Layer height calculator
Pick your nozzle to see the layer heights it prints well. Add your Z screw and motor to find the layer heights that land on whole motor steps.
Your printer
Many newer printers have fine Z screws, where any round number is clean. Magic numbers matter most on printers with an 8 mm screw and a 1.8° motor.
Worked example
A 0.4 mm nozzle prints 0.10 to 0.30 mm layers, with 0.20 mm a safe middle. An 8 mm screw on a 200-step motor moves 8 / 200 = 0.04 mm per full step, so 0.12, 0.16, 0.20, 0.24 and 0.28 mm are clean. A wanted 0.15 mm becomes 0.16 mm. At 16 microsteps that is 200 x 16 / 8 = 400 steps per mm.
How it works
- Thinnest = nozzle x 0.25, safe middle = nozzle x 0.5, thickest = nozzle x 0.75.
- One full Z step = screw lead / motor steps per turn.
- Z steps per mm = motor steps x microsteps / screw lead.
- Clean heights are whole numbers of full steps.
Everything runs in your browser. Nothing is sent anywhere and there is no account.
Questions
Why 25 to 75% of the nozzle?
Below about a quarter, the nozzle lays too little plastic for even lines. Above about three quarters, the line is not squashed enough to bond well to the one below. Half the nozzle is the usual safe pick.
What is a magic number?
A layer height that is a whole number of Z motor full steps. Microsteps are not perfectly even, so whole steps give the most even layers and fewer fine bands on the sides of a print.
Does this matter on my printer?
Most on printers with an 8 mm lead screw and a 1.8° motor (0.04 mm steps). With a 2 mm screw a full step is 0.01 mm, so nearly every round number is already clean.