One setting doubles your print time (layer height math)
Layer count = height ÷ layer height. For this 120 mm vase: Print time grows roughly in step with the layer count (exact time depends on speeds, acceleration and travel). Thin layers mostly pay off on slopes and curves; use variable layer height (Bambu Studio, PrusaSlicer) or adaptive layers (Cura).
What you'll learn
- Half the height ≈ double the time
- Thin layers pay off on curves
- Variable layer height: both
Chapters
- 0:00One setting
- 0:38The math
- 1:15Do thin layers look better?
- 1:32Variable layer height
- 1:55Recap
Pause and guess
This vase is 120 mm tall. How many layers at 0.1 mm? (tap to see the answer)
- 600
- 1200
- 1800
Print settings
| Quality | |
|---|---|
| Layer heightkey setting | 0.20 mm |
| Strength | |
| Wall loops | 2 |
| Sparse infill density | 15 % |
| Support | |
| Enable support | Off |
Grouped by the tabs in Bambu Studio. Names differ slightly in PrusaSlicer and Cura. Settings not listed can stay at your printer profile.
Test it yourself
Full transcript
Same vase, same printer, same filament. One print takes twice as long as the other. I changed one single setting. Which one?
You want a smooth, good-looking print, so you pick the finest quality profile. Then the slicer shows the print time, and it's way longer than you expected. Is it worth it?
Pause and guess. This vase is 120 millimeters tall. How many layers is that at 0.1 millimeter? A: 600. B: 1200. C: 1800?
It's B: 1200. Twice as many as at 0.2. Let's do the math.
The setting is layer height. Here's the math. This vase is 120 millimeters tall. At 0.2 millimeter layers, that's 600 layers.
Drop to 0.16 and it's 750. At 0.12, it's 1000. And at 0.1, it's 1200 layers. Exactly double.
And every layer is another full lap: the outer walls, the inner walls, the infill, and a travel move up. Halve the layer height, and you halve the plastic per lap, so you need twice as many laps.
So the print time climbs almost in step with the layer count. Not exactly, because acceleration and travel play a role, but close.
So what do you get for all that extra time? On a straight, vertical wall, barely anything. Each layer sits right on top of the one below, so the wall looks the same.
On slopes and curves, it's a different story. Thick layers turn into visible steps, like a staircase. That's where thin layers really pay off.
So why pay for thin layers everywhere? Use variable layer height: thin layers only where the shape curves, thick layers on the straight parts. You get the smooth curves, for a fraction of the time.
In Bambu Studio and PrusaSlicer it's called variable layer height. In Cura, look for adaptive layers. Start from a normal 0.2 millimeter profile and let the slicer go finer where it's needed.
In short: half the layer height means roughly double the time. Thin layers pay off on curves, not on straight walls. And variable layer height gives you both.
This twisted vase is free to download. Try it with and without variable layer height. Link in the description. I'm Spoolbert, see you next time.
Spoolbert explains one 3D printing problem per episode, with a free model to test the fix. Made by EMBODY³, a 3D printing studio in Belgium.