Layer height vs. nozzle width

Hi all,
I'm tuning my printer (MM, 0.5mm nozzle) and am wondering about the extrusion envelopes for various nozzles.

How does nozzle size affect layer height and thread width sizes?

Or in other words, what is the thinnest layer height that can be printed by these nozzles: 0.5, 0.4, 0.35, 0.25?

I know people (both in person and on this forum) are printing <= 100 micron layers, but I don't know their nozzle diameters.

Because of the resolution of our extruders (volume of plastic per step) you can actually go lower with larger nozzles. That is to say if you want to print a single dot the diameter of the extrusion width with the volume of a single step of the extruder the layer will be lower with a larger nozzle then with a smaller nozzle. If you increase the resolution of the extruder then you can go almost as low as you want with any size nozzle until you reach the mechanical properties of the plastic itself. Also note there is a minimum flow rate we need to maintain to prevent ooze and crystallization of the plastic in the hotend which means as you go lower you must go faster to maintain the flow.

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Thanks for the info. I'm printing in one PLA from one manufacturer right now, so I'll tweak speeds and heights to see how it goes.

I asked because I was wondering about the mechanical properties of plastic once you get down to thin layers (100 microns and less), since it seemed the smaller you go the more "smearing" of plastic could take place versus "flow". But as you said, keep speeds and flow up, which would prevent this.

Lots to try...

As a simple guide you can go down to about 80 micron without much trouble by reducing the temp a little and increasing the speed. At 50 micron you will start to run into problems with how fast you need to run even with lower temps (150mm/s+ @ normal temperatures).

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FFF Settings Calculator	Gcode post processors	Geometric Object Deposition Tool Blog
Tantillus.org	Mini Printable Lathe	How NOT to install a Pololu driver