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I'm trying to get the outer layers to print smoother with less pronounced lines. What are some of your successful print settings in Simplify3d? That's what I use and have posted this on their forums as well. As you can see, especially near the center of the print, the lines are quite pronounced and thick. Should I reduce the extrusion width more? I'll attach a pic of my settings if that helps. Thanks!

That seems like physics to me. You could use a smaller nozzle and/or smaller layer height if you want a very shallow slope like that to have finer steps.

Sanding and coating with acetone (if ABS) or priming and painting can help too.

Yep, what Noircogi said. Your print quality is really excellent, layer alignment looks spot on, with smooth extrusion. So if you want to minimize layer lines, you'll need to go for finer resolution. In the settings you posted, you're at .2mm layer resolution; you could certainly print at .1mm instead, though prints will obviously take twice as long. It's possible to go even finer that that, but your printer may have trouble at layers lower than .1mm.

Glacian22 wrote:Yep, what Noircogi said. Your print quality is really excellent, layer alignment looks spot on, with smooth extrusion. So if you want to minimize layer lines, you'll need to go for finer resolution. In the settings you posted, you're at .2mm layer resolution; you could certainly print at .1mm instead, though prints will obviously take twice as long. It's possible to go even finer that that, but your printer may have trouble at layers lower than .1mm.

Thanks for the tips guys! I will try to print at .1mm and see the difference. I print mostly in PLA, so the Acetone bath is a no go. I also print a lot in glow in the dark, so I can't really paint....unless I paint with glow paint...hmmmm (scratching chin)?

Keep in mind that because you're using S3D, you have the option of defining a different layer height for different layer points in the print. You could print .2 up to a certain point, switch to .1 for the area you want smoother and then back to .2...

g.

geneb wrote:Keep in mind that because you're using S3D, you have the option of defining a different layer height for different layer points in the print. You could print .2 up to a certain point, switch to .1 for the area you want smoother and then back to .2...

g.

Awesome! I'll try that when I get her up and running again...soon! Thank-you

Slic3r has that functionality too, for what it's worth.

Is that in the release branch of Slic3r yet?

g.

Yes. I don't remember it ever not being there.

geneb wrote:Keep in mind that because you're using S3D, you have the option of defining a different layer height for different layer points in the print. You could print .2 up to a certain point, switch to .1 for the area you want smoother and then back to .2...

g.

wow, i didn't know about that feature.... going to have to look into that.