Quote:
Originally Posted by shaolin
I know it’s different for every printer and different materials, but in general what are your settings when printing figures for HS? Nothing too specific but do you have better success with slower or faster print speed, smaller or larger layer size, hotter or cooler temperatures. Things like that. I tried to print a figure as my test print, but none of them were very stable. I think I’m gonna step back and try stuff like a calibration cube, benchy, a temp tower. Try to figure out how to use it. But I’m curious what works for people here.
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TREX is right, but I'll tell you some things that worked for me.
- For filament, I like to use white PLA+ filament from eSun. It prints really well for me, sticks to the bed, and has good detail. It's harder to finish than ABS because you can't use acetone, but I clean things up with a solder tool.
- I keep the fan on full speed 100% all the time. This cools the filament as soon as it is laid down and makes it stay in place.
- I keep the nozzle temperatures low--usually 180-190C for the PLA+. That tends to prevent oozing, and it brings out more detail.
- For high detail, I set the diameter of the filament to 2.85mm (instead of the default of 3mm) and set the extrusion multiplier to 1.
- I have an E3D v6 hot end with a .4mm nozzle. To prevent oozing, I set retract 2mm to 4mm and Wipe While Retracting.
- I keep my print speed about 50mm when I want more detail.
- I get better quality at .1 to .15mm layer height, but it's very slow and sometimes doesn't print well in places. Usually I use .3mm layer height and it's good enough for most of my prints.
- When printing a figure, especially one holding up a sword or staff, I print 2 figures at the same time. This give the filament at the top time to cool as the nozzle moves to the 2nd figure. If I don't do that, thin objects such as swords will often print out deformed because the nozzle temperature melts the layers underneath.
- I rarely use slicer-generated supports. Instead, I make my own supports--usually .05mm cylinders from the base to an arm, or a shield, or a gun. They are easier to cut off later. I only use them on overhangs less than about 25 degrees. If I have a long horizontal section (like a zombie arm) I'll put more than 1 support, separated about .25 inches apart. Closer together is not needed. Farther apart will lead to sagging strings in the first bridge layer.