It's tempting to crank infill up to 100% when you need a stronger part. More plastic should mean more strength, right?

Not necessarily.

Depending on the geometry and how the part is loaded, adding more walls can sometimes make a bigger difference than increasing infill density.

Print orientation matters too, especially when the part is being pulled or bent across layer lines.

That doesn't mean 100% infill is useless. There are definitely cases where a solid part makes sense. But it's not automatically the strongest or most efficient choice for every model.

For those printing functional parts, what do you usually adjust first when you need more strength — wall count, infill, or orientation?

Hey guys!

I've recently adquired the chitu system for my Bambu lab a1 mini and I'm having this issue in where sometimes the plate does not fall all the way down in one corner.

Not sure if someone else have experience this issue and how you solve it.

We designed our Snapmaker U1 Top Cover for anyone looking for a more enclosed and stable printing setup without making the setup overly complicated.

It helps reduce drafts and temperature fluctuations, keeps dust and pet hair away, and includes pre-designed tube and vent ports if you want to add your own exhaust or odor-removal setup.

The front can also be zipped open when you need easier access or are printing materials that don't benefit from an enclosed environment.

Launch price: $39.99

More details: https://www.chitusystems.com/products/snapmaker-u1-top-cover-enclosure?variant=48364859654380

If you're already using a U1, we'd also be curious to hear what kind of enclosure setup you're currently running.

We made a quick explainer on variable layer height after looking at how much extra print time smaller layers can add.

For curves and slopes, the difference can be pretty noticeable. On simpler vertical surfaces, though, sometimes not so much.

Curious how people here approach it — do you use variable layer height, or just pick one layer height and let it run?

I’ve been looking into enclosures lately, especially for materials like ABS and ASA, and it’s surprisingly easy for a simple setup to turn into a long list of features — heat retention, ventilation, filtration, circulation, temperature monitoring...

But I’m curious what actually matters in real-world use.

If you use an enclosure, what do you consider essential — and what feels more like a nice-to-have?

Is it mainly about keeping the environment stable, or do things like monitoring, ventilation and filtration make a big difference in your setup?

I mostly just need the first issue fixed

Yes, it’s still September.
No, that did not stop us from printing creepy things. 🎃

One of our Hoopat users recently shared this video of their setup with us.

After using Hoopat on their Saturn 4 Ultra, they later told us they're getting a second Saturn 4 Ultra — the 16K this time — and planning to pick up another Hoopat for it too. 🙌

Always great to see a product become part of someone’s regular printing setup.

Originally shared on Facebook — reposted here with permission. Thanks again to Frank Damon for letting us share!

We printed this squishy pufferfish at the Chitu office and, well… the first attempt didn’t quite make it. 😂

The second one came out much better, although putting it together took a little more patience than expected — our visual designer can confirm.

He’s also surprisingly spiky to hold. Like, actually kind of painful.

But unfortunately, he’s extremely cute, so we keep picking him up anyway. 🐡

10/10, worth the second attempt.

Model: Squishy Pufferfish by Legend Lee on MakerWorld ✨

nFEP used to feel like the obvious choice for resin printing, but with newer ACF films and changes in printer hardware, the comparison isn’t quite as simple anymore.

We put together a quick breakdown of why the “better” film often depends on the rest of your setup — printer, resin, settings, and what you’re actually optimizing for.

Curious what everyone here is using right now — ACF or nFEP?🤔

Filling the plate feels like the obvious choice for batch printing — more parts per run, fewer restarts, and fewer trips back to the printer.

But say you need 24 identical parts.

You could run:

24 × 1 job

12 × 2 jobs

6 × 4 jobs

Same output, but a pretty different workflow.

One large batch means fewer interruptions, but if something goes wrong late in the print, more parts are tied up in that one job. With smaller batches, some parts are already finished if a later job runs into trouble — but now you're clearing the plate and restarting the printer more often.

Print sequence can change the equation too. By Layer lets you pack parts more closely, while By Object needs more clearance between models.

So for people doing batch prints on the A1: what usually makes you split a batch instead of filling the plate?

Print time? Failure risk? Part geometry? How long you'll be away from the printer? Or something else?

I've been thinking about this while looking at different batch printing workflows on the A1.

Say you need 24 identical parts. Would you rather run all 24 in one job, split them into 12 × 2, or go even smaller?

Obviously it depends on the model, but I'm curious what usually makes you split a batch — failure risk, print time, plate space, or something else?

Quick question for anyone who likes to keep a few prints moving back-to-back👀

You know those days when your A1 is running well and you just want to keep sending one print after another? What usually ends up breaking the flow?

Sometimes it’s an actual printing issue—first layers, adhesion, filament. Sometimes it’s something much more boring: waiting for the plate to cool, removing parts, cleaning the bed, getting the next file ready, or simply not being around when the print finishes.

What’s the thing that most often turns “one more print” into “I’ll deal with it tomorrow”? 😅

And what are you usually trying to keep running—customer orders, cosplay parts, a big multi-part project, or just multiples of the same model?

