MakerBot Desktop 3.7 min layer height is now 0.05 mm

[Dan Newman]

MBI didn't put this one into the 3.7 release notes: they changed the minimum layer
height from 0.01 mm to 0.05 mm in the 3.7 release of MakerBot Desktop. Maybe they
should update the specs/ads for their printers since this means that a new user
buying, say, a Z18 cannot print at the 0.01 to 0.02 mm "professional-quality detail"
advertised without having to pay for Simplify3D.

Previously, the min layer height which Desktop would allow was 0.01 mm. Mind you,
there's seldom a reason to print below 0.05 mm and they were probably tired of
tech support calls from people attempting to do so. But a bit odd to cripple their
slicer this way.

Dan

[Kobus du Toit]

Can any Makerbot machines actually print at 10 micron Z or even 50 micron Z?

[Dan Newman]

On 28/06/2015 11:31 PM, Dan Newman wrote:
> MBI didn't put this one into the 3.7 release notes: they changed the minimum layer
> height from 0.01 mm to 0.05 mm in the 3.7 release of MakerBot Desktop. Maybe they
> should update the specs/ads for their printers since this means that a new user
> buying, say, a Z18 cannot print at the 0.01 to 0.02 mm "professional-quality detail"
> advertised without having to pay for Simplify3D.

Maybe they'll update the Z18 ads to indicate that for "professional-quality detail",
interested buyers should leave the MBI web pages for the SSYS web pages where they
can buy a real professional quality machine ;)

[Dan Newman]

On 28/06/2015 11:40 PM, Kobus du Toit wrote:
> Can any Makerbot machines actually print at 10 micron Z or even 50 micron Z?

The Replicator 1 and Thing-o-Matic handles 0.01 mm just fine. I seem to recall
that folks did 0.05 mm on the Cupcake, maybe smaller. The old wiki.makerbot.com
used to have posted pictures of various accomplishments.

The Sailfish Thing at thingiverse.com shows some squirrels printed in black ABS
down to 0.01 mm. (ABS doesn't work too well much below 0.05 mm: spreads around
like chunky peanut butter. That is, has little tiny clumps.) Those squirrels
were done on a Rep 1.

Dan

[Ryan Carlyle]

There's no real VALUE to printing at 0.01mm layer heights with FDM. At a certain point, surface finish flaws due to things like minor plastic flow variations exceed the surface finish gains from finer layer heights. 

In terms of Z stage precision, sure, any Rep1/2/2x can do 0.01mm. But it's the wrong kind of extruder. You really ought to use a geared extruder to improve the volumetric resolution to avoid pulses in the plastic flow rate. 

[Dan Newman]

On 29/06/2015 6:59 AM, Ryan Carlyle wrote:
> There's no real VALUE to printing at 0.01mm layer heights with FDM.

Agreed (in my original post ;) I'm curious as to why they didn't
release note this since it is a significant change and there can conceivably
be a valued customer or two who will feel adversely impacted by what
is an intentional feature regression on MBI's part. And also curious
to note that this change makes another part of MBI's sales literature
somewhat disengenous (i.e., claiming a capability which they no longer
support). [They've certainly caused grief in the past for their
distributors in this regard. E.g., early Rep 2 sales literature claiming
ABS and PLA; Rep 2X sales literatue claiming a bigger build volume than
was achievable.]

Dan

[DonaldJ]

+1

Also, if you accept that a good layer height is about half the nozzle diameter, it follows that a good nozzle diameter should be about twice the layer height, no?  Small layer heights are fine for improving detail in the Z axis but do nothing for the X/Y axes unless you use a smaller nozzle (which is a whole new set of challenges).