Configuring Slicer Settings for Silk PLA – Detailed Guide

Despite being PLA-based (and having the word “PLA” in its name as a result), silk PLA contains additives you won’t find in standard PLA to create its unique look and feel, which essentially makes it a different type of filament that will naturally require you to readjust your slicer settings for a successful print.

In this guide, we will go through the process of optimally configuring slicer settings specifically for printing silk PLA, which will ensure that you don’t face any of the common issues that can trouble your prints when switching from regular PLA to silk PLA for the first time.

As a bonus, we have included silk PLA-specific configurations we have created for both the standard Bowden extruder Ender 3 models (Pro, V2, Neo, etc.) and the direct drive Ender 3 S1 at the end of the article, which you can directly plug into Cura to enjoy printing with silk PLA right away!

Configuring Slicer Settings for Silk PLA

When adjusting your standard PLA configuration to be compatible with silk PLA, the primary parameters you need to modify are print temperature, bed temperature, and print speed.

Print Temperature

Print temperature is the first and the most critical of the three parameters you will need to adjust to make your slicer settings compatible with printing silk PLA since it directly impacts the flow and the state of the plastic and, as a result, can cause issues that reduce print quality such as stringing, blobs, poor layer adhesion, and gaps between layers in the case of misconfiguration.

As always, our primary recommendation for optimally configuring print temperature is to refer to the specification sheet of the silk PLA you’re using, which should be readily available on the manufacturer’s website, usually within the product page itself.

For instance, you can see that eSUN explicitly recommends a print temperature of 210°C for printing with their silk PLA, whereas ERYONE recommends using any print temperature value between 210°C and 220°C.

On the other hand, if the filament manufacturer doesn’t have any recommendations regarding the print temperature you should use for their silk PLA, we suggest using a print temperature value 10 degrees above what you use for printing standard PLA as a starting point and staying within the range of 210°C to 230°C as a rule of thumb.

So, for instance, if you’ve been printing regular PLA at 210°C, you can use 220°C as your starting point when printing with silk PLA, which should get your print temperature value up to an acceptable level where issues that stem from using too low temperatures, whether it’s brittleness or poor layer adhesion, won’t severely impact your prints.

Then, based on the results you’re observing, you can fine-tune the print temperature to perfection with small increments or decrements (5°C at a time is ideal), whether it’s decreasing it due to signs of using a too-high temperature, such as stringing, or signs of using a too low temperature, such as the ones we have mentioned above.

While it’s a bit more work, if you want to flesh everything out before diving into the action and guarantee the best results possible from the get-go, we highly recommend printing a temperature tower first (using the Calibration Shapes Cura plugin is a very convenient way of doing this) to see how your silk PLA behaves at different temperatures, as this will allow you to immediately pinpoint the exact temperature value that produces the best results with the silk PLA, 3D printer, and slicer configuration combination you’re using.

To learn more about how you can use the Calibration Shapes plugin to print a temperature tower, you can refer to the plugin’s GitHub page and the PLA+ temperature tower option (it’s the most suitable choice for silk PLA with a temperature range of 200°C to 230°C), which should take you through all the steps of the process.

Bed Temperature

Next up is bed temperature, which is the parameter you will need to adjust to ensure that your silk PLA prints adhere firmly to the build plate and don’t warp as you’re printing the first layer.

Even though silk PLA also has the low-warp characteristic of standard PLA (which means that you can also print it without any bed heating), it’s still a good idea to utilize the heated bed for the best results possible if your 3D printer has one.

Similar to the printing temperature, your best tool to configure the bed temperature as correctly as possible is the specification sheet from the manufacturer once again, which should have the recommended bed temperature value listed right below the printing temperature entry.

For instance, if you visit the product page for SUNLU Silk PLA, you’ll find that the recommended bed temperature range is 60°C to 80°C, which gives us a good idea of a value that we can use without experiencing severe problems related to the bed temperature.

On the other hand, in the case where the manufacturer does not have this information available on the website or the packaging of the filament, our recommendation would be to add 10°C to the bed temperature value you use for standard PLA while staying in the range of 50°C to 80°C.

As an example, if you print standard PLA with a bed temperature value of 50°C, you can go with 60°C as a starting point for silk PLA, which will allow you to compensate for the decrease in strength of bed adhesion that silk PLA brings.

