I have an issue that’s been bothering me. When I print a wall with a recess on one side for a latch, the opposite side, which should be perfectly smooth and flat, shows an imprint or reflection of that recess. I’m not exactly sure what’s causing this. From the front, as shown in the photo, all the layers look fine, but when viewed from above under the right lighting, you can see that the layers don’t align as evenly as they should.
I’ve tried printing this with different filaments and settings, but it didn’t make any difference. I’m attaching some photos and the print file below. If anyone could try printing it themselves to see if they encounter the same issue, I’d really appreciate it. Has anyone experienced something similar and knows how to fix it?
Thanks for uploading the 3MF, it really helps take the guesswork out of answering questions like this.
Your expecting too much of the technology.
The cause you’re seeing is the interior filament shrinking at a rate different from the surrounding walls because there is a difference in material thickness.
Your model is only 4 walls thick and 3 layers where this feature appears. You appear to expect the single outer layer to not be influenced by the one behind it. That simply won’t work.
The only thing you can try in order to diminish it–but not get it to disappear altogether–is to change the wall sequence from the default of inner/outer to outer/inner. This will give the outer wall a chance to firm up first.
Thank you for your response and explanation.
I understand that, but I was changing the wall settings. I changed the line thickness, set the type to Arachne, and it didn’t help. I understand that this is probably a limitation of the printer with such a thin wall.
However, I now have a question about the second issue, where the layers don’t seem to align evenly. I mean, from the front, the layers look fine, but when you look at them from an angle or slightly from above, you can see that they are uneven. What could be the cause of this? Is it due to printing too quickly, or could it be that the belt is too loose?
I don’t know if I can concur. You may be expecting too much of the technology. True, from your posted photos, if one really wants to take a closer look, yes, you might say it’s imperfect. But from another angle, I think this is really a great print and I would be happy if it came off my printer.
This reminds me of an old adage “She’s a beauty from afar but far from a beauty”. Somethings look best when you don’t look too hard… take Politician Tulsi Gabbard as an example.
So the moral of the story is: Don’t get too close to the print.
BTW: I am curious how you will make out with that Spanner wrench. I tried to make one for my water well filter and even using CF filament, I could never get it to be strong enough to not break. I ended up spending the money on a metal wrench.
Haha, you made me laugh with that comparison. Thank you so much for the quick response and clear explanation
As for the wrench, I printed it using PETG HF filament, and it’s incredibly durable. I made it 10mm thick, so it’s quite robust. The infill is set to 100%, and I used the strength profile. The wall loops is set to 6 making it super strong. I tightened the filter really hard, and there are no marks on the wrench at all. We’ll see how it goes after a few uses
