Thanks for your reply, that's a great tip.
Good points on the density, I was really struggling with that and your infill analogy makes a lot of sense.
Yes, silk materials aren't my favorite, I find the overhangs are awful and it's a very gummy material to remove supports from. Hotter is an interesting idea
So to recap -
The support z distance question is still not clear. Maybe same as layer resolution?
Support Density 33%
Change Support > Rest Preference to On buildplate when possible.
16 minutes ago, LePaul said:The support z distance question is still not clear. Maybe same as layer resolution?
It's usually a multiple of your layer height. For easier to work with materials (like regular PLA) I usually use about two layers' worth (and since I usually print 0.2mm layers, that makes it 0.4mm). You might be able to pull off three but it really depends on your printer and filament (remember, small scale testing is your friend).
For anything stringier than that (like when I print PETG or TPU) I always use a 0.2mm gap (one layer) because it's pretty much guaranteed to sag down onto it anyway, but the adherence is going to be less than if I was printing straight on top of it.
1 hour ago, Slashee_the_Cow said:It's usually a multiple of your layer height. For easier to work with materials (like regular PLA) I usually use about two layers' worth (and since I usually print 0.2mm layers, that makes it 0.4mm). You might be able to pull off three but it really depends on your printer and filament (remember, small scale testing is your friend).
I'm hopeful one of the Cura Team can answer if the Z Distance variable is 2 decimal places...how much we can fine tune that distance would be go to know.
You should be able to tell from the gcode - if you don't really know how to read it, just slice something simple like this with however many decimal places you want in Z distance I can look through it for you.
True, I suppose I could dive into Notepad++ and gcode.
I was just hoping someone from the Cura team could answer that. IF that is available, great. If not, perhaps a feature request allowing us to really fine tune that Support Z Distance
I did a test last night using 0.4 with some Zyltech Matte PLA and 0.4 worked beautifully. (0.2 layer resolution) I tried some Amazon Basics PLA on another machine and it didn't work as well at 0.4, a bit saggy.
The developers don't spend that much time on the forums. If you want an answer directly from above you're better contacting them on the Cura GitHub repo.
(n.b. I don't actually know how to directly post a topic in the discussions or whatever there)
Just did a quick test myself looking at the gcode: 0.3mm initial layer, 0.2mm layers, set support distance 0.275.
Top layer with support interface is Z9.7mm (it moves to that before it starts the layer) but support is always the first thing printed, and immediately before printing the support, it moves down to Z9.625mm, which is 0.275mm lower than the layer above which will be Z9.9mm.
So it looks like it does support extra decimal places. Hooray!
I inquired with Jaime, he kindly replied
I'm not a 100% sure if we already implemtend the partial z-distance for support or if that is going to be in the next release. Regardless of that, the value that is shown to the user is also the value that is being sent to the engine. Without partial layerheight it won't do that much (because it has to round it on whole layerheights), so on 0.2 layerheight it would either do 1 layer or 2 layers.
9 hours ago, LePaul said:I inquired with Jaime, he kindly replied
I'm not a 100% sure if we already implemtend the partial z-distance for support or if that is going to be in the next release. Regardless of that, the value that is shown to the user is also the value that is being sent to the engine. Without partial layerheight it won't do that much (because it has to round it on whole layerheights), so on 0.2 layerheight it would either do 1 layer or 2 layers.
I think that refers to doing the top layer of support/interface at a different layer height, not fractions for the Z distance to the model (I could be wrong, but as I showed above, it's already capable of doing that, but it's doing it by cheating, basically).
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One change I always make when using trees: change Support > Rest Preference to On buildplate when possible. It's one of the most overlooked settings but it makes it place the trunks on the build plate (where possible) instead of on your model, so you don't have nearly as much floor to clean up.
It's really something that requires testing based on your printer, filament, models, etc. Usually it's a multiple of your layer height (or Cura will likely round it to be, IIRC). You can get away with a bit bigger with materials like PLA because it's a lot like bridging except you're going over something (it sets fairly quickly before it has a chance to droop), I use two layer heights, although stuff like the silky PLA tends not to do as well (hint: run it about 5° hotter than other PLA).
With materials which are lot more likely to droop and sag (like PETG and TPU) I use one, better a model with a bit of support stuck to it than a model with a big saggy bit, although it's annoying with TPU because (be careful kids!) it's so soft you can't really cut it with a knife, you have to find a serrated blade.
I think your support interface density is too high. It's sort of like placing things over infill - you don't need infill density that high for stuff to successfully go over it, and with your support interface it means there's more to stick to it. I use between 20% and ⅓, depending on the project and material.
As for pattern - basically the thing is that with with lower support interface densities, depending on what's above it, you have to worry about gaps. With diagonal lines above it it's fine:
But if for whatever reason you have your lines running parallel to your concentric infill:
or, <insert deity here> forbid, you're using a concentric floor pattern:
there tons of gaps for your fall to floor through, whereas a pattern like grid, you never have to bridge too far:
Even if your floor is a grid and has lines running parallel to the grid lines (which by default, it will), it's still never too far before it hits some interface:
Those examples are with support interface density at 33.33333333%.
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