Improving Surface Quality of 3D Printed Parts with A Steel Plate

If you have a kit-built 3D Printer, like me, you can spend a lot of time "chasing the dragon" of better quality prints. If your printer is belt driven, you've most likely experienced ringing and vibration on the surfaces of your prints.

Things I've found to have reduced my ringing issues:

Tighten Belts: tighten to prevent "rubber-banding" of the carriages.

Print Acceleration: reduce print Acceleration for Outer Walls.

Tighten Frame Parts: Check all connections for loose hardware.

Mount my Printer to a 1/2"thk 28lb Steel Plate.

Yes, you read that right. I mounted my printer to a 1/2"thk 12"x 15-1/2" Steel Plate. Now you may not have a steel plate lying around, but weights stacked on a plywood board under your printer, could easily serve the same function. Ultimately, you're trying to reduce the vibration between the printer and desk/table it sits on.

Check out photos and details below!