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LayerLog层志

A bench notebook of 3D printing results, one layer at a time

19 entries published · Newest first. Every entry carries the profile it was sliced with.

October 20266

  1. Print log

    A loose extruder latch cost 17 percent of the wall thickness and looked like a slicer problem

    Intermittent under-extrusion with no pattern in the preview is almost never a slicer problem. This log is the diagnostic sequence that found it — measure the wall, measure the extrusion force, then adjust one thing at a time — and the narrow window between too loose and too tight on a Clockwork 2.

    • MaterialPLA
    • Nozzle0.4 mm
    • Layer height0.2 mm
    • Print time1 h 36 min
    • Failure chain2
  2. Print log

    Cold pulls on a Nextruder: three pulls, and the pitting that looked like under-extrusion

    Surface pitting with correct wall dimensions is not a flow problem, it is contamination. This log covers the cold pull procedure that works on a MK4's Nextruder nozzle, why the temperature matters more than the method, and the purging step after it that most people skip.

    • MaterialPLA
    • Nozzle0.4 mm
    • Layer height0.2 mm
    • Print time1 h 1 min
    • Failure chain2
  3. Print log

    Z banding on the KE: an 8 mm period, then a 2 mm period, and two different fixes

    Z banding has a period, and the period tells you the cause before you touch anything. This log works through two bands on the same machine — one at the leadscrew rotation period and one at the thread pitch — and shows why the first needed a mechanical fix and the second needed a software one.

    • MaterialPLA
    • Nozzle0.4 mm
    • Layer height0.2 mm
    • Print time58 min
    • Failure chain2
  4. Tune profile

    A PA6-CF profile for the Voron 2.4, and the two failures that dominate it

    Carbon-filled nylon is the material where preparation matters more than settings. This is the profile that produced three consecutive clean three-hour prints: 285 C, no part cooling, 6 mm3/s, and a dry box on the machine at all times. It also covers the two failure modes that account for almost every bad PA6-CF print.

    • MaterialPA6-CF
    • Nozzle0.4 mm
    • Layer height0.25 mm
    • Print time2 h 58 min
    • Failure chain2
  5. Print log

    MMU3 colour changes: purge volume matters more than anything else in the profile

    Multi-colour printing on the MK4 fails in two ways — dirty transitions and dragged strings — and both are purge and ramming problems rather than model or slicer problems. This log covers a 13-change 60 mm plaque, the purge volume that finally produced clean boundaries, and the 9 seconds each ramming cycle costs.

    • MaterialPLA
    • Nozzle0.4 mm
    • Layer height0.2 mm
    • Print time3 h 56 min
    • Failure chain2
  6. Tune profile

    TPU 95A on the KE's stock extruder: 3 hours 44 minutes and one very specific buckling point

    The KE's Sprite extruder is direct drive, which makes flexible filament possible rather than easy. This profile is built around a 3.0 mm3/s ceiling that the machine will actually sustain, and it documents the one place where every failed attempt fails.

    • MaterialTPU-95A
    • Nozzle0.4 mm
    • Layer height0.24 mm
    • Print time3 h 44 min
    • Failure chain2

September 202610

  1. Print log

    Clearance coupons: finding this machine's real tolerance in one 64-minute print

    Every FDM machine has a minimum clearance below which parts fuse, and it is not in any spec sheet. This log prints a six-clearance coupon, corrects the two slicer compensations that decide the answer, and settles on the numbers to design against on this specific Voron.

    • MaterialPLA
    • Nozzle0.4 mm
    • Layer height0.2 mm
    • Print time1 h 4 min
    • Failure chain2
  2. Print log

    TPU 95A on a direct-drive MK4: 3 hours 25 minutes for a part that takes 50 in PLA

    Flexible filament on a direct-drive printer is not hard, it is slow, and the failure mode is always the same — the filament buckles between the gears and the melt zone. This log covers the two settings that prevent it, why flexible parts need deliberate over-extrusion, and how long it really takes.

    • MaterialTPU-95A
    • Nozzle0.4 mm
    • Layer height0.25 mm
    • Print time3 h 25 min
    • Failure chain2
  3. Print log

    0.6 mm nozzle, 0.4 mm layers: what vase mode really costs you

    A 0.6 mm nozzle on a Voron turns a 96 mm vase into an 87-minute print, but it also changes the failure modes. This log covers the seam artifacts that come from running a long-melt-path nozzle at high volumetric speed, and the one region of the model where cooling has to be handled differently.

    • MaterialPETG
    • Nozzle0.6 mm
    • Layer height0.4 mm
    • Print time1 h 27 min
    • Failure chain2
  4. Print log

    Shimming the KE's bed: 0.15 mm of mesh error that compensation could not hide

    Auto-levelling has a limit, and on a 0.28 mm first layer that limit is about 0.08 mm. This log covers a KE with a 0.15 mm low corner, the shim washers that fixed it mechanically, and the nine-position first-layer test that proves it worked.

