Brim Enhancement Methods #1261

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MrUnknownDE · 2026-04-05T17:07:31+02:00

MrUnknownDE commented

2026-04-05 17:07:31 +02:00

Originally created by @CCS86 on 12/26/2025

There has been a lot of discussion lately on brims and elephant foot compensation, and this has gotten me thinking about the shortcomings of the current brim implementation.

The biggest problem is the number of variables playing into brim connection:

Flow calibration
Accuracy of bed probing and mesh compensation
Surface roughness of bed
Intensional Z shifts depending on build plate (ie G29.1 Z{-0.04} ; for Textured PEI Plate)
Brim-object gap
Elephant foot compensation
etc

Any number of these things can potentially stack together and leave you with a brim that is either completely disconnected, or one that is doubly thick at the part connection and a real nightmare to remove.

In reality, across such a wide range of printer mechanics, user skills, state of calibration, settings, etc; we can't drive these variables small enough to fix the problem. So, maybe the brim can change to be more forgiving...

I have 2 potential paths that seem very promising in theory:

A "brim interface" is printed first and separately from the part and brim, at a thinner layer height, and the gap to the brim is intentionally increase to avoid interaction between the part and brim.

(Part=orange, Brim=dark blue, Brim interface=light blue)

Let's say you are printing a 0.2mm first layer. First a "brim-interface", centered between the edge of the part and the edge of the brim would be printed at say 0.1mm. This very short, but wide, line would intentionally overlap with the part and the brim. Then, the print proceeds as normal, where naturally the part and the brim will overlap this brim interface, fully bonding to it. This should ensure that the brim connection is always complete, but always very thin for easy separation.

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Wavy Brim: Again, the brim-object gap will be increased to avoid a "piled up" or over-extruded brim connection. Then, the most inboard lin of the brim will make a saw tooth or wavy pattern to provide many discrete connection points:

It seems like option #1 would be easier to implement from a code basis, and is more elegant IMO. I'm curious to hear you guys' thoughts on these or other ways we can improve brims.

*Originally created by @CCS86 on 12/26/2025* There has been a lot of discussion lately on brims and elephant foot compensation, and this has gotten me thinking about the shortcomings of the current brim implementation. The biggest problem is the number of variables playing into brim connection: - Flow calibration - Accuracy of bed probing and mesh compensation - Surface roughness of bed - Intensional Z shifts depending on build plate (ie G29.1 Z{-0.04} ; for Textured PEI Plate) - Brim-object gap - Elephant foot compensation - etc Any number of these things can potentially stack together and leave you with a brim that is either completely disconnected, or one that is doubly thick at the part connection and a real nightmare to remove. In reality, across such a wide range of printer mechanics, user skills, state of calibration, settings, etc; we can't drive these variables small enough to fix the problem. So, maybe the brim can change to be more forgiving... I have 2 potential paths that seem very promising in theory: 1. A "brim interface" is printed first and separately from the part and brim, at a thinner layer height, and the gap to the brim is intentionally increase to avoid interaction between the part and brim. (Part=orange, Brim=dark blue, Brim interface=light blue) <img width="707" height="292" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/5a100e71-dfa0-48ca-9e16-57d6eb9ee3c5" /> Let's say you are printing a 0.2mm first layer. First a "brim-interface", centered between the edge of the part and the edge of the brim would be printed at say 0.1mm. This very short, but wide, line would intentionally overlap with the part and the brim. Then, the print proceeds as normal, where naturally the part and the brim will overlap this brim interface, fully bonding to it. This should ensure that the brim connection is always complete, but always very thin for easy separation. . . . . . . 2. Wavy Brim: Again, the brim-object gap will be increased to avoid a "piled up" or over-extruded brim connection. Then, the most inboard lin of the brim will make a saw tooth or wavy pattern to provide many discrete connection points: <img width="793" height="731" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/4a978dc0-093d-4736-a8d6-3eb89c23568e" /> It seems like option #1 would be easier to implement from a code basis, and is more elegant IMO. I'm curious to hear you guys' thoughts on these or other ways we can improve brims.

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Reference: github/OrcaSlicer#1261