--- title: Laser Layers For (Almost) Isotropicly Strong Prints description: A hobbyist mounted lasers onto a 3D printer to pre-melt the top of the previously deposited layer right before the nozzle lays down new plastic, so molten... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/laser-layers-for-almost-isotropicly-strong-prints-enyzy8gka twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Laser Layers For (Almost) Isotropicly Strong Prints | daily.dev og:description: A hobbyist mounted lasers onto a 3D printer to pre-melt the top of the previously deposited layer right before the nozzle lays down new plastic, so molten... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/laser-layers-for-almost-isotropicly-strong-prints-enyzy8gka og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/eNyZy8GKA.png og:image:alt: Laser Layers For (Almost) Isotropicly Strong Prints og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Laser Layers For (Almost) Isotropicly Strong Prints **[Hackaday](https://daily.dev/sources/hackaday)** · 2 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary A hobbyist mounted lasers onto a 3D printer to pre-melt the top of the previously deposited layer right before the nozzle lays down new plastic, so molten meets molten instead of molten meeting cold. This improves layer adhesion dramatically: ABS breaking strain along the z-axis jumped to 94% of x-axis strength (from 60% without lasers), and PLA improved to 77.9% (from 41%). The added laser mass may slow down fast coreXY printers, and adjusting layer patterns is offered as an alternative way to boost strength without extra hardware. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### How much can adding lasers to pre-melt each layer improve z-axis strength in 3D printed ABS parts? Pre-melting the top of the previous layer with lasers just before the nozzle deposits new plastic raised ABS z-axis breaking strain to as much as 94% of the x-axis strength, compared to only 60% without the lasers. For PLA, the improvement was from 41% to 77.9%. The technique works by ensuring molten plastic bonds with molten plastic rather than with an already-cooled layer. _Explore more layer-adhesion experiments and 3D printing hacks like this on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Changing Print Layer Patterns To Increase Strength](https://daily.dev/posts/changing-print-layer-patterns-to-increase-strength-3tkvcda3t) · Hackaday · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Laser Your Way To Smoother FDM 3D Prints](https://daily.dev/posts/laser-your-way-to-smoother-fdm-3d-prints-badduxfet) · Hackaday · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Your 3D prints are failing because you're using the wrong material, and PLA is the culprit](https://daily.dev/posts/your-3d-prints-are-failing-because-you-re-using-the-wrong-material-and-pla-is-the-culprit-f2hwobruy) · XDA Developers · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [I kept reaching for the strongest filament when PETG was the right call all along](https://daily.dev/posts/i-kept-reaching-for-the-strongest-filament-when-petg-was-the-right-call-all-along-ojjwkvb4u) · XDA Developers · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#science](https://daily.dev/tags/science) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/laser-layers-for-almost-isotropicly-strong-prints-enyzy8gka) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Laser Layers For (Almost) Isotropicly Strong Prints","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/laser-layers-for-almost-isotropicly-strong-prints-enyzy8gka","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/laser-layers-for-almost-isotropicly-strong-prints-enyzy8gka"},"datePublished":"2026-08-16T17:13:03.534Z","dateModified":"2026-08-16T17:13:24.896Z","description":"A hobbyist mounted lasers onto a 3D printer to pre-melt the top of the previously deposited layer right before the nozzle lays down new plastic, so molten...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/ca05f44097471ed1bb9eefb279ccc3b6?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/ca05f44097471ed1bb9eefb279ccc3b6?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"Hackaday","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Hackaday","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--JhDfhy70--/f_auto,q_auto/v1767541814/logos/hackaday","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/hackaday"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/laser-layers-for-almost-isotropicly-strong-prints-enyzy8gka","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"science","timeRequired":"PT2M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Hackaday","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/hackaday"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Laser Layers For (Almost) Isotropicly Strong Prints"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/laser-layers-for-almost-isotropicly-strong-prints-enyzy8gka#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"How much can adding lasers to pre-melt each layer improve z-axis strength in 3D printed ABS parts?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Pre-melting the top of the previous layer with lasers just before the nozzle deposits new plastic raised ABS z-axis breaking strain to as much as 94% of the x-axis strength, compared to only 60% without the lasers. For PLA, the improvement was from 41% to 77.9%. The technique works by ensuring molten plastic bonds with molten plastic rather than with an already-cooled layer. Explore more layer-adhesion experiments and 3D printing hacks like this on daily.dev."}}]} ```