3DPrinting is a place where makers of all skill levels and walks of life can learn about and discuss 3D printing and development of 3D printed parts and devices.
The r/functionalprint community is now located at: [email protected] or [email protected]
There are CAD communities available at: [email protected] or [email protected]
No bigotry - including racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, or xenophobia. Code of Conduct.
Be respectful, especially when disagreeing. Everyone should feel welcome here.
No porn (NSFW prints are acceptable but must be marked NSFW)
No Ads / Spamming / Guerrilla Marketing
Do not create links to reddit
If you see an issue please flag it
No guns
No injury gore posts
If you need an easy way to host pictures, https://catbox.moe may be an option. Be ethical about what you post and donate if you are able or use this a lot. It is just an individual hosting content, not a company. The image embedding syntax for Lemmy is 
Moderation policy: Light, mostly invisible
Hi everyone, I'm extremely new to 3d printing, and have taken over a printer from a friend who doesn't use his. I'm trying to get those smooth prints I see people having, and I understand I need to get a smaller layer height to achieve the details. However my stuff keeps coming out looking like the pictures below.
Any idea what's going on and how I can start fixing it?
I'm printing PLA filament.
Thank you!
A couple things if you're new-ish:
First, I would highly recommend using a 0.4 nozzle. That's the standard size most people will assume you're using and it will just make your life easier.
Second, start with a 0.2mm layer height and adjust down in steps of 0.04. Below 0.12mm can bring in more compounding problems related to the filament itself.
In short, tune for the defaults first, then adjust.
It might just be sliced for a 0.4 nozzle (default). If you downloaded the gcode file, that's probably it. Run the stl or 3mf through your slicer software, making sure the extruder size is 0.3mm.
For some reason, I'm having trouble getting a sense of the depth of those strands and holes. If you hold it, does the surface feel scratchy and rough, or bumpy and smooth?
What adjustment have you made to the machine? Did you recently change to that 0.3mm nozzle?
Are you sure it's PLA and not other flavor, like PLA Pro, PLA+, etc.?