I do not want to waste so much plastic, so I wanted a short and helpful test for my filament and printer settings. I tried to incorporate every possible common issue I know of, and it uses around half of the time and filament as a Benchy.
It kind of looks like a dome or church, so I want to call it “Saint Foosels Cathedral” after the Mother Mary of 3D printing, but I am in no way associated with her so I do not know if that is okay...
This is a two-part print, with the “lantern” of the dome printed inside as a pretty hard test for bed adhesion. (I made that test hard because it is the bane of a 3D printers existence.) If it breaks off the bed, which can easily happen, the mess is contained inside the outer print.
Once the model is printed, the lantern is put inside the oculus of the dome for a clearance test.
Here is a list of common printing problems, see the pictures:
- “bed adhesion not fantastic” - The lantern has broken off the print bed and creates a mess inside the dome. It shall be noted that this will usually still be way enough bed adhesion for most normal prints.
- “bed adhesion terrible” - The whole model has broken off the bed. This will not work with most other prints either.
- “first layer distance” - If the nozzle is too far from the bed (right), you get gaps and the print may loosen from the bed. If the nozzle is too close (left), the filament will be squished to the side, creating “elephants foot”. (I personally often like to have a bit of elephants foot for perfect first layer surface and adhesion, then shave it off afterwards.)
- “clearance” - If the lantern fits completely in like on the left, there is zero clearance - which should not happen because the surface is rough and cannotfit exactly. So you either have underextrusion, or flex filament like in the picture. If it barely fits at all, the model surface (with roughness) sticks out .4 mm (possibly from elephants foot). Usually it will go half way in. There are different indentations in the side of the lantern for you to have a scale without measuring.
- “dimensional accuracy” - This is the same as the well-known calibration cube. Should be 20mm in every direction.
- “stringing” - Self explanatory. Will probably have to do with your temperature, retraction or cooling settings, maybe z-hop.
- “bridging” - Also a very common problem. Probably speed, temperature, or cooling settings.
- “curling - cause” and “- effect”: This is when overhangs bend up during cooling. The nozzle can hit the curl and either break the part or break it off the surface. Very common problem with this test. I have not found a general solution.
- “overhangs” and “90 degree overhangs”: Your printer cannot print in mid air, but it can stick filament sideways to existing parts to a certain degree. The gradient overhangs go up to 80 degree, but only for a very small distance and should look fine. (There is another overhang like this in the inside of the cupola.) The 90° overhang on top of the pillar has never looked perfect for me, especially the bigger one on the left, but it should provide enough support after 1 or 2 layers.
- “details” - There is a little flag on the lantern that is usually only a single perimeter. It works surprisingly well when the settings are correct.
- “seams” - This is where your printer changes layer. You will always see something, but different slicers deal with it in different ways. Check your slicer settings, and find one you like best.
- “ghosting” - This comes from oscillations from printer moves. This is a rabbit hole - just reduce speed if you care, or google “ghosting” and apply for vacation.