Tag Archives: makerbot resolution

Hi Rez Printing Problems

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The stuff nightmares are made of: 1/4 of Disney's head

The stuff nightmares are made of: 1/4 of Disney's head

Earlier I had wondered about some of the challenges facing high resolution printing.  Specifically, I had suggested that a lower resolution would be better for overhangs, speed, and (after the suggestion of Erik) interlayer adhesion.

It looks like Dave Durant has a proof of concept with 1/4 of Disney’s head. 1  The layer height is unbelievably small – but as he points out:

Even smallish overhangs seem to be far harder to print at this layer height. I tried to print this one several times and it always went pear shaped as it got close to his chin, which is a pretty agressive overhang. Serious blobbage. :(

This certainly seems to demonstrate the flip side of my hypothesis – that thin layers are not good for printing overhangs.  I’ve been printing with a layer height of about 0.33mm.  This seems to give me enough resolution and overhang printability to make whatever I’ve needed so far.  However, I think it also gives us a reason to have several different configurations for a MakerBot for each kind of plastic:

  1. Thin layer printing
  2. Good overhang printing
  3. High speed/thick layer printing
  4. Printing small holes?

What other kinds of profiles would you suggest?

  1. Dave – your Flickr account says all rights reserved.  Obviously, I’m attributing this to you.  If you would like me to remove the picture, I will do so. [↩]

MakerBot Hi Rez Printing Secrets revealed!

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Warning: All responses from Dave are real, in the correct order, and unchanged.  I may have embellished my questions and responses.

  • MakerBlock: Dave!  How do you spell your last name?
    • Dave: dduranT.. T!!!! :P
  • MakerBlock: How exotic!  I’m having trouble pronouncing the last bit, so I hope you don’t mind me just calling you “Dave.”  Well, how did you do it?  Oh, and what’s your favorite vodka?
    • Dave: Patience, practice, Grey Goose.
  • MakerBlock: In two words or less, did you print slowly or fast?
    • Dave: Really, REALLY fastly.
  • MakerBlock: Um, I guess that counts.   I mean, you did only use two words – but you used one of them twice.  And I don’t think “fastly” is a real word.  Did you run the extruder slow or fast?  Please be sure and end your response with a preposition.
    • Dave: Slow but not as slow as I expected I’d have to.
  • MakerBlock: Did you use a custom nozzle or the standard MakerBot nozzle?
    • Dave: I do have a 0.35mm hot end from makergear.com (props to makergear – much awesome to be found there) but haven’t installed it yet. I’m still using the 0.5mm nozzle from MBI.
  • MakerBlock: Could you describe your setup for us?  Please be sure and include at least one plug for your all-time favorite MakerBot / RepRap blog written by me.
  • MakerBlock: Dave, it’s been great having you on the show.  Thank you for coming to speak to us and we’d love to have you back any time.

New MakerBot high resolution record!

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MakerBot high resolution printing

MakerBot high resolution printing

Update:  Since this post others have achieved sub-0.1mm layer prints with their MakerBots as low as 0.075mm/layer

Ddurand123 has probably just taken the world record for highest resolution.  The current record holder is Rick Pollack at 0.15mm per layer.  Ddurant123 was able to print a 10mm test cube at 0.1mm per layer.

Dave!  How did you do it?

Did you print slowly or fast?

Did you run the extruder slow or fast?

Did you use a custom nozzle or the standard MakerBot nozzle?

Edit:  Dave, sonny abuut misspenning your nmae.  My bed.