Elephant Foot

Theory

Elephant foot occurs when the first layer is overcompressed against the bed: either because the Z offset is too low or the first-layer height percentage is set too high. Hot filament squirts outward as it is pressed flat, creating a flared perimeter wider than the model's nominal footprint. It also occurs when the bed is too hot, keeping filament liquid for too long and allowing gravity to spread it further.

Application

Raise Z offset by 0.02-0.05 mm increments until elephant foot disappears. Reduce first-layer height from 120% to 100% of layer height. Lower bed temperature by 5 C for the first layer. Enable elephant-foot compensation in the slicer (negative offset applied to the first layer perimeter, typically 0.1-0.3 mm) to pre-correct the outline.

Common mistakes

Over-correcting Z offset to fix elephant foot may cause first-layer adhesion failure: verify both are balanced. Elephant foot is not the same as warping; they require opposite corrections. Elephant foot on the first wall of a precision part ruins hole diameters: always print a calibration square before tight-tolerance functional parts.

Related terms: First-Layer Calibration, Bed Adhesion, Warping