nzo 16 Posted October 8, 2017 in What material was commonly used for support structures before PVA was developed? Just curious as to what people used in the pre-PVA era? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ahoeben 423 Posted October 8, 2017 in What material was commonly used for support structures before PVA was developed? The same material that is used for the rest of the print, mostly Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
geert_2 149 Posted October 9, 2017 in What material was commonly used for support structures before PVA was developed? Depends on the printer brand and type. FDM-printers and most laser-cured liquids use the same material as the print itself, in fine support structures. Powder based printers don't use any support: the powder supports the model. Some expensive industrial printers (50.000...100.000 euro) that I have seen, sometimes used a support material that dissolved in caustic (I don't know what material exactly). And the Objet-printers which have a system that looks like an inkjet printer (=ejecting liquid drops, which are cured by UV-light) also uses some sort of gummy washable material: it is washed off with a high pressure water jet. Could be PVA-based, could be something else? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nzo 16 Posted October 10, 2017 in What material was commonly used for support structures before PVA was developed? Thanks Geert! I only have a single print head at the moment so I'm limited to one material at a time. But what's a few PLA support scars between friends Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
