How To Increase 3d Print Speed

3D printers used to exist horribly expensive. But now? You can go a 3D printer dirt cheap (think $100-$300) nevertheless still get operation far superior to older printers.

If y'all'd like both affordability and superlative-of-the-line quality, the Creality Ender series (Ender 3, Ender iii Pro, Ender 3 V2, and Ender 3 S1 – listed from cheapest/oldest to almost expensive & newest) is cracking.

Ender 3's accept good parts and great printing speed for their price.

When I picked upwardly mine the first thing I thought was "how can I brand my Ender three v2 print faster."

Fun fact: as of this writing the fastest Ender 3 can print at over 1000 mm/s and print a Benchy in under four minutes instead of the typical 1.5 hours information technology ordinarily takes.

But for those of the states with a stock or slightly modified Ender three, our print times are much, much slower than 1000mm/due south.

So what's the Ender three'southward print speed and what print speed settings should you use for the best print-to-quality?

The maximum listed mechanical speed of an Ender 3 series 3D printer (Pro & V2 included) is 200 mm/southward. But the max actual print speed is often closer to 120mm/s depending on your material, line height, and nozzle size.

Go the Ender 3 on Amazon for only $189.99

There is no 'one size fits all' print speed. This is because there are quite a few settings related to printing pace.

In nearly slicer engine software programs, "printing speed" is a setting that used to calculate various settings that will determine how fast the nozzle will movement.

Hither nosotros will refer to speed as the least amount of fourth dimension needed to create a part when the car is set to its fastest speed setting. Let's assume we'll employ the default calculations to derive the other speed settings only similar diverse other printers using a similar-sized printer bed.

What is the fastest the Ender 3 Pro can print?

Creality lists the mechanical max impress speed for a stock Creality Ender 3 3D printer as 200 mm/southward.

But, the maximum impress speed of any 3D printer is usually limited by the menses rate from your hotend.

Typical volumetric flow rates are 8mm³/s to 12mm³/s, depending on your hotend setup. These flow rates interpret to xc-100mm/south and 140-150mm/due south (respectively) at 0.2mm layer height with a 0.4mm nozzle depending on how your slicer handles the math.

The max speed also depends on the type of filament you lot employ, what STL/model you're building, and how nice you'd like the role to await.

Only if you really want to have an incredible print speed, larn how to build a 1000mm/s Ender 3 for under $600.

What is the fastest the Ender 3 Printer can realistically print?

The fastest you lot can impress depends on:

1. The filament you have
2. The nozzle diameter you accept
3. The later top you're printing with

For example, PLA would requite you lot 60 mm/s while other filaments would have their own ranges. Keep scrolling for stock (0.4mm nozzle, 0.2mm layer height) speeds for your Ender three based on material or

Bank check out the Ender iii'due south recommended print settings here

Recommended Impress Speeds for a stock Ender 3 (Pro/V2) with 0.4mm nozzle by material

Hither's a skilful starting point for your print speeds depending on the material.

Cloth	Normal Impress	First Layer	Fast Prints†
PLA	45 mm/s	20-xl mm/s	80-140 mm/s
PETG	35-45 mm/s	10-30 mm/s	60-65 mm/s
ABS	40-60 mm/s	20 mm/south	lx mm/southward
TPU	17 mm/due south *	17 mm/s	Don't
Nylon	40 mm/s	xxx-40 mm/s	60 mm/south
PC	Don't**	Don't	Don't
PEEK	Don't**	Don't	Don't

† Max flow rates can vary even if both are the aforementioned model. Keep scrolling for how to calculate the max flow charge per unit (which is the most critical number to find your max travel speed).

* For printing TPU go along all speeds constant. Also, Ender 3's apply a Bowden tube – pregnant there is a lot of distance between extruder gears and the impress caput for TPU to "lock-upwards"… so print boring and examination thoroughly. Run across the printing with TPU section for details as it's difficult to work with.

** Stock Ender 3'due south, Ender 3 V2s, and Ender iii Pros actually tin can't impress PC, PEEK, or other high-temp filaments for two reasons. First PC and PEEK warps horribly unless you accept an enclosure that can hold the part at least fourscore°C. Second, the melting point of PEEK is roughly 343°C and PC'southward melting point is typically at least 270°C but the max (safe) Ender 3 nozzle is 240°C.

Want to become faster? Learn how to build a 1000mm/s Ender 3 for nether $600 .

How fast can I print PLA?

PLA prints well at speeds between 30mm to 90mm per 2nd. For high-quality results stick to lower printer speeds – around 30-50mm/s. As you increment the speed y'all begin to risk reduced quality prints when printing for loftier detail.

PLA is typically the first (and oftentimes the best) filament you'll print with. It's derived from establish starches and smells like cooked pancakes.

PLA is easy to print with it and mistakes you can fix mistakes rather hands.

Well-nigh of my normal (non-high detail) PLA prints are done at 60mm/due south on the perimeters, 25mm/due south for small perimeters, 35mm/s for external perimeters, and "200mm/s" (which ends up programmatically limited by Prusa Slicer to ~100mm/due south) for infill.

TPU

TPU and other flexible materials usually build at much slower speeds when compared to PLA due to being soft and flexible. Because stock Enders use a Bowen extruder setup instead of direct-drive – filament can "agglomeration upward" in the tube.

This can brand it very hard to print with TPU and decreases the pace substantially. Plan on printing flexible materials slowly, sometimes as depression every bit 15 mm/south upward to 25 mm/s.

