Alex
February 18,2025
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Cura Slicer Setting Tips for Polymer Clay Cutters

This blog post was requested after posting my previous blog on why slicer settings are so important for clay cutters. You can find that one here. 

This blog covers Cura slicer settings tips. Please keep in mind that I primarily use Bambu slicer, so if you find any mistakes or better methods I would LOVE the feedback.
Title

Cura Slicer Setting Tips for Polymer Clay Cutters

This blog post was requested after posting my previous blog on why slicer settings are so important for clay cutters. You can find that one here. 

This blog covers Cura slicer settings tips. Please keep in mind that I primarily use Bambu slicer, so if you find any mistakes or better methods I would LOVE the feedback.
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The slicer is the bridge between your 3D design and the final printed object. 

 

The right settings ensure: 

✅ Clean Edges – No jagged or rough outlines that affect your clay cutting/cut out. 

✅ Proper Thickness – Avoiding too-thin cutting or embossing walls that break or too-thick ones that distort your clay designs. 

✅ Smooth Printing – Preventing gaps, warping, or layer inconsistencies.

 

Essential Cura Slicer Settings To Consider for Perfecting Your Cutters

 

1. Print Thin Walls

This setting says "print pieces of the model which are horizontally smaller than the nozzle size". This one setting will make a drastic difference in most of your cutters. It is similar to the "arachne" setting in Bambu or Orca Slicer. I show how to get to this setting below.

 

2. Layer Height

For smooth and sharp blades, a layer height of 0.2mm or lower is ideal. (I typically use .16mm)

A finer layer height produces smoother blades, reducing the need for sanding/clean up on your clay earrings.

 

3. Adaptive Layer Height (If you wanna get fancy)

This setting is similar to Bambu slicer's "variable layer height" tool which I SO love. While Bambu's tool is more customizable you can still get a similar affect in Cura using this tool and adjusting it. I go over it more below.

 

4. Infill Density

10-20% infill works well for strength while keeping the cutter lightweight.

Avoid 100% infill, which can make the cutter unnecessarily heavy. I also recommend changing the infill pattern to something other than grid (I use gyroid). Grid has a higher chance of knocking your print off of the plate.

 

5. Print Speed

Slower speeds (around 60-150mm/s depending on the specific area) lead to cleaner details and reduce printing defects.

 

These are general ideas for getting to good settings. Keep scrolling to see me set this up in Cura Slicer.
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The slicer is the bridge between your 3D design and the final printed object. 

 

The right settings ensure: 

✅ Clean Edges – No jagged or rough outlines that affect your clay cutting/cut out. 

✅ Proper Thickness – Avoiding too-thin cutting or embossing walls that break or too-thick ones that distort your clay designs. 

✅ Smooth Printing – Preventing gaps, warping, or layer inconsistencies.

 

Essential Cura Slicer Settings To Consider for Perfecting Your Cutters

 

1. Print Thin Walls

This setting says "print pieces of the model which are horizontally smaller than the nozzle size". This one setting will make a drastic difference in most of your cutters. It is similar to the "arachne" setting in Bambu or Orca Slicer. I show how to get to this setting below.

 

2. Layer Height

For smooth and sharp blades, a layer height of 0.2mm or lower is ideal. (I typically use .16mm)

A finer layer height produces smoother blades, reducing the need for sanding/clean up on your clay earrings.

 

3. Adaptive Layer Height (If you wanna get fancy)

This setting is similar to Bambu slicer's "variable layer height" tool which I SO love. While Bambu's tool is more customizable you can still get a similar affect in Cura using this tool and adjusting it. I go over it more below.

 

4. Infill Density

10-20% infill works well for strength while keeping the cutter lightweight.

Avoid 100% infill, which can make the cutter unnecessarily heavy. I also recommend changing the infill pattern to something other than grid (I use gyroid). Grid has a higher chance of knocking your print off of the plate.

 

5. Print Speed

Slower speeds (around 60-150mm/s depending on the specific area) lead to cleaner details and reduce printing defects.

 

These are general ideas for getting to good settings. Keep scrolling to see me set this up in Cura Slicer.
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To get started make sure you set the resolution to *at least* dynamic quality if not super quality if you want finer detail. This is the general layer height of your clay cutter. 

 

Then click the "show custom" button to start making certain settings visible.
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To get started make sure you set the resolution to *at least* dynamic quality if not super quality if you want finer detail. This is the general layer height of your clay cutter. 

