Less detail in Y direction and open lattice pattern on top

I attempted to print a companion cube (specifically this one). It turned out decently considering it was my 2nd print after some initial calibration.

The issue is that the faces of the cube that are perpendicular to the X axis look great (image 1), but the 2 faces perpendicular to the Y axis are significantly less detailed (image 2).

Another issue is the sort of open lattice pattern on the top of the cube (image 3).

Any suggestions from someone more experienced than me would be appreciated!

Whoops, forgot to include some specs:

Prusa Mendel
Mix G1 Extruder
1.75mm PLA
0.3mm Nozzle

0.2mm layer height
190°C
55°C heated bed with glass and blue tape

I also made sure my belts were tight and pulley set screws were tight as well.

Looks like you are getting Z-wobble on your vertical faces. Just fixed this on my Mendel printer.

What kind of couplers are you using on your threaded rods? Do you have the ends of threaded rods opposite the motors and couplers restrained?

What software are you using to slice with? If you are using Slic3r, set your extrusion width the same as your nozzle diameter to get a better solid fill.

Thanks for the reply!

I'm using the stock Prusa Z couplers right now, planning on printing a few of nophead's couplers ASAP. And no, the ends of the threaded rods are not restrained. Can you recommend a thing for restraining them?

Looks like I screwed up along the way and set my nozzle diameter in slic3r to 0.5mm instead of 0.3mm. I'll try fixing that and see if I get a more solid fill that way.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/01/2013 09:00PM by devonv.

You do not want to restrain the free ends of the rods, that was contributing to my wobble as well as the aluminum couplers I was using that were designed for 5mm motor shaft and 8mm threaded rod, but I am running 5/16" threaded rods so the tightened coupler would not center the threaded rod to the motor shafts. Modelled and printed my own couplers for 5mm to 5/16".

Yes you do need the nozzle diameter set correctly, but there is a setting for default extrusion width under print settings/advanced. Set that to the same value as your nozzle diameter as well, you will get much better infill results overall.

Of course you will also need to recalibrate the extrusion multiplier to correct for your nozzle settings.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/01/2013 11:09PM by Dirty Steve.

I ended up using automotive vacuum hose about 1-1/4" long with two hose clamps for the coupler. They work pretty well. The other end of the threaded rod is left free. The hose pieces are sliced along their axis about .5 deep from each end. I rotate the cuts 90 deg. The black rubber is helically wound thread reinforced and resists torsion for these light loads. The motor shaft and threaded rod get stuffed in the ends which spread at the cuts. The only finesse part is centering the rods in the hose.