Improving overhangs/support

[mariem 0]

Hey guys!

Just thought I would drop a little thread to try and answer this big big questions...

How to improve my overhang?

This is the main issue I am experiencing with my machine, So far everything is usually working great except....those damn overhangs!

I tried the automated support from cura today on a print request I got. Not only did the print take an impossible amount of time to print, the result were such poor quality. Of course the print didn't fail but it was pretty much a mess.

Took some time and modeled some support myself. Overall the print is way better than the first, but a lot of wasted time and still, the bottom of the object is far from being very smooth.

The person that requested the print from me is usually printing with a makerbot machine. The machine is broken so he requested me to do the print for him.

He sent me the result he was getting with the automated support from Makerbot and the difference is quite huge.

Any reason why he would get such great quality with automated support from the makerware and not me from Cura? Is this a machine or slicer issue?

Any suggestions in general on how to improve the overhang/support etc.

I've been trying to print a lot of model and most of the time that really always is an issue. Seem like the magenta is harder to print with too. I was getting better quality with the silver PLA from ultimaker.

Anyway here some images

My client result

Overhang of My first print with automated support from Cura (lines)

 

Print with homemade support, Better but still :/ far from the client's result

 

Other exemple of overhang issue

 

Any ideas guys?

 

 

[nick-foley 5]

Looks like the client print was done with thicker layers, which can sometimes improve overhang quality. Also, overhangs generally come out better when printing slower and cooler. That makerbot print was probably done around 20-30mm/s in UM terms. About support though:

- Meshmixer is useful for generating support, a kind that is good in the case of your character but probably not too useful for the ring shape...

- Cura support works better when set to "Grid". My favorite settings for clean prints are 27% support density, 0.95 XY offset, 0.15 Z offset.

 

[braddock 1]

Hi Marie, was the client print oriented the same way as yours?

Were the settings the same for layer height etc?

Can you take a screen grab of the part in Cura and post it?

 

[Dim3nsioneer 512]

Good point with the orientation, braddock!

To my personal experience the print should be oriented in such a way on the UM2 that the least critical side is oriented to the front as it sees hardly any cooling. And cooling is the most important factor with overhangs.