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Whats minimum layer height?

Discussion in 'General Questions' started by MWDK, Sep 12, 2018.

  1. MWDK

    MWDK New Member

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    As above - what is the minimum layer height possible on the R2?
    Is it the same regards of material? PLA, PETG and so on ?
    Im curious as to how to get best possible resolution/detail without changing nozzle. Thats next on the list :)
    Thanks guys!
     
  2. WheresWaldo

    WheresWaldo Volunteer ( ͠° ͟ʖ ͡°)
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    Absolute minimum is 0.02 mm, that is the smallest step, but unless you are using a tiny nozzle and don't care that every print will take days to complete I wouldn't use any layer that small. In general most people use 0.10 mm as the minimum practical limit. Since I replaced my nozzle with a 0.6 mm nozzle I never go lower than 0.12 mm layer height, generally my go to layer height is 0.24 mm.

    Height is not dependent on material, it is simply mechanical.

    Try using 0.10 and then slow you speeds by 1/3 and that should get you a good increase in detail, but remember that your print times will seem to increase exponentially.
     
  3. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    So you want an answer for a 0.4 nozzle or for the printer?

    We have had people do 0.05 layer heights with a 0.4 nozzle, bit layer height is only 1/2 the story for resolution (the nozzle diameter is as much a factor as layer height) AND to print that layer height you must reduce print speeds as well.

    If you want more "resolution"* then you need to drop both line WIDTH and layer THICKNESS

    The rule of thumb for FDM 3D printers is that for best results (which also means easiest to replicate) keep the layer height within a band of 30-60% of the nozzle diameter.

    As @WheresWaldo says 0.1 is the practical minimum



    *not sure what most people think they mean by that or what they are trying to accomplish. We print a lot of models with a 1.0mm diameter nozzle and appropriately larger layer heights, but if you are printing really small things then I can see the advantage to a smaller nozzle. We do have one printer kitted with a 0.25 nozzle and use it for very high details small items. That printer is the C2 since it already has a rather small print area and we are not wasting anything :)
     
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  4. MWDK

    MWDK New Member

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    Main reason for asking right now is that i have some small buttons - like 10mm x 10mm that my 0.4 nozzle is printing poorly :)
    So plan is to buy a tiny nozzle and trying to print with that. It doesnt matter if it will take 1 day to print - as long as i get best quality and resolution possible :) Makes sense?
     
  5. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Sure, Should be fine. Given that the shape will be round you are going to want to reduce the nozzle diameter as well to get best results.
     
  6. WheresWaldo

    WheresWaldo Volunteer ( ͠° ͟ʖ ͡°)
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    Two things to keep in mind.
    1. Lower layer height means you need to print slower.
    2. Then adding a smaller nozzle means you need to print still slower.
     
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