Friction Pattern for 3D Printed Guitar Footstep

Sometimes you can not get rid of doing side projects while creating a product. When designing a guitar footstep, I aimed to create a friction grip on the top. However, I discovered that using standard patterns, like hexagons, didn’t provide the optimal surface friction for a 3D printed part and often resulted in poor aesthetics, or at some tests even failed to print properly. In this blog, I’ll guide you through how to apply your own texture to the top of your FDM printed parts to enhance grip, durability, or visual appeal, based on my own experiences.

Throughout this tutorial, I’ll walk you through my process for creating solutions to the problem, applying design changes in CAD, key considerations for FDM printing, and how to customize a friction texture to suit your needs. We'll discuss different phenomena and their solutions, as well as provide a fresh perspective on the FDM process, covering part design, slicing controls, and ways to detect potential errors. Whether you’re working on a practical tool or a creative project, these techniques can add a unique touch to your 3D printed creations.

If you want to print your own footstep, bear with me until the end, where I'll share the footstep design along with more free products for guitar accessories!

Modeling Software: Use a solid modeling program like Fusion 360 (my choice).

Slicer Software: Prepare files in a slicer; I used PrusaSlicer.

3D Printer: An FDM 3D printer is needed. I printed with my Ender 3 V3 SE.

When designing a guitar footstep, I aimed to create a top surface with strong friction and a clean look. Initially, I tried using a standard honeycomb extrusion pattern. However, this approach led to poor surface aesthetics and printing issues, as the nozzle struggled to follow the pattern cleanly. You can see the result in the picture above, which shows the old pattern.

After some failed attempts that produced rough top surfaces, I went back to the slicer to understand the problem. The issue was clear: when printing the top honeycomb pattern, the toolhead doesn't simply start and finish the pattern in one go. Instead, it prints the pattern piece by piece, often traveling along previously printed sides, which created inconsistencies as the toolhead goes over already printed areas, causing warping at the edges. Additionally, there was an over-extrusion issue due to the filament I used. While enabling Z-hop can prevent toolhead collisions on already printed pattern parts, it doesn’t solve warping or potential over-extrusion problems.

I also used a side pattern to improve hand grip and the overall feel of the footstep. I didn’t change the regular extrusion for the sides, and as you can see, both models printed just fine. But why do regular extrusion patterns lead to failures at the top, but not at the sides?

The answer lies in how 3D printers handle different types of patterns. When printing the sides, the toolhead can move slightly outside or inside the pattern on each layer, which allows for a more consistent print. However, at the top, especially with intricate patterns like honeycomb, this movement can cause issues, like poor adhesion and warping, because the nozzle overlaps with already printed areas more frequently.

This isn’t just about my specific model—it's clear from my tests with different hex pattern heights. The side patterns definitely printed better compared to the top patterns due to the issues we discussed. In contrast, the top patterns faced problems like poor adhesion and warping from frequent nozzle overlap. This is also why it's generally recommended to place text or fine details on the sides of prints rather than on the top or bottom for more reliable results.

After identifying the issues with the honeycomb pattern, I needed a solution that would provide a clean, friction-enhancing surface without causing printing problems. One approach worth mentioning was using infill for the top surfaces while clearing the top solid layers in the slicer. Also as there a lots of different infill patterns on slicers, you are not depended on boring geometric structures like hexagones or rectangles. Also, as we need continuous toolhead movement on the top for better surface quality, I’d recommend using infill patterns like Aligned Rectilinear, 3D Honeycomb, Gyroid, or Hilbert Curve (available in PrusaSlicer) since they offer continuous extrusion.

While this method can give models a unique touch, it has its downsides. Although it reduces print time and material usage, the result often lacks the cohesive texture I was looking for. So, if you're looking for a pattern for aesthetic purposes or to add friction to a flat surface, infill patternson slicers work fine. However, a pattern made from single layers wouldn’t have the necessary strength to support a footstep, right?

Since I wanted an extruded pattern, my solution was to create a continuous circular pattern. This allowed me to maintain the friction properties I needed while avoiding the printing issues associated with the honeycomb pattern. A continuous circular pattern ensures that the toolhead follows a smooth path without unnecessary travel along printed areas, minimizing the risk of warping and over-extrusion.

After a bit of brainstorming, it was time to model the pattern! I’ll be using Fusion 360 for the CAD work, but feel free to use any CAD software you're comfortable with that has a good sketching feature. First, clear any previous design on the top surface to start fresh.

One of the general concerns is ensuring enough friction for both side-to-side and front-back movements, so a pattern needs to be designed that blocks both actions. After adding enough layers for friction and thickness, connect all the layers, leaving only the start and end separate. It’s also important to respect the frame of the part while sketching the pattern, as you don’t want it to overflow. I recommend defining the pattern with a single, constrained line and creating the thickness by offsetting it equally on both sides before extrusion. You can get an idea from my crowded sketch if you want to design for your own applications.

Once the basic sketch was ready, I extruded it with a -40-degree taper angle. This taper ensures the pattern sharpens nicely, giving it better grip and a more defined texture. The angled extrusion also helps the toolhead print each layer cleanly, resulting in a solid, consistent pattern. You can follow all the steps in the images above.

Don't forget to check your prints in the slicer before printing to prevent any failures. You can also see how beautifully the continuous pattern prints without skipping.

After slicer control, you are free to print the part!

Also for the ones interested in priting guitar accesories for themselves, I have a MakerWorld account that I publish functional models for 3D prining including "OZAN Guitar Footstep". Linked below!

MakerWorld profile: https://makerworld.com/en/@OZAN3D/collections

Free Files of Guitar Footstep: https://makerworld.com/en/models/561308#profileId-480671