Flash Forge Finder .02mm Nozzle for miniatures

[Lpariani12]

Hi,
i recently switched my flashforge finder over to a .02mm nozzle and i have done some basic prints to test and ensure the PLA is flowing well through the nozzle. i have the settings for the nozzle diameter and width adjusted to auto so they match for the new nozzle. I am currently trying to print D&D miniatures from Hero forge and i am not sure on the layer height i should be using with the new nozzle. i currently am doing a test print at .05mm for the layer height and am not sure if this is what most people use with a .02mm nozzle when printing miniatures. Any tips or advice for fellow D&D miniature printers out there would be super helpful. Thanks!

[airscapes]

when I was doing this for a friend I was using a different machine and my nozzle was .25 mm I used a .25 Extrusion width rather than auto but I don't think that using auto is a problem. I found for my setup a layer height of .14 mm worked best. With very thin layers and if you are only doing one model at a time thing ended up look worse at .1 and lower. My theory as to why is that when printing only one model at a time with very thin layers that pla would not get used up fast enough and end up cooking in the hot end. Your results may vary but you will need to experiment and get used to waiting .. and waiting and redoing and waiting!

Attached is a pic of just a small number of models I printed for my friend

[wirlybird]

I use a 0.2mm nozzle on one printer and set the extrusion width and nozzle size to 0.2mm.
I do a first layer height of 150-200% or something like that to get a decent first layer you don't have to fight with.
In general use a 0.1mm layer height after the first layer and it seems to be working well. Also I use a speed of 20mm/s.

[wirlybird]

when I was doing this for a friend I was using a different machine and my nozzle was .25 mm I used a .25 Extrusion width rather than auto but I don't think that using auto is a problem. I found for my setup a layer height of .14 mm worked best. With very thin layers and if you are only doing one model at a time thing ended up look worse at .1 and lower. My theory as to why is that when printing only one model at a time with very thin layers that pla would not get used up fast enough and end up cooking in the hot end. Your results may vary but you will need to experiment and get used to waiting .. and waiting and redoing and waiting!

Attached is a pic of just a small number of models I printed for my friend
lizardfolksmaller.jpg

I haven't really found a problem with the PLA "cooking" in the nozzle but I do see that at the edges of the thin layers the heat from the bed can affect them.
It is going to be different for each person and printer but when running this small and with thin layers the "sweet spot" for settings is going to be small also so make really small changes as you tune.

[airscapes]

The other reason I did not go under .1 beside the fact the model looked better with taller layers was the support worked better, the tiny structure ( arrows and swords) were Stronger (very important if you don't have a dual extruder with soluble supports) and I didn't want to wait 7 hours for the print to finish or fail do to broken support 3 hours in..
You will get very good at 3d printing by printing miniatures!