15
votes
Accepted
What can I use to "sand" my ABS prints?
I have a bunch of solutions to this problem but I'm always looking for additional ideas. I usually start by slicing as much as possible off with a hobby knife. The more than can be removed before ...
- 1,348
10
votes
Accepted
How to easily get rid of rafts and support structures?
The best way to get rid of them is to change the design of the printed object to make them unnecessary.
Instead of printing the one part with support material, the piece can be split into two or more ...
7
votes
What can I use to "sand" my ABS prints?
I use nail files. They're easy to get, cheap and have different grits on either side. You can lay them flat or hold them in your hand and they have some stability making it fairly easy to sand ...
- 129
7
votes
What can I use to "sand" my ABS prints?
I use normal wet/dry sandpaper and it works just fine. If I remember correctly, I usually start with 220 and then work my way up to 400, 600, and 800.
There are also foam or rubber sanding pads ...
- 1,551
7
votes
Accepted
Best method to make dissolvable supports?
I've had great success printing with HIPS (high-impact polystyrene) as a support for both PLA and ABS. Most sites recommend it for use with ABS because the materials melt at similar temperatures and ...
- 628
7
votes
Accepted
How can I generate and export the support structure for an object as a mesh?
You could try Meshmixer its free and the supports generated with it are embedded into the 3D model.
Here you can find a reference on Meshmixer supports. Meshmixer is well known for making custom ...
- 446
7
votes
Accepted
Can PETG be used as support material for PLA?
PETG works as support material for PLA, see video
In theory, PLA printed on top of PETG will be fine because PETG softens and gets sticky at higher temperatures.
...
- 4,173
6
votes
Accepted
How could I print a large sphere-like object?
A sphere can be put together quarters easily, but those need support in the center. However, there is a slightly different cut is more economic:
Cut a top and bottom "plate" off, print them ...
- 21.3k
6
votes
Accepted
Flexible filament how to print a hollow "sleeve"
Print orientation is usually the key to print with a minimum of supports. If you print this part with the sharp point down, you will get some support structures on the outside for overhang support to ...
- 34.6k
5
votes
Accepted
Structural Analysis
For running an analysis on FDM printed parts Solidworks Sim would be extremely difficult to use. It's not really designed for running this type of analysis and is at the fairly low end of FEA analysis ...
- 1,865
5
votes
Accepted
How to improve face that are printed on support?
The basic answer to your question is to create better bridging or overhangs on your machine. Bridging is when you are printing between two solid pieces (like a bridge). Overhangs occur when printing ...
- 6,284
5
votes
Accepted
Getting better support than Slic3r generates
I know many Slic3r users - myself included - add support material to the model itself before importing it into Slic3r.
I personally favour MeshMixer for support generation, as the supports are much ...
- 3,987
5
votes
How to easily get rid of rafts and support structures?
Increasing the distance between the support/raft and the print should allow for easier removal. Some slicers (such as Slic3r) have settings for 0.0 mm spacing for water dissoluble supports, and 0.2 ...
- 2,278
5
votes
Accepted
Printing coarse threads
There are some software tools that let you manually design support structures so you can target the areas that need them, and avoid others.
For example, Meshmixer can be used to add supports into ...
- 798
5
votes
Accepted
Print "hairs" without support in GrabCAD Print
There's no way to do this in GrabCAD Print alone, but you can achieve it using Insight, which you can reach from the Apps menu in Print. The steps are as follows:
Open your STL file in Insight.
Go to ...
- 897
5
votes
Accepted
Difficult to remove support material
Print/material specific settings
If you are printing too hot with too less distance, the support just fuses to the print object. Extra cooling, lower print temperature and support distance should be ...
- 34.6k
5
votes
Slicer settings for easy support material removal
Cura has some settings for the support structure which may help. Somewhere in the full Preferences menu is a setting for "gap at top" or equivalent wording. If you increase that gap slightly, the ...
- 3,013
5
votes
Accepted
3D printed part sticking to the support layer
I finally found out two causes:
The 3D printer has default settings for ABS, and since there is no printer bed settings in ReplicatorG, the bed temperature was set to 110 °C instead of 60°...
- 101
5
votes
Accepted
SLA printing: piece does not stick to supporting structures
I have tried to print the piece upside-down with the cave part facing down and it worked.
Since the printer prints upside down, positioning the cave part facing up creates a suction-cup effect on the ...
- 171
5
votes
Prusa slicer and support material
In my opinion, PrusaSlicer aims for the most robust printing process at the cost of a higher demand for material in the standard configuration.
I totally agree with @0scar that the small pillars have ...
- 121
5
votes
Accepted
Design Considerations for Large Overhangs
When constructing a model intended to be 3D printed, your approach is sound. Overhangs and the required supports can be a severe problem and I believe your assessment is accurate.
The complexity of ...
- 11.3k
5
votes
How to use organic supports in the slicer?
As Cura is mentioned in the question, it could be solved using Cura. The only organic support in Cura is called Tree as option of ...
- 34.6k
5
votes
Accepted
How to use organic supports in the slicer?
As far as I know, PrusaSlicer organic tree support isn't available to the public yet. PrusaSlicer is rumored to use the same code as the Pull request made by Thomas Rahm on his Cura fork who started ...
- 186
4
votes
How to easily get rid of rafts and support structures?
I use diagonal cutters and a pair of mini pliers.
I print with Simplify3d and the support structures are remarkably easy to remove, I find giving a quick pull pops most off. The diagonal cutters get ...
- 421
4
votes
What can I use to "sand" my ABS prints?
Another method that you could try is an acetone vapor bath.
(All credit to them, by the way)
Just so you know, this is a very risky method, but the outcome is very nice. Remember that I warned you......
- 91
4
votes
Is 3D printing feasible for a coaxial rotational joint?
Have you considered to use a service to have the part printed? You can print almost anything in one "pass" using selective laser sintering, typically done in nylon. I am currently un-boxing an SLS ...
- 11.3k
4
votes
Is it possible to print an object that has a "roof" without anything under it?
Sometimes a "roof" can be accomplished using the bridging feature of the printer. Depending on your slicer and on your printer's capabilities, the filament can extend from one edge of a structure to ...
- 11.3k
4
votes
Accepted
Adding support when generating g-code from Cura Engine (command line)?
I found this in the fdrmprinter.def.json which you could might make a copy of and use instead for the -j option:
...
- 343
4
votes
How to print text upside down for minimal support when printing
welcome to 3DPrinting.
To make this easier to talk about, let me call the surface on which you want to print the letters the "tabletop".
Looking at your picture, let me guess that you would print ...
- 4,481
4
votes
Accepted
How to correctly print an object with supports
You need to put a check mark to enable supports in Slic3r as you cannot print in mid-air.
This option is found under "Print settings" with header name "Support settings". Please look at the Slic3r ...
- 34.6k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible