Custom Supports

[Gineisvasconcelos 0]

Hello everyone! I want to add a drawning I have on CAD as a support on CURA, anyone knows how can I do that? I saw that there was some custom support plug-ins but not anymore so far I've saw.

[GregValiant 1,330]

The support model is like any other model but requires an extra step.

Bring the support model into Cura and position it, then select the "Per Model" settings button on the left side of the screen and set the particular model to "Print as Support".

 

The 5axes "Support Shapes" and calibration shapes were removed by the author due to an alleged bug.

The bug with the plugins is that the shapes could lose position if the file was saved as a project and then re-opened.  I don't care as they are too useful to do without.

 

Here is a fender model with a custom model that I designed to support it and it is set to "Print as support".

 

[Slashee_the_Cow 382]

6 hours ago, Gineisvasconcelos said:

I want to add a drawning I have on CAD as a support

Just remember that it's hard to get the correct heightmap from an image (and you can't import SVGs as anything other than a toolpath AFAIK so the inherent inaccuracy from a raster image blows any chance of my brain letting me do that). You probably knew that already, but you'd be surprised how often the workflow that's obvious to someone is so obviously wrong to almost anyone else who sees it. So just make sure you extrude your shape to a 3D mesh to import it into Cura.

 

It's also often possible to get pretty good results by just using the regular supports in Cura and adding support blockers where you know support isn't needed.

 

Probably not applicable since you said you have a custom drawing but you can make supports without a plugin just by creating a support blocker and then using the per model settings as @GregValiant described to set it to print as support:

Also I love just bringing up a screenshot of when I printed literally the biggest disc I could fit in my printer's build volume at any vaguely relevant opportunity.

[Gineisvasconcelos 0]

Thanks for the suggestions guys, the thing is that I want to import a support but not exactly use it as a support, I want to position it over my part and use the "modify setings through overlap" so I can have some variations inside my part, that why I wanted to use a custom support

[Slashee_the_Cow 382]

2 hours ago, Gineisvasconcelos said:

Thanks for the suggestions guys, the thing is that I want to import a support but not exactly use it as a support, I want to position it over my part and use the "modify setings through overlap" so I can have some variations inside my part, that why I wanted to use a custom support

Just import the model you want to use as the volume of the modifier, open the Per Model Settings tool and pick the third option:

All the default values which are 0 there means the modifier isn't changing that setting. You can change them if you want, or you can pick the settings you want to change using the Select settings button.

 

There's some settings you can only change if you switch it from Infill mesh only to Cutting mesh but you should only change it to a cutting mesh if you really have to because even without changing any settings it basically makes it print as a separate object:

Start with an infill mesh, change the settings you want, look at it in Preview mode and if not everything you wanted to change has changed then try turning it into a cutting mesh.

[Gineisvasconcelos 0]

It was more of a question on how I import a model to use if I don't want to use the square support that shows on the default mode

[Slashee_the_Cow 382]

10 minutes ago, Gineisvasconcelos said:

It was more of a question on how I import a model to use if I don't want to use the square support that shows on the default mode

Looks like I'm having some problems with my cow >< human translation matrix. Happens a lot.

 

If the translator is working this time... you want to import a model and not have it generate supports?

If you only have one model in your scene, you can just turn off Support > Generate Support. If you have multiple models and don't want all of them to use supports? Make sure supports are on in the quality settings but for a model you don't want to have supports, select it, open the Per Model Settings tool, leave it as a normal mesh, but click Select settings and then check the box for Support > Generate Support. Close that box and then disable the support for that model:

 

*translator fizzles and pops again with a loud bang and a shower of sparks*

Or... you see the bounding box outline on the bed of your model? In the case of my bovine friend here, it's more of a triangle?

That's really just there to show the outer perimeter of your model and it doesn't print:

 

In the highly likely event that I'm still not following you on this one, if you could include a screenshot of your problem or what you want to do or something, that'd probably help.

[Gineisvasconcelos 0]

Alright, my idea is:

First step: Import a CAD drawing to the CURA (This is ging to be my project to be printed)
Second step: Import another CAD drawing on CURA (This one I want to use as a support)
Third step: Turn on the overlaping support option on my "imported support" so it changes the percentage of filling

 

The first picture is the drawing and the second one is the "support" that I'm going to use as a cover to the first one, this way I'll be able to have a "eskeleton", like a middle axis, with a certain percentage, and the parts that are overlapped by the support are going to be done with a minor percentage

[Dustin 150]

you cant use "drawings" you will need to make your drawing into the negative object (or positive) model so that it fits its position as a model in your other model. then set that model as a modifier once you import it in cura.

 

[Gineisvasconcelos 0]

But I want to use it as a support not a drawing, not sure I understood what you wrote, sorry.
(If you're refering to the fact that is showing as a 2D drawing I imported as a 3D on cura, just used the 2D to ilustrate)

 

12 minutes ago, Dustin said:

you cant use "drawings" you will need to make your drawing into the negative object (or positive) model so that it fits its position as a model in your other model. then set that model as a modifier once you import it in cura.

 

 

[Dustin 150]

Thats what I had meant, you cant use 2d drawings as support in Cura.
 

[Slashee_the_Cow 382]

@Gineisvasconcelos I might be a bit presumptuous here but I'm guessing English isn't your first language. There are boards for other languages where you might be able to get help which won't get lost in translation.

[Gineisvasconcelos 0]

6 minutes ago, Slashee_the_Cow said:

@Gineisvasconcelos I might be a bit presumptuous here but I'm guessing English isn't your first language. There are boards for other languages where you might be able to get help which won't get lost in translation.

Oh I'll try to message another board too, thank you!

13 minutes ago, Dustin said:

Thats what I had meant, you cant use 2d drawings as support in Cura.
 

I used the 3D archive, I can import my file to CURA with no problems, the thing I wanted was to import a file as a printing support while another file was used as the actual printing object.