Drawing your own supports

[zumfab 3]

As I am getting deeper into my project, I need to make more complicated parts that do not always neatly lay flat. There are several ways of dealing with this, but sometimes using the built-in Cura support generation or even Meshmixer won't suffice. Sometimes it is most efficient or just the cleanest to draw your own.

I have looked at IRobertI's extruder, which employs home grown supports, and experimented a tiny bit, but I imagine other people did too. Right now my results are okay-ish, but they could probably be a lot cleaner.

What are your experiences with this? What works and what doesn't?

 

[christiancreemersdc-qbe 0]

I tried to print my own support yesterday for the first time. First I drew 0.4mm thick ribs (ACAD 2015), but Cura wouldn't take them over. Only from 0.6mm thickness on they would appear in Cura, so I made them 0.8mm (2x nozzle size).

Today, I tried to remove the support. It was OK-ish. However, it would be nice to have thinner attach points to the object, which would make it easier (possible) to break off the support. Next time I'll try to chamfer the support edges, but I'm not sure that it will work, considering the nozzle size/support thickness.

[navigator 23]

Have a look at Simplify3D if you want to create your own supports - this is one area where it does work very well.

It does have built in routines for Ultimakers, and with a bit of tweaking I am getting very good results, infact even better than Cura.

The downside is that it costs, and no free trial is offered, but I am using it on 2 printers with no problems.

There is an area which shows you its features and it also has its own forum.

[bob-hepple 59]

I Use Simplyfy 3D all the time now, and supports are good but I think they could be even better , sometimes I think that designing in to your product supports is a better step, just my opinion.

[mfknjohn 6]

I have also been messing around with Simplify 3D, and the support option is my favorite, i usually manually add them in using about 2-3 mm thickness so they're not too tough, although the print is always a bit messier with them. Another option is to use autocad or solidworks and add supports to whatever object your working with, I would like to try and make a fine tip touching my print and a more thicker base to allow easy clean up but we will see what happens.