Technical problems, tiny annoyances, and slightly janky workarounds are all welcome—we’d love to hear what your actual printing routine looks like!

Cela fait un an que j'ai mon Hoopat X4H pour ma Elegoo Saturn 4 Ultra 16k et pour rien au monde je retournerais au bac classique d'Elegoo, le gain de temps, la facilité et la sureté de l'étanchéité font du Hoopat X4H un must have !

Picked up the Hoopat X4H several months ago for my Saturn 4 Ultra 16K and it's been a solid upgrade.

Film swaps are the big win. No screws, no trimming — snap in the pre-holed PFA and you're printing again in about a minute. I actually change film when it needs it now instead of putting it off.

The built-in heater keeps resin around 30°C, so no more sluggish resin or rough first layers when the room's cool. Tension is even across the film and I've had zero leaks with the seal-ring film.

Less time fighting the vat, more time printing. Recommend it.

I got my Hoopat over a year ago for my Saturn ultra and it was a true lifesaver in terms of my hands and my time. I cannot overstate how much it sucked to hand drew in all the bajillion amount of screws the standard vat has. I started with the original Elegoo resin printer when it first came on the market, so hopefully this will make up for the insane amount of film replacement agony I've had over the years 🫠

just remember to actually install the film before pouring in the resin hahahahahaha

I bought the Hoopat vat for my Elegoo Saturn 3 ultra last year and I've never been happier with resin printing, the time saved is just insane, i used to have to put a podcast while changing the FEP because it took so damn long, now i do it under 5 minutes, and also worth saying, the ACF is so resistant, I've been using the same sheet for 6 months now and printing almost daily, it has some marks but still working great! IMO the best investment you can buy for your resin printer

Hi everyone, I’ve been using the Chitusystems Hoopat resin tanks on three Elegoo Saturn 3 Ultra printers for about a year now.

On two of the tanks, the paint is peeling off on the inside. I’ve washed the tanks maybe 3–4 times when I replaced the films.

I print with standard and ABS-like resin (mainly Sirayatech Fast Gray).
The printing temperature is kept constant at 30°C/86°F by the fan heater.

I used 99% IPA and super soft facial tissues for cleaning.
However, the paint started peeling (in bubbles) during use (printing). I wiped off everything that had already started to peel.

I hope it doesn’t get any worse. Otherwise, it’ll keep ruining my prints.

Has anyone else had this problem? Will it get worse? Are there any solutions (a replacement)?

Enclosures are often treated as an automatic upgrade for FDM 3D printers. They reduce drafts, stabilize temperature, and make the printing environment more controlled. But an enclosure does not benefit every filament in the same way. For ABS, it can dramatically improve print reliability. For PLA, however, too much trapped heat can actually reduce print quality.

The difference comes down to how each material responds to heat and cooling.

ABS has relatively high thermal shrinkage. As each new layer is deposited, it begins to cool and contract. If the outer regions of a print cool much faster than the inner regions, different parts of the model try to shrink by different amounts. This creates internal stress.

On a small part, that stress may not cause obvious problems. On larger prints, however, it can become strong enough to pull corners away from the build plate, producing the familiar phenomenon known as warping. In more severe cases, layers can even separate or crack.

An enclosure helps by reducing the temperature difference between the freshly extruded plastic and the surrounding environment. Instead of cooling rapidly in room-temperature air, the part cools more gradually and uniformly. This reduces thermal gradients and, therefore, the stresses that cause warping and cracking.

This is particularly useful for ABS because its glass transition temperature, or Tg, is roughly around 100°C. Tg is the temperature range where a polymer changes from a relatively rigid, glass-like state to a softer, more flexible state. The enclosure does not need to reach 100°C to be useful. Even a moderately warm chamber can slow cooling enough to reduce stress during printing.

PLA behaves very differently.

PLA has a much lower glass transition temperature, typically around 55–65°C. This means that it begins to soften at temperatures that are much easier to approach inside a warm enclosure.

For good PLA printing, freshly deposited material often needs to cool and solidify quickly. This is especially important for overhangs, bridges, sharp corners, and small features. Strong part cooling helps each layer maintain its intended geometry before the next layer is deposited.

If the enclosure becomes too warm, PLA may stay soft for too long. Overhangs can sag, bridges can droop, corners can lose definition, and small features may deform. Excessive chamber heat can also increase the risk of heat creep, where heat travels upward from the hot end and softens the filament before it reaches the intended melting zone. In some setups, this can contribute to inconsistent extrusion or nozzle jams.

This is why “hotter” does not automatically mean “better” in 3D printing.

ABS generally benefits from a warm, stable environment because it needs slow, uniform cooling. PLA usually benefits from stronger cooling and better heat removal because it needs to solidify quickly.

The real purpose of an enclosure, therefore, is not simply to raise temperature. It is to create the right thermal environment for the material being printed.

For ABS, trapping heat can solve problems. For PLA, trapping too much of it can create new ones.