Hello all, I have plans to but the 3D printer. A question I have is about the resolution:
I see some objects have and some don’t the uneveness in the surface of the objects. Is that always the case or not by printing in the highest resolution?
Or: can you print a smooth surface or is that with the current 3D print technology not possible?
Thanks in advance!
Nobody is perfect. Or: Nothing has perfect smooth surfaces.
It depends on what you intend to print and what you would consider smooth enough.
For me it is good enough. I had to tune the printer a little bit to produce smoother vertical surfaces and at the moment I’m struggling a bit to get ‘perfect’ clean top and bottom surfaces but this is only an astethical problem…
Ok, I understand. It’s hard to tell what is smooth surface.
Is it possible to make it smoother by increasing the slices (or resolution) of the printer, or are the slices always the 0,5 mm nozzle thickness?
The “default” slices height (using the standard_new.ini) ist 0,25mm (0,3mm for the first layer).
Somewhere here in the forum you can also find tests with 0,1 mm slice height and lower.
I think you have to find a good compromise between the asthetic aspect and the time consumption:
If you have an object that already needs a printing time of let’s say 4 hours (on 0,25mm) is it worth for a little better surface to have a printig time of 10 hours (on 0,1mm) or do you need just a quick example build with not sdo much details and you have to wait only 2 hours (on 0,5mm) ?!?
What you never will reach is a smooth surface like a cast part, that a consequence of the production process 3d-printers use.
Regards Bernd
Thanks, that makes it all clear to me.
Try
Layer height: 0.156
First layer height: 0.312
I had testet layer high 0,05mm an it works.
but it takes a long time for printing.
normaly i print with 0,2 or 0,1mm layer high.
Ok, clear.
When I buy this printer I will use it for print prototypes.
I can imagine that it will be ok when printing lower resolution faster.
But when I made a final prototype it will be nice to print in the highest possible resolution for the best results.
The print time doesn’t matter then.
If you want a really smooth result, print with ABS and use an acetone bath.
Google it for more details.
[quote=“Mikeymore”]Ok, clear.
When I buy this printer I will use it for print prototypes.
I can imagine that it will be ok when printing lower resolution faster.
But when I made a final prototype it will be nice to print in the highest possible resolution for the best results.
The print time doesn’t matter then.[/quote]
This is the reason to go for a printer which can use a 0.35 or 0.40 nozzle, and the reason i changed to a prusa design.
I don’t know if the mechanics from the velleman printer are up to that resolution, but at this moment you can’t even try it, they don’t sell finer nozzles.
What you can do, is change the hotend + the nozzle to finer one from another source. Probably will give finer prints.
If you search online, you will find, that printers like makerbot, call high resolution 0.6 layerheight with .35 nozzle, and 0.2 is low quality for them 
But prepare to have long printing times.