Opinions on printing first layer letters more "crisp"

[TT_Vert 2]

Using cura 5.1 and a dupilcator i3+ w/ a micro swiss all metal hot end and a hardened .6  nozzle.   Have tried 3 different brands of 1.75mm PLA also.   The letters are 1.9mm at the narrowest point and my line width is .6mm so it's not too short a line but short.  It seems the lines are so short that they have a tendency not to look great.  I am currently printing PLA at 235/60.  I have a #1 thermistor and it doesn't report temp exactly perfectly according to my multimeter thermal probe (It's about 8C cooler than reported) plus the micro swiss and the thermal efficiency of the hardened nozzle are reasons I'm printing so hot.  Even if I print a raft the issue is there so it doesn't seem to be bed adhesion for these short bits.  I am printing first layer quite slow at 15mm/sec.  Including a pic of first layer.  First layer is printing at .3mm and glass bed is perfectly level (Verified w/ a .0015" feeler gauge".  I have modified my Y carriage and bed to use 3 points rather than 4 also to ease w/ leveling but I've never really had issues w/ that before.  Thinking it "may" be an adhesion issue for these short "blasts" of filament for the narrow spots of letters I did put down some painters tape to see but it's possible the thickness of that needed to be compensated for increasing z height so maybe I didn't give it a fair chance.  I could just in case first layer z height to compensate but I don't know that's an issue. 

 

Another thing I'm noticing is the very beginning of any new line start doesn't adhere perfectly for about 1/2 a mm and sometimes it will curl up a bit.  I have taken the entire hot end apart and cleaned it thoroughly to the point there was not a spec of old filament in there, it's NOT clogged  Three days ago I could lay down a perfect purge line, perfect skirt, etc which made me think it was a mechanical issue but I cannot find a darn thing that could be causing this.  I even had a spare extruder motor i threw in to see if made a different but it didn't.  Checked esteps and they are fine as well.

 

Since the first layer is the layer will be visible and i'm doing no post processing right off the glass bed I am trying to get this layer perfect.  This is a center cap on an aftermarket wheel  for my car (Lost one hitting a pothole I guess and nobody produces it anymore). Will reply w/ the one i'm printing now just for reference.

 

[Mr_Onion 0]

I feel like this is mostly a problem with bed adhesion. If the bed is as level and squared with the printer’s axis as possible, then I can only think of one way to improve adhesion: adhesive tape. 

[GregValiant 1,251]

Trying to help with this from far away isn't easy.  If you could save a 3mf project file (File | Save Project) and post it here we'd be able to see your settings.

Even knocking off the 8° you are still at 227° (for comparison I print PETG at 225° and PLA at 205°).  Have you run auto-tune on your hot end?  The P.I.D. values are likely off if you changed thermistors and didn't tune for the new one.

 

I think there is more than one thing going on but the main problem is the heat.  If you know it's running 8° cooler than the reading then you might place your set point at 210 - 220.  At 235° the PLA is running out of the nozzle like water.

 

Post the 3mf project file.  You know that one thing I will suggest is going to a .4 nozzle.  Trying to pinstripe something with a 4" house brush isn't easy.

Edited August 5, 2022 by GregValiant

[TT_Vert 2]

Sorry for delay guys, this never did notify me.  I did auto tune the hot end.  I have played w/ temps all over the board (From 195-235) and it didn't make any difference.  As a test I did move back to a .4 nozzle (Actually an entire brand new i3+ hot end I had lying around) and it still wasn't as good as I remember it used to be.  I do have level glass bed  (Verified w/ feeler gauge) and I actually have it tighter to the the glass than normal for first layer.  Although messing w/ height and bringing it up to .100mm didn't help.  I also tried to mess w/ the first layer height to see if it would change anything and it didn't.   Another thing I did was tried playing w/ 125% first layer thickness just to see if it made any different but it didn't. 

I could try putting down glue stick or tape again but then it'll mess up the texture I'm shooting for w/ the glass bed for this item.    I did modify the FW when I put in the type 11 thermistor, not sure why i said 1 before that's my mistake.  I moved from a 1 to an 11.  

Ill try to get that file later today.

Edited August 7, 2022 by TT_Vert

[GregValiant 1,251]

If you use hairspray and wipe it around a bit I would think it would work.  These rain bonnets for my carbs were printed like you are doing that model.  I didn't have any trouble with stiction.  I went with a font with serifs and that usually doesn't work as well.  (I was getting fancy.)

You can see that all the centers of the two-piece letters stayed down so the black could go on top and seal them in place.

Hair spray is water soluble as well so you can wipe the print with a wet rag and it will come off.

[TT_Vert 2]

59 minutes ago, GregValiant said:

If you use hairspray and wipe it around a bit I would think it would work.  These rain bonnets for my carbs were printed like you are doing that model.  I didn't have any trouble with stiction.  I went with a font with serifs and that usually doesn't work as well.  (I was getting fancy.)

You can see that all the centers of the two-piece letters stayed down so the black could go on top and seal them in place.

Hair spray is water soluble as well so you can wipe the print with a wet rag and it will come off.

Hard to tell but did you lose most of your gloss from the glass bed using hairspray though?

[GregValiant 1,251]

No.  The gloss is there after you wash off the hair spray.  I worked hard to keep the gloss from making the image difficult to see.  Taking photos of prints can be tough.

I print on the textured side of the glass on my Ender.  Prints do pick up the pattern and that silky silver did as well.  So the bottom layer does look different than a top layer would.  It was necessary to print those like I did so I could avoid all the support structure.

[TT_Vert 2]

34 minutes ago, GregValiant said:

No.  The gloss is there after you wash off the hair spray.  I worked hard to keep the gloss from making the image difficult to see.  Taking photos of prints can be tough.

I print on the textured side of the glass on my Ender.  Prints do pick up the pattern and that silky silver did as well.  So the bottom layer does look different than a top layer would.  It was necessary to print those like I did so I could avoid all the support structure.

Good to know. When I used gluestick I was not able to get it off completely and it lost its shine.