fill shows.
Thoughts?

M2 with V4 head and Simplify3D

[jimc]

thats pretty much how i would expect something like that to print. if you want the steps to be finer, basically more of them then lower the layer height. anything that is going to have a stepped horizontal surface like that i will always lower the layer height to .1-.08. it will look alot better

[Tim]

Also, I would add that it can help to greatly increase the number of perimeters, as it avoids having the diagonal crosshatching show between the layers, which looks particularly bad. When you reduce the layer height, that will mitigate the problem, but a combination of the two can make it go away completely.

Although I would also fault the slicing software, which really ought to be able to figure out how to dynamically adjust the number of perimeters and layer height to deal with those types of surfaces. But until the software gets smart enough, you'll just have to deal with it as best you can.

The third and final solution is just to coat it all with a glaze---Smooth-On, Inc.'s "XTC-3D" has been mentioned several times in this forum---and then give it a good paint job. Putting things to use as they come straight off the printer is "good enough for government work", but nothing beats a good finishing job if you want to stick your print on the shelf and stare at it every day.

[jimc]

just rereading your post and what tim said. was it the crosshatch infill that was the complaint? if so try turning the external fill to concentric.

[Tim]

try turning the external fill to concentric.

I didn't even realize it was an option. It's clearly an improvement over the default 45 degree fill, but it sure would be nice if they had smarter options, like just automatically making it concentric if it's part of an exposed surface. I just tried experimenting with this in S3D and noted that if you have, say, 3 surface layers, and choose concentric external fill, then they all end up with exactly the same pattern---a truly lousy arrangement for providing strength. Would be nice to limit the concentric pattern to just the surface layer.

I was also trying to get a horizontal fill pattern; that was for something I was doing with the eSUN wood filament, and trying to get a surface that looks more like a wood grain and less like something that came off of a 3D printer. For that one, I could rotate the whole piece 45 degrees, which I guess is one way to solve the problem. But then I decided that I wanted the fill pattern to go all the way to the edge, so I set the number of perimeters to zero---and S3D promptly crashed.

[jimc]

yes it always crashed with zero perimeters. since 3.0 they have not addressed the strange slicing anomalies and only half of the odd crashes. the concentric fill is one of those things like vase mode. extremely nice for certain things but you cant use it all the time.

[ednisley]

trying to get a surface that looks more like a wood grain and less like something that came off of a 3D printer

Slic3r's Hilbert Curve infill produces top and bottom surfaces that don't look at all like the usual hand-knitted 3D printer pattern.
http://manual.slic3r.org/expert-mode/infill

From one of my models:

Slic3r Hilbert Curve Infill

Slic3r Hilbert Infill.png (173.49 KiB) Viewed 12667 times

The top surface comes out slightly granular, with no visible lines inside the perimeter threads, and has a pleasant texture. The bottom looks like a textbook illustration of the Hilbert Curve with a glass-smooth surface.

Made with wood filament and a little stain, you'd probably think it was particle board. [grin]

On the inside, Slic3r's 3D honeycomb internal infill produces a rigid PETG structure even at 10 to 15% density.

Not everybody's favorite slicer around here, but ...

[PcS]

Does that not also add a lot of time to the too layers ?

[ednisley]

Does that not also add a lot of time to the too layers ?

The bottom layer goes at 15 mm/s and the top at 25 mm/s, so it's not much slower than the usual linear infill. In any event, my rule of thumb is that anything useful takes an hour and anything interesting is good for two or three, so prettifying those two layers doesn't add much time.

I just walk off and do something useful while the M2 buzzes away until it's done. When I get back, the platform is cool, the thing lifts off with zero drama, and life is good.

[PcS]

I have played with slicr3 I like some of the options but s3d is just a support generation king !!! Lol