Jump to content

top and bottom layer, initial layer, shell thickness


lee

Recommended Posts

Posted · top and bottom layer, initial layer, shell thickness

i set these setting as a default but im not 100 % on them...

can someone give some information other than the popup text in cura about these and how they impact on your prints etc

 

  • Link to post
    Share on other sites

    Posted · top and bottom layer, initial layer, shell thickness

    Top and bottom thickness is what it sounds like and this setting adjusts how many mm of 100% infill layers cura will use to create them. So if you set it to 0.6mm cura will lay down 0.6mm of solid plastic for the top and bottom layers. How thick you want them depends entirely on what you're after.

    Initial layers sets how thick the very first layer will be. Some people like to set this fat at 0.2mm or 0.3mm. People say it helps with bed adhesion and making up for a poorly leveled or uneven bed. Personally I like to set it at 0.1mm with the UM2 to get really nice mirror bottoms on the print. Personally preference again IMHO.

    Shell thickness determines how thick the outer walls of the object will become. I always set this in 0.4mm increments to match the nozzle. You can set other thicknesses as well and cura will attempt to fill it as best as it can but in my opinion it's better to keep it simple. In the olden days slicers weren't able to handle this all that great and left a void in the middle of a wall if the last remaining void was thinner than 0.4mm. This setting is probably the most important setting when it comes to strength of a part.

     

  • Link to post
    Share on other sites

    Posted · top and bottom layer, initial layer, shell thickness

    The top and bottom thickness needs to be an exact multiple of your layer height. Generally you will want 5 to 10 layers for solid flat tops on parts. Generally, the thinner each layer, the more layers are needed to bridge smoothly over infill. So for 0.2mm layers, you might go for 1mm thickness = 5 layers. For 0.06mm layers (the thinnest I usually do), I go with 0.6mm top/bottom = 10 layers.

     

  • Link to post
    Share on other sites

    Create an account or sign in to comment

    You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

    Create an account

    Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

    Register a new account

    Sign in

    Already have an account? Sign in here.

    Sign In Now
    • Our picks

      • Introducing Universal Cura Projects in the UltiMaker Cura 5.7 beta
        Strap in for the first Cura release of 2024! This 5.7 beta release brings new material profiles as well as cloud printing for Method series printers, and introduces a powerful new way of sharing print settings using printer-agnostic project files! Also, if you want to download the cute dinosaur card holder featured below, it was specially designed for this release and can be found on Thingiverse! 
          • Like
        • 10 replies
      • S-Line Firmware 8.3.0 was released Nov. 20th on the "Latest" firmware branch.
        (Sorry, was out of office when this released)

        This update is for...
        All UltiMaker S series  
        New features
         
        Temperature status. During print preparation, the temperatures of the print cores and build plate will be shown on the display. This gives a better indication of the progress and remaining wait time. Save log files in paused state. It is now possible to save the printer's log files to USB if the currently active print job is paused. Previously, the Dump logs to USB option was only enabled if the printer was in idle state. Confirm print removal via Digital Factory. If the printer is connected to the Digital Factory, it is now possible to confirm the removal of a previous print job via the Digital Factory interface. This is useful in situations where the build plate is clear, but the operator forgot to select Confirm removal on the printer’s display. Visit this page for more information about this feature.
          • Like
        • 0 replies
    ×
    ×
    • Create New...