Calibration pyramid

[keokolo]

I use the truss pyramid for calibration tweaking. It tests a lot more than a cube, or flat pattern, and it only takes 23 minutes versus 18 for a calibration cube. After doing about 100 cubes, it occurred to me, it tests corner adhesion but it mostly tests in-fill, which doesn't have that much tweaking value. As those sides rise, they have to support themselves plus the extruder head has to have very precise position location return. The pyramid in the rear is from about 3 weeks ago, ABS. The pyramid in the foreground is PETG+, after about 3 weeks of tweaking. It wasn't even completing the pyramid 3 weeks ago. PETG+ is about 2 times stronger than ABS and very springy, not rigid. It also takes 240 to flow smoothly, so it handles high ambient temperatures better than ABS and PLA while having lower moisture absorption. No odor either. Back to tweaking.

[WZ9V]

Is that the one on thingiverse?

[keokolo]

Yes, this one, it is a little over 1 inch per side.
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:43061" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[WZ9V]

Thanks. I have some calibration work coming up and this looks like an interesting object to help tweak stuff now that I'm not constantly sweating the first layer (at least in ABS, still struggling when swapping to PLA or PETG)

[Holy1]

Your post reminded me of when I was calibrating my printer so I made a couple more for good old time sake.
Clicking on the image flips it right side up.

[keokolo]

Yeah, there are a lot of pyramids on thingiverse that could be used as calibration standards rather than the 20mm cube. I choose the 3cm wireframe since it tests adhesion without a filled in base. Also, the base has to be slightly mashed to get good adhesion. I also try to mash the layers just slightly to reduce the layer lines. If you take the cross section of two layers, they are two circles with minimal contact area between the layers. If they are slightly mashed, the cross sections become two ovals with much more inter-layer adhesion area plus reducing the layer line appearance. It means tweaking to less than a sheet of paper thickness, about half the distance, and the filament being at optimal melt temperature.