Author Topic: 3D printing help please  (Read 1217 times)

3D printing help please
« on: 18 March, 2021, 09:17:48 am »
I've borrowed my son's 3D printer, an Ai3M, to clear a backlog of jobs I wanted printing.  He said he hadn't been able to get it printing well with the new filament but it seems fine except for one issue.  The supports it prints to enable overhangs and holes to be printed are very difficult / impossible to remove.  This wasn't an issue with the previous filament, I printed an object with the new that had previously been printed with the old to prove it.

It's almost as if the supports are being printed 'properly' rather than 'superficially' and therefore are well attached to the model.

I can't see a setvar in Cura but then again I am a complete novice at this.

Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks

Chris N

Re: 3D printing help please
« Reply #1 on: 19 March, 2021, 09:26:13 am »
Are the supports in the same material as the main item, or does it print a second material for the supports?
What material are you using?
Is the machine set to print the right material?
Which version of Cura are you using - is it up to date?
Are the supports created by Cura or are they in the model you are printing?

Re: 3D printing help please
« Reply #2 on: 19 March, 2021, 09:59:12 am »
Thanks Chris, replies below:

Are the supports in the same material as the main item, or does it print a second material for the supports?
Same material
What material are you using?
Fillamentum PLA
Is the machine set to print the right material?
Generic PLA as there isn't a Fillamemtum PLA profile
Which version of Cura are you using - is it up to date?
4.8.0
Are the supports created by Cura or are they in the model you are printing?
Cura

Just found a support density setting, will try experimenting with that.  Any other suggestions welcome though.

R

Chris N

Re: 3D printing help please
« Reply #3 on: 19 March, 2021, 10:21:17 am »
Does Cura have a profile for your machine?

It's been a while since I used Cura but that was with an Ultimaker printer...  I now have a Prusa printer so use the Prusa slicer.

The Prusa does have an option to change the distance between the support and the part and the pattern used.  Maybe try changing those?  Some useful info here on support patterns etc. : https://all3dp.com/2/cura-support-settings-optimize-your-supports/

Re: 3D printing help please
« Reply #4 on: 19 March, 2021, 12:13:45 pm »
Yes it does and we are using it.
That's a good looking article, I shall read and digest, thanks.

jiberjaber

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Re: 3D printing help please
« Reply #5 on: 19 March, 2021, 03:08:06 pm »
Here's my settings for my Anycubic i3M - I have a bit of Gcode that appends the settings to each printer file so I can look back if I need to - not that I ever do, until now! :) but having checked through them I can't quite correlate them to Cura settings so I've added some grabs of the cura settings too...

This is using Technology Outlet PLA+ but also works when I use with ABS too (I just change the temperatures and slow the print down)

The problem with 3d FDM printers is they all need to be tuned individually so these settings might not work for you with yours but might give a starter for 10... I can't quite remember exactly which bits I fettled with but seem to recall support interface density being one of them...





(click to show/hide)
Regards,

Joergen

Re: 3D printing help please
« Reply #6 on: 20 March, 2021, 02:51:08 am »
I use Prusaslicer, but I would start by increased Support Z Distance. A good value in PrusaSlicer is 0.2mm. With 0.1 it can be really hard to remove.