Problems with printing support material

[middelbh 0]

I am trying to print an object that needs a support, the middle part is around 1.5 mm away from the glassplate. Cura adds support for this, but after printing it is extremely difficult to remove the support material and the surface that appears then is very low quality. What do I do wrong? See my pictures in the gallery 3Dingen, dont know how to add pictures here!

Thanks for your help!

[IRobertI 521]

To add images to your post first upload them to a gallery like you already have done, then when you make a post you'll see a button in the top middle part of the post editor that says "My media". Click on that button and a popup will be shown, on the left you can click on "Gallery images" and your images will be shown to you. Clicking on an image will insert it into your text.

I had a look at the pictures in your gallery and that looks pretty typical for the surface under supports. The thing is that you can't print the support too close and too densely to the actual object because then it would be impossible to remove. So to avoid that it is printed a small distance away from the object and then the first layer of the actual object is printed almost in mid air and allowed to rest lightly on the support.

But, looking at your object it seems you've made it hard for yourself. What does the back of it look like? It seems like it's flat? If so, simply rotate the model around so that the opening is facing up, that way you don't need any support. It could also be possible to print your object standing up on its side. But it's hard to make recommendations without knowing exactly what your model looks like.

 

[IRobertI 521]

I forgot to add that you can change the support settings under Expert -> Open expert settings if you want to experiment with a more dense support.

But I still think that for that particular model a different orientation would give you better results.

 

[middelbh 0]

 

IRobertI

 

Thanks for your help!

I'm afraid that the backside of my object is not flat at all, so I cannot turn it around. What amazes me is that before I had my own Ultimaker2 this object was printed via 3DHUBS on an Ultimaker original, and did not show the problems I have.

It looks like the distance between the "lines" of PLA on top of the support material are too far apart or too thin, causing a very irregular surface.

Next, they are fixed too strong to the support material, so it is extremely difficult to separate..

I am new to Ultimaker and these are my first 3D prints, so I do not yet know all terminology... Hope I am clear enough!

Hans

 

[IRobertI 521]

What does the back of it look like? I'm thinking it could be possible to print it standing up so that you wouldn't need any support material at all.

You can make the density of the support and how closely it is printed to your model in the expert settings like I mentioned above. To access those you have to switch to full settings via Expert -> Switch to full settings.

The roughness of the surface where it contacts the support is not possible to get rid of really (without sanding and fixing it up that way). It's a trade off between making the support easy to remove and how much support it provides. Think of it like if you're painting a plank. When you're done you let it lie on a few smaller pieces of wood to separate it from your table so that it doesn't stick to it. When the paint has dried and you remove the little spacers they will leave markings on the surface.