Welcome • User Guide
ToS • Privacy • Canary
Donate • Bugs • License

©2025 Poal.co

1.0K

@NoisySilence This one is for you...

This is the video that got me into doing super high quality prints on my FDM printers. The video goes into this way better than I will be able to but there are a few comments:

1) Seriously, give it a try... your printer can probably do much higher quality than you ever thought

2) Slow WAY down... the "Top layers = 9999" hack he talks about is really doing nothing except halving the print speed for all the layers. Slow down to like 25mm/s and this is not really needed.

3) Find the 'magic numbers' for your stepper motors through experimentation. In theory 0.04 layer height should have been optimal for me but 0.05 is what actually works for me.

4) Run a bunch of heat column tests. Every filament, brand to brand and even spool to spool needs different temps for really smooth surfaces.

5) ...and stringing tests. "z hop on nozzle moves" is your friend. Stringing causes surface warts and surface warts look like shit.

6) Experiment with ironing.

7) If you are using PrusaSlicer or Slic3r... Don't. Go download Cura. I know the UI is less intuitive but it really can do everything Slicer can and do it all better... The gcode rendering is better. Trust me on this one.

@NoisySilence This one is for you... This is the video that got me into doing super high quality prints on my FDM printers. The video goes into this way better than I will be able to but there are a few comments: 1) Seriously, give it a try... your printer can probably do much higher quality than you ever thought 2) Slow WAY down... the "Top layers = 9999" hack he talks about is really doing nothing except halving the print speed for all the layers. Slow down to like 25mm/s and this is not really needed. 3) Find the 'magic numbers' for your stepper motors through experimentation. In theory 0.04 layer height should have been optimal for me but 0.05 is what actually works for me. 4) Run a bunch of heat column tests. Every filament, brand to brand and even spool to spool needs different temps for really smooth surfaces. 5) ...and stringing tests. "z hop on nozzle moves" is your friend. Stringing causes surface warts and surface warts look like shit. 6) Experiment with ironing. 7) If you are using PrusaSlicer or Slic3r... Don't. Go download Cura. I know the UI is less intuitive but it really can do everything Slicer can and do it all better... The gcode rendering is better. Trust me on this one.

(post is archived)

[–] • 0 pt

so where do you GET the mathematical DESCRIPTIONS of these figures or anything else you want to DIRECT the 3d print job when and where to print and not print? Do you make that yourself?

[–] • 0 pt

There are several websites with huge numbers of models that you can download for free.

I would start with:

https://www.thingiverse.com - The search function sucks though so...

https://searchthingiverse.com - Also searches other sites, recomended

https://www.myminifactory.com

https://cults3d.com - Requires you to make an account to download so not my preference but it has a lot of models. Also not all are free.

This should get you going on most things... some more obscure models take a little more effort.

[–] • 0 pt

This is what I was wondering. At SOME point they will start CHARGING (after addicting people to 3D printing).

I'm sure ANYTHING interesting or useful COST MONEY. Right? Unless you are a 3D math nerd, this hardware is USELESS.

[–] • 0 pt

So I have some good news for you on this one. The 3D printing community is dominated by folks with a libertarian mindset and spirit of colaboration. 3D printing is the one place where OPEN SOURCE WON.

The Hardware designs for my printer are open source. The firmware is open source. The drivers are open source. The design software is open source And the models are almost all open source.

Every year or so a company tries to come in with a proprietary product ... and fails. The 3D printing open community does not stand for it... they out-inovate and open source everything. The companies that are successful are the ones that embrace this... that inovate and give back. Yes, I paid for my printer but what I was paying for was the manufacturing. They produce at volume and mark up and I pay for the convenience of pulling something out of the box and turning it on. I literally could have built it myself if I wanted.

I have literally never paid for a 3D model and I have printed A LOT of things.

[–] • 0 pt
[–] • 0 pt

I have no interest in useless figurines. I was wondering about the MATH you would have to KNOW to 3D print ANYTHING, especially irregular shapes (eg engine block), with cavities and such.

[–] • 0 pt (edited )

So you are talking about the difference between 3D modeling and 3D printing.

3D modeling is the process of creating a 3D model. 3D printing then renders that model in to a physical object.

For 3D modeling you should check out Blender, OpenCAD and TinkerCAD. All three are open source and have excellent tutorials out there.

A while back I had a camping canopy break and I designed the replacement part myself... took about 2 evenings of watching tutorials to get up to speed but it is not that hard. Saved a $200 canopy for about $0.12 and two evenings of learning... and now I have a very useful skill set.

[–] • 0 pt

...and if you are not interested in 'useless figurines' then check out the links in my other response. Thingivere has MILLIONS of open source models. You can print just about anything you can think of.