10 cm3 at 0.28 mm layer height
Quick answer
A 10 cm3 part printed at 0.28 mm layers with a 0.45 mm line width and 150 mm/s runs for roughly 15 min. That combination demands 18.9 mm3/s of volumetric flow.
Time equals volume divided by flow rate, which is physics. The efficiency factor for travel and acceleration is a convention.
| Print speed | Flow required | Time | Hotend needed |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60 mm/s | 7.6 mm3/s | 37 min | Stock PTFE |
| 100 mm/s | 12.6 mm3/s | 22 min | All metal |
| 150 mm/s | 18.9 mm3/s | 15 min | All metal |
| 200 mm/s | 25.2 mm3/s | 11 min | High flow |
| 300 mm/s | 37.8 mm3/s | 7 min | High flow, long melt |
What sets the time
Print time comes down to one number: how fast molten plastic leaves the nozzle. At 0.28 mm layers and a 0.45 mm line width, every millimetre per second of speed buys you 0.126 mm3/s of flow. Reaching 150 mm/s therefore demands 18.9 mm3/s, and the printer will deliver that only if the hotend can melt filament that quickly.
That is why raising the speed setting on a machine with a stock hotend often changes nothing useful. Above roughly 12 mm3/s a stock PTFE lined hotend cannot keep up, and instead of printing faster the machine under extrudes, leaving gappy top surfaces and weak walls with no error message to explain it.
Whether a taller layer is worth it
Moving from 0.28 mm to the next step up cuts the layer count proportionally, and for the solid body of a part the time falls almost in step. The catch is surface finish on curves and slopes, which degrades visibly, and interlayer bonding, which weakens as the layer approaches three quarters of the nozzle diameter.
For a functional bracket that nobody looks at, taller layers are close to free speed. For anything with a visible curved surface, the usual compromise is to keep a moderate layer height and find the time saving in infill and wall count instead.
Machines and hotends that sustain the flow
- Creality
Creality Ender 3 V3 SE Beginner-Friendly 3D Printer with Auto Leveling
$186.14 Check pricePrices change often
Common questions
Is 0.28 mm a good layer height?
It is inside the usable range for a 0.4 mm nozzle, which runs from 0.10 mm to 0.30 mm. The convention is a layer height between a quarter and three quarters of the nozzle diameter, with half the diameter as the everyday default. Check it against your own nozzle before committing to a long print.
Why is my slicer estimate different?
Your slicer knows the real toolpath, including every travel move, the acceleration profile and any minimum layer time for cooling, so it will always beat a general estimate for a specific file. This figure is for planning before a model exists, or for asking what happens if you change one setting. Expect it to land within about twenty percent.
Does infill affect the time this much?
Infill changes the volume, and volume is the input here, so it changes the time directly and proportionally. A part sliced at 10 percent infill instead of 20 percent has less material to extrude and finishes sooner in almost exact proportion. Re-slice and read the new volume rather than applying a correction factor.
Will a faster printer help?
Only if its hotend can feed the speed. Motion system speed and volumetric flow are separate limits, and for most parts the melt zone is the binding one above roughly 20 mm3/s. A machine advertising 600 mm/s delivers that on travel moves and rarely while extruding.