[Formlabs preform-like support structure]

On 7/12/2021 at 4:45 PM, geert_2 said:

If you have a single-nozzle printer,  and you can do CAD, then consider designing your own supports in CAD. Test various concepts and dimensions on a small testmodel, before doing large models.

 

Standard supports are good for standard situations. But special cases might be better off with custom designs.

 

A few examples:

 

Pink and orange supports with custom brim to prevent them from getting knocked over. These are stable and solid supports, so I can grab them with a plier and wiggle them out. This model is way too small to get in there with a knife.

 

Concepts of supports, to minimise damage to the model. These require good testing: if the gap is too big, the model will fall off. If too small, the model will glue to the support, and separation will be difficult.

 

Free hanging supports, not going down all the way to the bottom, and thus not damaging the lower parts.

 

Front view of these free hanging supports: they stay in place by the stringing of the material. This makes them very easy to remove (way easier than standard supports). The ribs on top are 0.5mm wide and high; the inverted stairs at the bottom are 1mm wide and high. This model could be printed without supports, but I want more accuracy, since another part has to slide accurately through the opening. The tabs on the side of the supports do almost no damage to the side walls of the model.

 

 

Printing tiny vertical models often causes this effect: the filament can not solidify due to the hot nozzle continuously sitting on top of it. So it deforms. Layer-adhesion and stress-concentrations could also be a factor. So you might want to design supports in such a way that they move the nozzle away for some time, and allow the model to cool (or print multiple models at once).

 

 

Wow, thanks for the detailed response, i hadnt considered custom supports but this may be the way forward! im not great with 3D but i reckon some columns added in blender may do the trick.

 

Ill definitely take a look. 

[Formlabs preform-like support structure]

On 7/12/2021 at 8:21 AM, Dim3nsioneer said:

Please keep in mind that support structures in FFF and inverse SLA serve different purposes.

In FFF it prevents the slack of overhangs while in inverse SLA it prevents the printed object or parts of it to detach from the build platform. For the latter, well distributed touch points are enough while for FFF a surface (interface) is needed.

I recommend you look into getting a dual extrusion printer (that allows for the usage of a water-soluble support material) as the Ultimaker S-Line for your application.

FFF? SLA?

 

Sadly i dont have a spare few grand to spend on an s-line printer. Guess ill just have to make do. 

[Formlabs preform-like support structure]

Hi All, I was wondering if there's a plugin or way to request a support structure like the scaffoldy supports in formlabs' software (which btw is a really good 3D model prep, orients and positions models for most efficient print with one click). I love cura, but with small figurine game models the supports cocoon the model and its virtually impossibly to remove them without breaking the model. Different orientations, manual support blocking in places ... still hard. 

 

The supports in preform are super easy to remove and more like the tree structure (though in cura this still cocoons my model).

 

I just wanted to ask if theres a way to get that in Cura or just peoples thoughts generally? Let me know if you'd like pics to demonstrate. 

[Blender model doesnt have walls/faces - how to generate for a 3D print]

Hey guys,

 

First of all, thankyou so much for all of your help and fast responses. New to printing and modelling its all very intimidating and overwhelming but im learning fast and i cant tell you how much i appreciate the responses!

 

I ended up going back to blender, did a lot of undo, deletes and googles but eventually managed to make the model with some thickness (although i cheated by duplicating the initial cube and sizing it down a little). Finally got a decent print of this for my friend's birthday. 

 

Thanks again!

[Blender model doesnt have walls/faces - how to generate for a 3D print]

Hi, apologies if this isnt the best category to post in, I was unsure. 

 

I made a 3D cube in blender to print, however in cura when sliced, it shows that walls dont print. Does anybody know how i can fill these gaps to make outer walls?

 

If i use the 'Solidify' modifier and add thickness, it generates walls but it wont generate any infill or side faces. From the wireframe you can see the sides are basically circle geometries which cura takes as a big gap. Obviously this isnt what we want to be able to print. Is there a blender way to make a mesh 3D print friendly? or a 3rd party software tool to generate a solid block so the 3D print can handle it? Or do I just need to be better at 3D modelling 😛

 

Thanks

[Top layer of print doesnt print smooth like sides and bottom]

awesome, ill give that a try when i can and let you know how it goes 🙂 

 

Thanks again for the help

[Top layer of print doesnt print smooth like sides and bottom]

CE5P_food choice.3mf

 

I did choose the 'ironing' option on a 2nd Re-print and it seemed to help. but still looks like its missing a later. in cura, after slicing and using 'preview'. i can see that whichever face of the die is on top, it renders as yellow instead of red. 

 

I think red is outer walls? is there a way to get the print to print the top the same way it does the walls, ie as a shell rather than a top/bottom?

[Top layer of print doesnt print smooth like sides and bottom]

Hey, thanks for the replies. 

 

I slowed the print right down to 30/s but it's exactly the same. Any other suggestions?

[Top layer of print doesnt print smooth like sides and bottom]

Hi All, Newbie here. 

I tried printing a 3D die with takeout choices for a friend, and its printed great ... except for the top layer. Each side is smooth but the top layer (KFC) printed differently, like it should have had a finishing layer to make it smooth like the other five sides. 

 

I looked through the settings and i think the option to add 'Ironing' may help but i wanted some advice as why this happens and how to correct it?

 

Thanks