3D Printing Glossary

An extruder layout where the drive motor is mounted away from the hot end, pushing filament through a length of PTFE tube. Needs more retraction distance than direct drive because of the extra compressible length.

An extruder layout where the drive motor sits right on top of the hot end. Needs less retraction distance than Bowden and generally handles flexible filaments like TPU better.

The firmware value that converts a commanded filament move (in millimeters) into stepper motor steps. Wrong E-steps scales every extrusion command by the same error.

A percentage that scales commanded extrusion volume, tuned per filament to correct for nozzle wear, real filament diameter, and other effects E-steps can't catch.

The extruder briefly pulling filament backward before a travel move, and pushing it forward again before the next extrusion, to reduce oozing and stringing.

Thin strands of plastic left between separate points of a print where the nozzle traveled without printing, caused by filament oozing during that travel move.

A part lifting or curling off the bed, usually starting at corners, caused by the outer plastic cooling and shrinking faster than the warmer plastic underneath.

The thickness of each individual printed layer, set in the slicer. Smaller values give finer detail and less visible staircasing at the cost of print time.

The precise distance between the nozzle tip and the bed at the start of a print, set separately from mesh bed leveling, which only corrects relative variation across the bed.

A single-layer flat border printed around the base of a part, connected to it, that increases surface area anchoring the print to the bed without adding a full raft.

The printer pushing out less plastic than commanded, showing up as gaps, thin walls, or visible holes in top surfaces.

The printer pushing out more plastic than commanded, showing up as blobs, rough bumpy surfaces, or dimensions larger than modeled.

Regular, repeating surface banding caused by the frame or gantry flexing slightly on direction changes, addressed mechanically or with input shaping rather than temperature or cooling settings.

A thin printed wall around a model, separate from it, that blocks direct airflow to reduce warping without disabling cooling everywhere else.