Once you complete a print with the bed temperature value you have chosen, you can further fine-tune it by carefully observing the part for signs of too high bed temperature, such as elephant’s foot, and too low bed temperature, such as warping and poor first layer adhesion, and either decrement or increment the bed temperature by 5°C at a time until you find the value that produces the best results.

Print Speed

Last but not least, you will want to make sure that the print speed is correctly adjusted for printing silk PLA, as the speed value you’re using for standard PLA will most likely be too fast due to silk PLA containing materials that make it more elastic, which naturally warrants the usage of lower print speeds.

Our primary recommendation for adjusting the print speed to be compatible with silk PLA is to use a value 10 mm/s below the print speed you use for regular PLA while ensuring that you stay between 40 mm/s to 60mm/s (unless you already print PLA at a much faster rate and know that your printer can handle it).

So, if you’re using a print speed value of 50 mm/s when printing PLA, as an example, you can bring it down to 40 mm/s for silk PLA as a starting point.

If you still observe the signs of print speed being too high after your first silk PLA print, such as poor layer adhesion and under-extrusion, we recommend decreasing the value 5 mm/s at a time while running test prints in between, which should allow you to find the sweet spot.

On the other hand, if you don’t see any issues regarding print speed after your initial adjustment, we highly recommend running a series of test prints with 5 mm/s increments in print speed until you reach the point where problems start appearing, which will allow you to find the maximum print speed value possible where your prints come out cleanly and considerably reduce print times in the long run.

Finally, one last thing that’s worth mentioning is to increase the printing temperature slightly (~1-2°C) whenever you increment the print speed, as this will allow the hotend to have an easier time with melting the necessary amount of plastic to keep up with the increased filament flow and ensure you don’t end up having under-extrusion issues.

Example Cura Configuration for Printing Silk PLA with Ender 3 (V2 & Pro & Neo)

Below are the general-purpose Cura settings you can use as a starting point when printing silk PLA with a Bowden extruder Ender 3, including models such as the Ender 3 V2, Ender 3 Pro, and Ender 3 (& V2) Neo.

• Print Temperature: 220°C (or 10 degrees higher than the print temperature you use for PLA)
• Bed Temperature: 60°C (or 10 degrees higher than the bed temperature you use for PLA)
• Print Speed: 50 mm/s (or 10 mm/s lower than the print speed you use for PLA)
• Layer Height: 0.16 mm (with a standard 0.4 mm nozzle)
• Retraction Distance: 5 mm
• Retraction Speed: 40 mm/s
• Fan Speed: 100%
• Initial Layer Height: 0.2 mm
• Initial Layer Speed: 20 mm/s
• Printing Temperature Initial Layer: 230°C (or 10 degrees higher than the print temperature)

Example Cura Configuration for Printing Silk PLA with Ender 3 S1

Below are the general-purpose Cura settings you can use as a starting point when printing silk PLA with the Ender 3 S1, the only Ender 3 model with a Direct Drive extruder by default.

• Print Temperature: 220°C (or 10 degrees higher than the print temperature you use for PLA)
• Bed Temperature: 60°C (or 10 degrees higher than the bed temperature you use for PLA)
• Print Speed: 50 mm/s (or 10 mm/s lower than the print speed you use for PLA)
• Layer Height: 0.16 mm (with a standard 0.4 mm nozzle)
• Retraction Distance: 1 mm
• Retraction Speed: 40 mm/s
• Fan Speed: 100%
• Initial Layer Height: 0.2 mm
• Initial Layer Speed: 20 mm/s
• Printing Temperature Initial Layer: 230°C (or 10 degrees higher than the print temperature)

Conclusion

Now that you know printing silk PLA requires some adjustments to the standard PLA configuration you’ve been using and the way of performing these adjustments, the only thing that’s left to do is to enjoy the unique look and feel that silk PLA will bring to your prints, whether you’re printing a cool vase for your home, or a figurine for your collection!

While getting your settings dialed in completely can take some trial and error, which practically is the case whenever you switch to a new type of filament for the first time, the fact that silk PLA is pretty unproblematic to print with, similar to standard PLA, should overall make things a whole lot easier compared to performing configuration for a more challenging type of filament, such as TPU.