 

Then click the "show custom" button to start making certain settings visible.
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Once you've made sure custom selection is on, go to the search bar and search for "thin walls". Click the box to select "print thin walls". 

The minimum feature size means that anything on your model reading as 0.1 mm or bigger will be printed as the "minimum thin wall line width" (setting below it). 

 

The "minimum thin wall line width" setting should be set to slightly bigger than your nozzle size. You can play around with these settings and see how they affect your design in the slicer before sending it to print. Be sure to zoom up close and maybe even take screenshots to easily compare. You're working with small models but the small changes can make all the difference!
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Once you've made sure custom selection is on, go to the search bar and search for "thin walls". Click the box to select "print thin walls". 

The minimum feature size means that anything on your model reading as 0.1 mm or bigger will be printed as the "minimum thin wall line width" (setting below it). 

 

The "minimum thin wall line width" setting should be set to slightly bigger than your nozzle size. You can play around with these settings and see how they affect your design in the slicer before sending it to print. Be sure to zoom up close and maybe even take screenshots to easily compare. You're working with small models but the small changes can make all the difference!
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This next setting is only needed if you're still seeing gaps. It's called "horizontal expansion" and it offsets the polygons in each layer (basically thickening it a little). You want to increase this if you're still seeing gaps after the "print thin walls" setting. Only do it a little at a time though because it is thickening your layers. 

 

I know it says .1mm in this picture, but make sure you only change it by .01 mm. Most clay cutters are .4 mm blade so increasing it by a whole .1mm would REALLY thicken your blade.
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If you want to go even further, search "adaptive" in the search bar and find under the experimental section "use adaptive layers". This may or may not already have a check in the box. Even if it does, uncheck it and then check it again if you don't see the options listed underneath it like I do here. 

 

It's already set in a way that the cutters I sliced looked great and it reduced the print time, so I didn't try to experiment with the numbers. 

 

I always recommend playing around with settings until you find what works for you though. Always check out the preview before printing and make sure to save and name your settings while you're tweaking things. I also highly recommend only changing one setting at a time so that you know what affects what. 

 

Keep scrolling to see my picture comparisons of the cutter I sliced!

 

**Quick Tip before I show you these pictures! When you're in the "preview" mode in Cura, make sure that as you're tweaking settings that you use the tool near the top of the screen called "Color Scheme". Just click it and change the gray menu that says "line type" at first. Checking out all of those features can really help you see what you're printer is doing and what you can tweak further. **

**Quick Tip before I show you these pictures! When you're in the "preview" mode in Cura, make sure that as you're tweaking settings that you use the tool near the top of the screen called "Color Scheme". Just click it and change the gray menu that says "line type" at first. Checking out all of those features can really help you see what you're printer is doing and what you can tweak further. **

Line Type

Speed

Layer Thickness

Line Width

Okay on to the comparison pictures :) 

(Please keep in mind settings are kept from the previous picture. So settings applied to picture one are kept in picture two and so on.)

Okay on to the comparison pictures :) 

(Please keep in mind settings are kept from the previous picture. So settings applied to picture one are kept in picture two and so on.)
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What it looks like when I just set it to "Dynamic Quality". Print time is 1 hour and 53 minutes and takes 11g of filament.
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What it looks like when I just set it to "Dynamic Quality". Print time is 1 hour and 53 minutes and takes 11g of filament.
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What it looks like when I just set it to "Super Quality" and select "Print Thin Walls". Print time is 2 hours and 37 minutes and takes 11g of filament.

What it looks like when I just set it to "Super Quality" and select "Print Thin Walls". Print time is 2 hours and 37 minutes and takes 11g of filament.
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What it looks like when I changed "horizontal expansion" to 0.01mm. Print time is 2 hours and 45 minutes and takes 12g of filament.

What it looks like when I changed "horizontal expansion" to 0.01mm. Print time is 2 hours and 45 minutes and takes 12g of filament.
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What it looks like when I selected the "adaptive layers" setting. Print time is now 2 hours and 23 minutes and takes 11g of filament. I am now quite happy with how it's sliced and now all that's left to do is print it and test it! Happy printing!

What it looks like when I selected the "adaptive layers" setting. Print time is now 2 hours and 23 minutes and takes 11g of filament. I am now quite happy with how it's sliced and now all that's left to do is print it and test it! Happy printing!
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Alex
February 18,2025
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