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Icon by Freepik, Banner photo by Thiago Medeiros Araujo
What's the maximum layer height I can achieve on a consumer 3D Printer?
I'm using a bambulab a1 mini more specifically but I'm interested in all answers to that question.
Personally, I think the look of the extrusion can be quite nice if it's not trying to be hidden – especially with transparent PETG or something similar.
https://dirkvanderkooij.nl/chubby
Chubby is possible but not without designing your own process/machines
This exact reference made me want to print in huge layers since years. But I only got a 3D printer this year. It's the first step ^^ Will see if it's worth it for me to go this far. For now I want something more practical just to try out different things.
What does the concrete printer picture have to do with the post?
It's meant as a sort of satirical / funny image introducing to the question, as someone else pointed out because of the huge layer height.
The concrete printer has obviously a very high layer height. However, it's not a consumer product.
2mm nozzles do exist, and with those you can print at 1 to 1.5mm layer height. It even somehow works with 1.75mm filament.
Is it practical? Not really.
Is it cool? Definitely.
That's cool. I now found a video of a 3mm nozzle in use: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NO1qNjNkl-E It really has a special look. Unfortunately I don't think it will be compatible with my printer.
Did you buy a large diameter nozzle? If yes, you'll be bound by the performance of your heating block and how much the extruder can feed in. I think a general rule of thumb is about nozzle diameter. A bit less if you want a clean print. The standard nozzle diameter of lots of printers is 0.4mm.
I haven't bought anything yet, it's just a project for the future. The maximum nozzle diameter I found for the printer is 0.8mm. It's probably the maximum recommended nozzle diameter for the printer...
When asking GPT – as you say – it says you'll have to go under the diameter of your nozzle: "The maximum layer height is typically 75-80% of your nozzle diameter" That means I could print with a layer height of 0,64mm. Unfortunately I think that's still too small.
I'll have to check the performance of my printer and do additional research to tell how much my printer can extrude and if I can find or produce the right nozzle for my printer (maybe I can drill a hole with a larger diameter in the nozzle?).
Thank you!