Forgive the duplicity... This is an XPost from the MakerHive forum, but I wanted your input as well.
I'm drawing away on a multicopter project, and I reached a point that's made me wonder before - and I'm sure I'm not the only one who's thought about it... If you have a part in a model that only needs to be a thin wall, what dimension do you choose?
Do you pick a "go-to" number that sounds right? Like whole millimeters, 1mm or 2mm for example.
OR
Have you ever considered making the wall thickness a multiple of your printer's nozzle diameter? Like making it 2 or 3 perimeters thick on purpose? (like .8mm or .12mm for a .4mm nozzle)
Am I nuts for wondering this, or have you guys thought about it too?
How do YOU pick wall thickness on your designs?
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Re: How do YOU pick wall thickness on your designs?
Suggestion - draw up a wall on a thicker base foundation and watch the way it prints using your favourite slicer (or preview it).
If it's less than a nozzle thickness you'll get nothing or you'll get the nozzle thickness. So I always make it at least nozzle thickness.
Thicker than that? Well...
If it's a multiple of the nozzle thickness less the overlap setting you have, you'll get a nice solid wall at usual perimeter printing speed.
If it's not a multiple of the nozzle thickness you're either going to get a gap between the single perimeters (weak) or the printer will try to infill stitch the two perimeters together (slow).
So, whichever way you want to slice it (hurr hurr), multiples of nozzle thicknesses are a really good driver for wall thickness selection when there's a range of allowable/optimal/permitted thickness available to choose from.
If it's my own design and I only need a thin wall, I will always make it a multiple. If it's someone else's design with a thin wall, I'll go as far as letting the wall thickness contribute to my choice of nozzle for the job.
If it's less than a nozzle thickness you'll get nothing or you'll get the nozzle thickness. So I always make it at least nozzle thickness.
Thicker than that? Well...
If it's a multiple of the nozzle thickness less the overlap setting you have, you'll get a nice solid wall at usual perimeter printing speed.
If it's not a multiple of the nozzle thickness you're either going to get a gap between the single perimeters (weak) or the printer will try to infill stitch the two perimeters together (slow).
So, whichever way you want to slice it (hurr hurr), multiples of nozzle thicknesses are a really good driver for wall thickness selection when there's a range of allowable/optimal/permitted thickness available to choose from.
If it's my own design and I only need a thin wall, I will always make it a multiple. If it's someone else's design with a thin wall, I'll go as far as letting the wall thickness contribute to my choice of nozzle for the job.
Re: How do YOU pick wall thickness on your designs?
Why not draw up a test coupon; a flat area to build the samples on then a series of parallel walls each going up in wall thickness.
Do one in multiples of nozzle diameter and the other in 1/2mm increments
Do one in multiples of nozzle diameter and the other in 1/2mm increments