3D design top Smoothness

I am not sure where to put this question so I figured here would be a good place to start since this forum is on design. I have been working on designing a few items and have run into a bit of a quandary. Anything I design the has vertical elements to it prints with a nice smooth top, but when say a 42X42X4 block prints the bottom and sides are smooth, but there does not seem to be an upper layer smoothing out the upper surface so you can actually feel and see the infill pattern.

Any suggestions on how to print an upper layer?

Can you post a picture of what you are talking about?

If you are using Slic3r, you can try increasing the number of solid top layers. I find that, especially with very sparse infill (<20%) the first solid top layer tends to sag into the infill and is not completely flat. I typically run 2 solid top layers for this exact reason.

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greghoge.com

HUGE 3D PRINTER PARTS SALE!!!

Here is the picture. I am using 40% infill and 3 top and bottom layer. Is there a general rule of thumb on how many top and bottom layers to use?

I usually put enough full top and bottom layers to have at least a 0.75 mm thickness.

Usually 3 layers for 0.3 mm layers and up to 8 layers for 0.1 mm layers.


Someone else wrote this "rule" but I can't remember who and where.


Your ideal thickness need might vary depending on plastic kind and your machine's specifics. Experiment !

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Most of my technical comments should be correct, but is THIS one ?
Anyway, as a rule of thumb, always double check what people write.

I notice, even though I have 3 layers specified on my gcode, the printer for some reason is not paying attention to it!

I guess I have the same problem!!!