Reducing or eliminating support material inside a hollow model

[scottr16 0]

I am trying to print a model which is hollow and has an appropriately sized escape hole. I'm using ColorFabb BrassFill material and I'm printing on an Ultimaker S5.Becuase this is fairly expensive material I want to make I'm prepping the model correctly in Cura (3.51) and so would appreciate any input from this community of folks who are more familiar with Cura than I am.

Thanks!

Statue-of-Liberty_Printable_EDITED_10 28 18.3mf

[scottr16 0]

I'd really like to get input on this as it is a  time sensitive project.  Thank you!

[Smithy 1,146]

Which input do you expect? I think it would make more sense if you ask specific questions or elaborate about a problem.

 

To print a model hollow, just set infill to 0%, but ofc it depends on the model if a hollow print works.

[scottr16 0]

Thanks I actually thought that the 2nd post was going to the admin because it said my post was waiting for admin approval or something.  I was able to solve the hollow issue, but I am having some issues with printing this BrassFill material. It is a PLA / PHA filament and so I set up a profile in Cura and had all the parameters looking correct according to ColorFabb and Ultimaker. Then when I begin a print the display says I need to change the material from PLA to Unknown, but that's not an option to select. The printer tries to find the material in the available list but a generic PLA or Unknown are not options. I think it then overwrites the profile I created because then the part begins, but as soon as it starts you can see problems with the support layers adhering to each other. Then the BrassFill starts to print and the machine pauses and says there is no material in the head.   So hopefully that's not too elaborate an explanation of a a very specific problem, but if you or anyone has had similar experiences, I'd love to hear how you solved the problems.

Thank you!  

Statue-of-Liberty_Printable_EDITED_10 28 18.3mf

[Smithy 1,146]

I think you have now more than one problem.

 

1.) Material: if you have created a profile for Colorfabb then make sure that the field "Material type" is still "PLA", then the printer knows, when you insert and load the filament and choose PLA on the display, that this material match the one you selected in Cura. I guess you have something else entered in this field in Cura.

 

2.) I print Colorfabb PLA/PHA with normal PLA settings, I have nothing changed and I use the normal generic PLA profile in Cura - was too lazy to create a separate one. But it is not a brass fill filament, maybe you need some modifications for it.
 

3.) I don't know the brass fill filament, but normally filled filaments could clog your nozzle when printing with the 0.4er core. So maybe the printer stopped with this error, because he could not move the filament forward. 

[gr5 2,267]

The S5 has a filament sensor so you are triggering that for some reason.  I would consider turning it off for the core that is using brassfill.  Maybe it's too slipery or something for the sensor or coming into the feeder from a strange angle.  You can disable the sensor in the menu system on the S5 itself.

 

Or you can just continue the print when it complains that you are out of material but you know you are not.

 

Or both (continue the print but then disable the filament sensor while it's printing).

 

The only difference in the profile of PLA/PHA brassfill versus plain old PLA might be print speed and temperature of nozzle I think.  Certainly PLA/PHA and PLA have the same settings (some PLA filaments have PHA in them I suspect without any mention of this obivious on the product).  Brass adds a lot of thermal mass and so takes a few extra seconds to cool down.

 

Also t's probably good to use a 0.6mm nozzle or 0.8 to reduce the likelihood of clogging.

[JohnInOttawa 104]

FWIW, a second on 0.6.  I haven't run my copperfill through it yet, but woodfill surface finish at 0.6 is excellent and no clogs.

Cheers

J

[scottr16 0]

Thank you to all those who answered! I will try the .06 head and see about the filament sensor.  Plus I will verify that PLA is the chosen material - I have a tendency to try the hard way first, and then often discover it leads me right back to the simplest solution.  Thank you all again.   Oh and any Idea for  the best settings for using PVA as support? Does the bed need to be at between 50 & 60 degrees C or does a cool bed work best?