Hi all, I have been playing with my x1c for the past week and learning the ins and outs. One question I had, is whether or not the nozzle size has any limiting factor on the lower layer heights. Will there still be a non-trivial difference between .08 and .16 layer heights when using a .4mm nozzle. I hadn’t really thought that it would matter but have seen a few comments out there that said it might.
And while we are at it. my x1c defaults to .2 standard, but I see there is a .16 “optimal.” What exactly makes it “optimal?”
Thanks
Welcome to the world of 3D printing and good to see you are brave enough to invest so much money into the hobby 
There is a link !
As a rule of thumb one should never user a layer height more than half of the actual nozzle diameter.
Going above this results in problems of all sorts that come down to the filament unable to fuse together properly.
You can go a bit above for a quick draft print but don’t expect it work with all models.
In terms of how low you can go:
0.12 to 0.15mm is a great range to get a good accuracy and detail level for prints.
Anything lower can often provide even better results but also significantly increases the print time.
You can offset the difference a bit by combining the infills for example.
Like printing in 0.12mm layers and printing the infill only every second layer.
Or if you dare go all the way to 0.08mm (after a proper calibration for such low layers) and print the infill every 3 layers.
Needs a quite low speed for the infill compared to the walls but still saves a good amount of time.
What is draft, standard, optimal, fine, extra fine ?
Nothing really, just a word linked to a layer height
It just makes it easier as lower layer heights translate to a higher level of surface details and in most cases also accuracy.
Print a simple test cube like the one supplied in 0.2 and than in 0.12mm with a 0.2mm first layer to avoid bed issues.
You will see the difference from a distance is not much but once you use a magnifying glass it is obvious why we prefer to give those things meaningful names.
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