I agree with jimc's suggestions, glad they worked. I find using a brim with no raft results in a way better surface finish; and you don't need to clean the part. Another point is make sure that your print bed is leveled (specifically at the are which you'll be printing).

Quote Originally Posted by curious aardvark View Post
okay - how are you changing the first layer settings ???
If you're using Slic3r, you can adjust the first layer temperature and speed settings under filament settings and print settings > speed.