Frequently Asked Questions

The sides of your 3D printed part are composed of hundreds
of individual layers. If things are working properly, these layers
will appear to be a single, smooth surface. However, if something
goes wrong with just one of these layers, it is usually clearly
visible from the outside of the print. These improper layers may
appear to look like lines or ridges on the sides of your part. Many
times the defects will appear to be cyclical, meaning that the lines
appear in a repeating pattern (i.e. once every 15 layers). The
section below will look at several common causes for these issues.
(1) Inconsistent extrusion
The most common cause for this issue is poor filament
quality. If the filament does not have very tight tolerances, then
you will notice this variation on the side walls of your print. For
example, if your filament diameter varied by just 5% over the
length of the spool, the width of the plastic extruded from the
nozzle could change by as much as 0.05mm. This extra extrusion
will create a layer that is wider than all the others, which will end
up looking like a line on the side of the print. To create a perfectly
smooth side wall, your printer needs to be able to produce a very
consistent extrusion which requires high-quality plastic. For other
possible causes of variation, please read the Inconsistent Extrusion
section.
(2) Temperature variation
Most 3D printers use a PID controller to regulate the
temperature of the extruder. If this PID controller is not tuned
properly, the temperature of the extruder may fluctuate over time.
Due to the nature of how PID controllers work, this fluctuation is