Iron the top, not every top
A customer wants a smooth top, so you switch ironing on. BambuStudio's "Top surfaces" irons every flat top in the part, including the ones nobody sees. "Topmost surface" irons only the last one. Send us the STL. We slice it both ways on your printer and show you the difference.
See the three partsWhat the slices say
Every top is slow. Ironing all top surfaces added 18 to 21 % on our shell and tray: 16 minutes per tray.
The topmost is cheap. Ironing only the topmost surface added 0.1 to 2.9 % on the same parts.
Same face, if it is the top. When the face the customer sees is the highest one, Topmost irons it for a fraction of the time.
Three parts, two kinds of ironing
Three parts from our walking robot in PLA on a Bambu A1, 0.20 mm Standard (no ironing as shipped), auto-oriented, sliced with ironing set to Top surfaces and to Topmost surface. Sliced on 15 October 2026:
- +20.6 %board tray1 h 17 min 02 s plain. Top surfaces 1 h 32 min 55 s, Topmost 1 h 19 min 16 s (+2.9 %)
- +18.0 %body shell45 min 33 s plain. Top surfaces 53 min 46 s, Topmost 45 min 37 s (+0.1 %)
- +5.4 %small bracket13 min 21 s plain. Top surfaces 14 min 05 s, Topmost 13 min 24 s (+0.4 %)
Now your batch. Pick a part, an ironing setting and how many:
Topmost only helps when the face that matters is the highest one on the plate. If it sits lower, we tell you, and slice the other ways too.
What you get
- Three slices
- No ironing, Top surfaces and Topmost surface, on your printer and material.
- Which face gets ironed
- Whether the face your customer sees is the topmost one in the orientation the part prints in.
- Batch cost
- What each setting adds in printer-hours on your quantity.
- A farm if you want one
- We can print the batch across our farms in Shenzhen, at the hours we quoted.
Get your numbers
Tell us about the part. We answer within one working day.
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