Hither'due south a great recommendation for pristine TPU prints on an Ender 3, posted on Reddit:

Check out our favorite flexible filaments here

PETG

PETG (aka PET-1000) is a 3D printing filament that prints at a higher temperature than PLA. It has fantastic mechanical properties (similar to ABS) but the print difficulty is slightly harder than PLA.

As a general rule, impress PETG at roughly the same stride – or slightly slower – than PLA. If you create bones objects at depression res you lot volition be able to go it to create every bit fast as threescore mm/second. However, the best stride for PETG is approximately 40 mm/s since PETG can exist a chip stringy.

You can usually eliminate stringy-ness by slowing your print speed.

Factors that affect print speed

Apart from the filaments used, in that location are also many other factors that are responsible for printing pace variations.

Size and Complexity of the Model

Imagine trying to paint the Sistine Chapel in a twenty-four hours. To print more detailed models you'll need to tiresome your impress speed. For an Ender iii (pro/V2) plan on 40 to 50 mm/south for detailed builds or every bit high as 70 to lxxx mm/s for rough models and builds.

Ender 3's Limitations: The Pattern of the printer

While the max speed every bit per the tech specs is 200 mm/due south it is non possible to actually run that fast without heavy modifications. Basically, Creality advertised the travel speed rather than the actual printing speed.

Then at that place are the personal quirks of the motorcar to consider. It's not almost equally easy to level as other machines that include mesh bed leveling sensors. You frequently need to re-level information technology later every few prints and it might not maintain a level bed for long.

How to calculate the max flow rate for a stock Ender 3 (v2/pro)

To detect the max speeds for your printer, you lot need to first find the maximum volumetric flow rate for whatsoever given combination of nozzle size, material, and speed. You first pick a filament and temperature, so manually feed Gcode to your printer pushing more and more filament until it eventually starts clicking.

Why practise this?

Every hotend is limited by how much energy (heat) information technology can send to the filament to cook it.

Hotend temperature will temporarily drop if you try to shove filament through faster than the hotend tin heat it. When the hotend temp drops you lot'll get under-extrusion, extruder clicking, and uneven print widths.

Information technology'south gonna exist a bad time.

For a very detailed walkthrough and discussion of testing methodologies, come across Bob'southward project notebook on calibrating volumetric flow rate.

Calculating max linear speed (aka your "printer speed" from the volumetric flow rate

Now that yous know your maximum VFR, here's how to calculate your maximum linear impress speed from your volumetric flow rate

1. Observe your layer height and extrusion width (not nozzle width)

   In Prusa Slicer you can command/control + f (to search) and type "extrusion width" to find your settings.

   I utilize the largest width (Prusa allows for dissimilar widths depending on line type – aka external perimeter vs infill) to exist sure that I don't nether extrude a characteristic.

2. Divide Volumetric flow rate by line meridian

   Exist certain to go on units consistent – so this should be mm (usually 0.2mm for drafts/quick prints, 0.1mm to 0.15mm for finer detail)

3. then divide that number by the extrusion width

   It'due south important that y'all use the extrusion width, not the nozzle width, as this is the actual flow of textile leaving your hotend. Again, be sure to utilise consistent units (mm, typically)

4. You're washed

   Your result should be roughly 100mm/southward, upwardly to 200 and not likely below 80.

   If your outcome falls outside of that and y'all started with viii-12mm^3/s and so check your math.

   For reference, the math is:
   Linear speed (mm/south) = VolumetricFlowRate(mm^3/s) / (lineHeight(mm) * extrusionWidth(mm))

How fast can the Ender five print?

The Ender 5 is nigh a CoreXY setup, where the bed only moves upwards & down (the Z axis) and the impress caput moves in the XY airplane. This allows for faster print speeds as the bodily print stays all the same.

It besides means that you're non slinging the bed around, which for an Ender three weighs nigh i kilogram (the glass alone is ~500g). Not an issue at depression speed but a major issue when press fast.

Due to the CoreXY-ish setup, the printing stride of the Ender 5 is faster than the Ender 3 serial counterparts.

Depending on the material you tin can usually print adept quality prints at around 80mm/s and craft high-quality models without compromising the overall quality of your prints.

How to make the ender 3 print faster

In summary

There are no universal speeds for 3D printers and the full general dominion is "dull" (~40mm/due south).

They are dependent on the filaments and personal quarks of the specific printer when it comes to build times.

To optimize the pace of your printer, keep the machine well-tuned and experiment with it to find the optimal settings for your 3D printer.

Also, if you want to increment your print speed be sure to:

1. Mensurate and ready the actual average diameter of your filament,
2. calibrate your east-steps,
3. calculate your max volumetric menstruum rate (come across above),

And it wouldn't hurt to print a amend office-cooling organization.

Practiced luck and be sure to check out our build where we're aiming to print at over 1000 mm/s for less than $600 including the cost of the printer (or, at least print a benchy in under ten minutes for that toll).

Read next

• When printing at speed, you'll often run into:
  • Extruder skips/clicks, run into How to gear up a clicking extruder on the Ender iii
  • Clogged nozzles, see How to Unclog a 3D Printer Nozzle
  • Under extrusion, see the Stupid fast way to calibrate e steps on Ender 3 (v2/pro) and Ender 3 Under Extrusion Fixes and Suggested Settings
• More info on printing TPU successfully: Ender 3 TPU Settings: Tips For Successful Prints
• 25 Best Creality Ender 3 Upgrades you can buy and print
• Determining which Ender three to buy? Ender 3 Vs Ender three Pro: Is the deviation worth the cost?

Source: https://makershop.co/ender-3-print-speed/

Share this post