Hey Everyone,

This is my test for a new printer, new filament, or even new slicer settings. I use this all the time, and I figure if it helps me, maybe it will help you too. This is a nice hands-on way to see if you'll have success when printing tight tolerances.

Leisure Luke's Test Print Tests:

1) Screw Driver / Screw / Nut
Break off the screwdriver and the screw. You should be able to screw the screw into the nut fairly easily. Tolerances here are about 0.2mm, but because of the orientation of the threads, it's more like 0.3mm. The screw should feel easy to turn and you should be able to snug it up finger tight. The screwdriver should fit loosely in the screw.

Doesn't fit? Examine your nut. If you have strings inside the nut, you'll want to slow down your print, or try a slightly hotter temperature. You layers aren't sticking perfectly, and as a result they are being pulled across the threads into the center of the nut.

2) THE PERFECT 1cm cube

Remove the 10.00mm x 10.00mm x 10.00mm cube (1cm x 1cm x 1cm). Cut off the nub where it was attached. Measure all 3 directions with a calipers to see if it truely is 1.000cm all on sides. If your TOLERANCES are within +/-0.01cm, or +/-0.1mm you are DOING GREAT! That's 0.990cm to 1.010cm or 9.90mm to 10.1mm.

Elephants foot / z-axis offset. This cube has rounded edges on all sides, so the first layer should absolutely not be the widest layer. If your first is your widest layer, raise your z-axis offset

3) The mechanism fit test. The 1cm cube should fit loosely through the .2 mm hole. This hole has .2mm tolerance on 2 of the sides. Try pushing your cube through in all 3 orientations - x, y, z. Your x and y may fit tighter or looser than your z. Note, the holes are rectangles, so you are only testing 1 orientation at a time (width or height or depth).

.2mm tolerances - the width of this hole is 10.4mm. This right hole should feel "slide mechanism" loose, the cube should move through this hole very easily with little effort. If you cannot fit the cube through this hole in the x and y orientation, you are OVEREXTRUDING. This is COMMON. Calibrate your e-steps, or start dialing back your extrusion settings - sometimes called "extrusion speed" or "extrusion multiplier".

.1mm tolerances - the width of this hole is 10.2mm this is the "assembly" tolerance, for parts that assemble, but then do not move. Ideal, you would be able to push the cube through this hole with a little effort, if it "holds" that's perfect.

0mm tolerance. The width of this hole is 10.0mm. The left hole should feel quite tight or extremely tight. If you can get your cube through this hole you are UNDEREXTRUDING. This is RARE. Calibrate your e-steps, or start dialing up your extrusion settings - sometimes called "extrusion speed" or "extrusion multiplier".

Head over to my YouTube channel to see some of the videos I make and mechanisms I design. These tolerances are used in my puzzle boxes.