If you see horizontal lines running through the surfaces of your model, you might be experiencing Z banding. It’s frustrating after putting a lot of time and effort into designing a model and 3D printing it, only to have your model have visible, bumpy patterns and textures on its surfaces, completely ruining it. Z banding can be caused by various factors, including misaligned or loose Z-axis components, inconsistent temperature, and even issues with Z-axis stepper motors. Thankfully, just like in any other 3D printing issue, there are various methods you can use to solve this issue, as highlighted below.
