Understanding the Anatomy of a 3D Print: A Comprehensive Guide

1. Infill and Its Impact

Think of infill as the skeleton of your 3D print—it provides internal support to the object. A higher infill percentage means a stronger print, but it also increases the cost due to the greater use of material. At MentaPrints, our best practice is to aim for about 20% infill for our products. For additional strength, we prefer to thicken the perimeter walls instead. This method is akin to a crab's shell: the thicker the shell, the stronger the protection. By combining moderate infill with stronger perimeter walls, we achieve an ideal balance, ensuring our parts are both durable and material-efficient.

2. Support Material: Why It's Necessary

Imagine you're building a bridge out of blocks, with part of the bridge extending over water without any support underneath. While building, you'd use your hand or some extra blocks to support that part until the bridge is complete. Once done, you can remove your hand or those extra blocks, and the bridge stands on its own.

In 3D printing, support material serves a similar function—it acts like a temporary helper that holds up parts of your print that would otherwise fall down, droop, or not print correctly because they're "floating" in air. Once the printing is finished, this material is removed, leaving behind the perfectly shaped object, akin to your bridge standing solidly over water.

3. There's layers to it

Regardless of the printing technology used, all 3D printing processes build objects in layers. These layers can vary in thickness, from half a millimeter to as fine as 0.0016mm—about the thickness of a human hair!

But why print in layers? Consider it similar to building a brick wall: you start from the bottom and work your way up. It’s a straightforward method to create complex shapes. However, this process can result in visible "layer lines" on the finished product. While these lines might be unsightly to some, they serve as powerful diagnostic tools for those aiming to achieve the highest quality in their prints. We often examine these lines for insights into material flow or temperature setting adjustments. It might sound like reading tea leaves, but there’s real science behind it!

If you have any further questions or would like to discuss future blog topics, feel free to reach out to us at outreach@mentaprints.com!