STILL calibrating (pronterface and sfact)

ok - Im still trying to perfect my prints - having issue with the thinwalled cube. I know the test to to get the thickess correct, however I cant seem to get a consistent line without gaps after it makes a corner - almost seems to not be putting out enough material after it pauses to make the turn. I watched the extruder and visibly its not stopping.
The other issues I have is after the 8th or so layer the alss seem to be not as straight - they look perfect until about that layer. Im not seeing any issue with my z axis being loose - any thoughts?
and im thinking its wider at the bottom cause of the heated bed?
Thanks!!
Jeff

tighten your X and Y belts, make sure your pulley set screws are tight, and your pulleys haven't sheared.

also, if you'r using pla bushings for Z make sure they dont have any play in them.

all belts are tight - no shearing on gears - pulleys secure to the steppers. Using linear bearings---no PLA.
prints big/solid stuff ok - just noticed this on the open stuff.
Im thinking its a height/width thing, but im not sure what to set it based on my findings - im at .36h and .50w using a .4 tip hot end.

I've had the same problem, and the key seemed to me to really get the flow rate right. Just keep doing the normal calibration things like making sure the extruder steps_per_unit are right, that dimension is set right for your current filament, and slow the feed and flow speeds down (and make sure they're the same) until you get consistent results. Also experiment with temperature. The temp fluctuates in a range of about 4 degrees. Sometimes the lower end is just under what your extruder wants, so increase it a couple of degrees.

Lastly, I haven't had so much of this trouble since I switched to the Marlin firmware. It could be related or affected by the acceleration and deceleration. It's been hard for me to pin it down, but mostly I'm good now.

buggerit.blogspot.com

It looks like you are trying to make filament that is bigger than your nozzle. That means you are trying to compress it rather than stretch it, so it will tend to be wavy instead of being pulled strait. You don't want width / thickness less than 1.5. and you don't want layer height more than 0.8 times you nozzle diameter.

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[www.hydraraptor.blogspot.com]

Nopehead,
Thanks for the info! ok - so with the given info and if im incorrect by what im extruding, where would a good basline setting be that you could recommend?
gathering from your formula I should be at .32h (or less) and 4.6875w (=1.5x).
Am I understanding you correctly?
Thanks!
Jeff

ok - so im messing around with my H&W nd really sont see much change. still kinda looks good until after the 8th or so layer.
im using a sae kit - with standard steppers 1.8 nema17. if im using 5/16-18 rod and the thread pitch is diffrent than a metric m8 - would that start messing things up as it gets taller?
If thats the case - where do I change that?
just a thought...