<p>Infill should not affect the surface quality. It mainly affects:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>rigidity of the part (resistance to squishing in components where the outside surface geometry doesn't already make it rigid. Some infill structures are more rigid (or rigid in different directions) than others. For example, concentric and cross patterns intentionally provide very little rigidity and mainly serve to support what's above them, and 2D patterns like grid and triangles are maximally rigid in the Z direction while ones like cubic and gyroid provide more uniform rigidity.</p>
</li>
<li><p>strength of layer adhesion. This is usually not an issue when printing with thick walls, but with thinner walls or large interiors, the bonding of the infill layers can play a fairly big role. 2D patterns (ones where each layer of infill lines up exactly with the layer below it) are much stronger than 3D ones (where the infill shifts as you go up, so all the infill lines are &quot;overhanging&quot;).</p>
</li>
<li><p>integrity of top surfaces above infill. If the infill density is too low, the first few layers of top surface will have very little (in some regions, nothing) to rest on and will simply cave in or even extrude as spaghetti. Usually this self-corrects after a few layers but it means you need many more (maybe 6+) top layers to get a reliable top surface</p>
</li>
<li><p>integrity of details protruding above infill. This is similar to top layers, but even worse if there's not enough infill for the protrusion's walls to be supported by. Rather than self-correcting, you'll get very weak or no bonding, and possibly even a completely failed print.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p>For the type of object you're printing, I suspect infill is of very low importance. You would probably do best to use 3 walls (at least 1.2 mm total thickness) and something like 5-10% gyroid infill. Before you print, just look at the sliced preview and make sure anything printed above the infill
seems to have infill supporting it from below.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-04-03T19:16:51.333Z
Could you please specify why you recommend gyroid infill?
Aaargh Zombies
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-04-03T19:35:41.363Z
@AaarghZombies: Gyroid infill is generally the fastest to print for a given density, except for a few dubious options that don't provide much rigidity, so it makes a really good "default choice" if you're not particularly looking for special properties from the infill.
R.. GitHub STOP HELPING ICE
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-04-04T11:52:38.677Z
neglected factors: Infill also adds weight and can act as compartmentalizing, almost like a ship does it.
Trish
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-04-03T16:21:00.147Z
2022-04-03T16:21:00.147Z
R.. GitHub STOP HELPING ICE
<p>I'm going to print several fruit and vegetable on an Ender 5, with a maximum size of 6 inches. They are all roughly spherical in shape. Melons, squash, etc.</p>
<p>What is the optimum in fill type to use to balance printing speed and surface quality, rather than strength.</p>
<p>I'm using Creality Slicer</p>

<slicing><creality-ender-5><infill>
What is the optimum infill style for printing a roughly spherical object on an Ender 5?
Aaargh Zombies
# What is the optimum infill style for printing a roughly spherical object on an Ender 5?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2022-04-03)

I'm going to print several fruit and vegetable on an Ender 5, with a maximum size of 6 inches. They are all roughly spherical in shape. Melons, squash, etc.

What is the optimum in fill type to use to balance printing speed and surface quality, rather than strength.

I'm using Creality Slicer

**Tags:** slicing, creality-ender-5, infill


---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2022-04-03. Score: 2

Infill should not affect the surface quality. It mainly affects:

* rigidity of the part (resistance to squishing in components where the outside surface geometry doesn't already make it rigid. Some infill structures are more rigid (or rigid in different directions) than others. For example, concentric and cross patterns intentionally provide very little rigidity and mainly serve to support what's above them, and 2D patterns like grid and triangles are maximally rigid in the Z direction while ones like cubic and gyroid provide more uniform rigidity.
* strength of layer adhesion. This is usually not an issue when printing with thick walls, but with thinner walls or large interiors, the bonding of the infill layers can play a fairly big role. 2D patterns (ones where each layer of infill lines up exactly with the layer below it) are much stronger than 3D ones (where the infill shifts as you go up, so all the infill lines are "overhanging").
* integrity of top surfaces above infill. If the infill density is too low, the first few layers of top surface will have very little (in some regions, nothing) to rest on and will simply cave in or even extrude as spaghetti. Usually this self-corrects after a few layers but it means you need many more (maybe 6+) top layers to get a reliable top surface
* integrity of details protruding above infill. This is similar to top layers, but even worse if there's not enough infill for the protrusion's walls to be supported by. Rather than self-correcting, you'll get very weak or no bonding, and possibly even a completely failed print.

For the type of object you're printing, I suspect infill is of very low importance. You would probably do best to use 3 walls (at least 1.2 mm total thickness) and something like 5-10% gyroid infill. Before you print, just look at the sliced preview and make sure anything printed above the infill
seems to have infill supporting it from below.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Could you please specify why you recommend gyroid infill?  
> **username_1**: @username_0: Gyroid infill is generally the fastest to print for a given density, except for a few dubious options that don't provide much rigidity, so it makes a really good "default choice" if you're not particularly looking for special properties from the infill.  
> **username_2**: neglected factors: Infill also adds weight and can act as compartmentalizing, almost like a ship does it.  

---

