Fuzzy skin: a rough surface on a printed part

How fuzzy skin is made

In normal printing the nozzle follows the outer wall in a straight line. With fuzzy skin a little random noise is added to its path, so the plastic is laid slightly closer to the edge in one place and slightly further in at the next. The result is a surface with a texture like fine sandpaper. You will find the setting in most modern slicer programs, for example OrcaSlicer, and it applies to FDM printing, where the model is built up from layers.

Two values set how rough it gets: the noise thickness (how far the nozzle strays) and the point distance (how often the direction changes). At small values the surface is only slightly matt, and at large values it looks like leather or stone.

What fuzzy skin is good for

• Grip. Handles, grips and controls are easier to hold when they are not slippery.
• Hiding layers. The rough texture masks visible layer lines and small print flaws that would show on a smooth surface.
• Looks. A matt, grainy surface looks like sandblasted plastic or stone.

It is not suitable for parts where you need exact dimensions, tight joints or smooth sliding surfaces. The texture adds to the outer dimension, so the wall is irregular by a fraction of a millimetre.

Fuzzy skin and your order

Fuzzy skin is not an option in the calculator. We use a standard smooth surface at a layer height of 0.2 mm. If you want a grainy texture on a part, email us at jakub.novak@boostello.com before ordering and we will agree whether and how it can be done. We do not promise it in advance. You can also model the texture directly into the part, and then it is an ordinary model that we print like any other.

Print time and material use change slightly with fuzzy skin, but we always calculate the price from the actual print, not an estimate.

A setting you can replace with design

If you want a grainy surface in just one place, such as a grip, you do not have to change the settings for the whole print. You can model the texture right into the shape, for example as fine ribbing or small dots, and then send the model as an ordinary STL. The result is under your control and the dimensions are predictable. With a texture in the model you also see in advance what it will look like, whereas with random noise in the slicer the result differs a little with every setting.