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Hi everyone, I'm extremely new to 3d printing, and have taken over a printer from a friend who doesn't use his. I'm trying to get those smooth prints I see people having, and I understand I need to get a smaller layer height to achieve the details. However my stuff keeps coming out looking like the pictures below.
Any idea what's going on and how I can start fixing it?
I'm printing PLA filament.
Thank you!
There are multiple potential issues. It is hard to say where to start. The little solid band in the bottom pic, below the X, hints at an issue with an obstruction in the nozzle.
The repetition in the outer wall pattern hints at an issue with the extruder gears. Any time you see a pattern like this, it relates to the extruder mechanics. This could be any number of issues like too much or too little tension on the filament at the extruder feed gear. It could be cracked or worn out parts. It could be a worn out or bad gear or idler. The actual extruder mechanism is a high precision ~0.01mm class system. Any error here is a big problem.
It looks like you just placed these on a print bed for pictures. If these are how they were printed, your first layer height is too high. Maybe it is just the lighting, but if the top is more sparse than the rest of the print, I think you need to calibrate your flow rate steps per millimeter.