    • MaterialPLA
    • Nozzle0.4 mm
    • Layer height0.28 mm
    • Print time41 min
    • Failure chain2
  5. Tune profile

    An ASA profile for the Voron 2.4 that survives 150 mm parts

    ASA prints beautifully for twenty minutes and then lifts, splits or goes chalky on anything large. This is the parameter set that survived five repeats of an 80 mm test block and a 150 mm bracket, with the test matrix that produced each value rather than a set of copied starting numbers.

    • MaterialASA
    • Nozzle0.4 mm
    • Layer height0.2 mm
    • Print time2 h 23 min
    • Failure chain1
  6. Print log

    Organic supports on the MK4: the z-gap that works for PETG is not the one that works for PLA

    Tree supports look like a solved problem until the material changes. PETG welds to itself across a 0.15 mm gap, so the standard PLA clearance fuses the support to the part. This log covers the gap and interface settings that make PETG supports break away by hand, and the stability fix that stopped a tall tree from falling over.

    • MaterialPETG
    • Nozzle0.4 mm
    • Layer height0.2 mm
    • Print time2 h 52 min
    • Failure chain2
  7. Print log

    Stringing on the KE: temperature first, retraction second, and the trade you make to get it

    Stringing is the most over-diagnosed problem in FDM printing, and the diagnosis is almost always the same order: temperature, then travel, then retraction. This log takes a tower from heavy unbroken threads to fine wisps on the KE, and explains the surface cost of getting there.

    • MaterialPLA
    • Nozzle0.4 mm
    • Layer height0.2 mm
    • Print time1 h 16 min
    • Failure chain2
  8. Print log

    VFA and ghosting on a Voron 2.4: separating an electrical ripple from a mechanical one

    Vertical fine artifacts and ringing look similar in a photo and have completely different causes. This log walks through a benchy hull that showed both at once, the measurement that told them apart, and the two settings — motor current and input shaper frequency — that actually moved the needle.

    • MaterialPLA
    • Nozzle0.4 mm
    • Layer height0.2 mm
    • Print time52 min
    • Failure chain2
  9. Tune profile

    A PLA profile for the MK4 that is tuned on measurements, not on appearance

    The MK4 prints PLA well out of the box, which makes it easy to skip calibration entirely and then wonder why one spool behaves differently from the next. This profile is built from five measured test matrices, including the extrusion multiplier that most people never check because the default is close enough.

    • MaterialPLA
    • Nozzle0.4 mm
    • Layer height0.2 mm
    • Print time1 h 24 min
    • Failure chain1
  10. Print log

    ABS on the Voron 2.4: a 35-minute chamber soak removes most of the warping

    ABS fails on a Voron for one reason far more often than any other: the chamber is not actually hot when the print starts. This log covers a 120 mm enclosure bracket that lifted 1.4 mm on the first attempt, what the soak time really needs to be, and how far shrink compensation can be pushed before it starts distorting holes.

    • MaterialABS
    • Nozzle0.4 mm
    • Layer height0.25 mm
    • Print time3 h 16 min
    • Failure chain2

August 20263

  1. Tune profile

    A PETG profile for the Ender-3 V3 KE that stops fighting the stock settings

    The KE ships with a multiplier, a retraction distance and a bed temperature that all work for PLA and all work against PETG. This profile replaces five of them, built from measurements on this specific machine rather than from a generic PETG starting point.

    • MaterialPETG
    • Nozzle0.4 mm
    • Layer height0.2 mm
    • Print time1 h 48 min
    • Failure chain1
  2. Print log

    MK4 ringing tower: input shaper did most of the work, pressure advance did the rest

    The MK4 ships with input shaper enabled, so the useful question is not whether to turn it on but when to recalibrate. This log covers a stock 60 mm tower, the two independent surface problems on it, and the measured difference between a shaper tuned on one bench and the same machine on another.

    • MaterialPLA
    • Nozzle0.4 mm
    • Layer height0.2 mm
    • Print time47 min
    • Failure chain2
  3. Print log

    First boot on the Voron 2.4: one cube, three belt passes, and a 0.18 mm racking error

    A self-sourced Voron 2.4 350 does not print correctly the first time, and pretending otherwise wastes a week. This is the shakedown log: what the very first cube actually measured, why the horizontal band at 12 mm was a mechanical problem rather than a slicer problem, and the two numbers — belt frequency and gantry racking — that fixed it.

    • MaterialPLA
    • Nozzle0.4 mm
    • Layer height0.2 mm
    • Print time38 min
    • Failure chain2