Printing in Smaller Dimensions

[lady-iris 0]

Hi everyone! I'm a graduating student and I'm currently using the Ultimaker Original 3D printer in completing my thesis on microfluidics. And I'm using the ultimaker to print a mold which has a very very small dimension..around hundreds of microns (the very least) and I am to print it on the glass slide...

I have printed some molds already but I have to do it several times before getting a good print. Anyone interested in helping me figure out how to have a high quality print?? maybe some advice on the Cura settings or a certain technique during printing? please

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

 

[ian 32]

i know it maybe not the help you need... but why not read around the ultimaker forum first for a little information, then ask some questions ??

might work better than... i know nothing... help.

Best wishes.

Ian :-)

 

[gr5 2,189]

It would help to have a specific question and/or show us an example of what your mold will look like.

The first obvious thing to me is that your first layer Z height is going to be very crucial and will probably take 4 or 5 attempts until you have the print bed at the perfect height.

Another thought is you might need a smaller nozzle hole size. Right now the UM comes with a .4mm or 400um nozzle diameter. If you print for example a square, the inner corners will be quite sharp, but the outer corners will have a .2mm radius (.4mm diameter = .2mm radius). See this thread for very visual, very clear explanations of the problem of printing small things:

http://umforum.ultimaker.com/index.php?/topic/2717-cura-xy-resolution/

Also be aware that although using a .25mm diameter nozzle hole will greatly increase the resolution of your print, there is a much higher likelyhood of clogging your nozzle. So print quite slow! I would stay under 10mm/sec and I would also modify the start/end codes to not extrude so fast before the print starts.