3DPrinting
3DPrinting is a place where makers of all skill levels and walks of life can learn about and discuss 3D printing and development of 3D printed parts and devices.
The r/functionalprint community is now located at: !functionalprint@kbin.social or !functionalprint@fedia.io
There are CAD communities available at: !cad@lemmy.world or !freecad@lemmy.ml
Rules
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No bigotry - including racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, or xenophobia. Code of Conduct.
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Be respectful, especially when disagreeing. Everyone should feel welcome here.
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No porn (NSFW prints are acceptable but must be marked NSFW)
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No Ads / Spamming / Guerrilla Marketing
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Do not create links to reddit
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If you see an issue please flag it
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No guns
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No injury gore posts
If you need an easy way to host pictures, https://catbox.moe may be an option. Be ethical about what you post and donate if you are able or use this a lot. It is just an individual hosting content, not a company. The image embedding syntax for Lemmy is 
Moderation policy: Light, mostly invisible
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In addition to first layer adhesion being critical, it's a good calibration tool. The first layer makes it easy to see if you have your z-offset right, among other things.
I had mine too high and my e steps too low and compensated by adjusting flow and temp in my slicer which lead to other issues later on like bad overhangs, random gaps between layers, ugly top layers, etc. I was pulling my hair out trying to adjust slicer settings but my height and extrusion were just off.
After getting a really good first layer, prints have been way cleaner, simply because the settings required to get a perfect first layer matter for other layers too, they're just not as obvious there.
That's my newbie take anyway. I've been printing for about a month
Another good take: never compensate if you can calibrate or adjust the actual value. Or, never compensate.