Hi Folks,
I have a new Sidekick 747. When I print something that has supports that come up from one part of the print to support a higher up part the supports seem to snap off the lower part during printing when they are 1/2" to 1" high, making a mess.
I’m using Cura.
Any suggestions?
Recognize that the purpose of support is to have something that is bonded only just enough to stick the part … but not so well that it isn’t easy to break away.
In the Support category, take a look at “Support Z Distance”. This is how far away the filament should print from the part surface (in other words it is meant to be a gap). It is typically one layer thickness. E.g. if printing .25mm layer hight than the support distance is also usually .25mm. There is both a top and bottom distance … you want the bottom distance. This means the filament should come out just .25mm short of touching the part and then “fall” onto the part … barely kissing the surface to create a very weak bond. You can lower that value if you aren’t getting a good enough bond (specifically on the “bottom”/“floor”). e.g. maybe try .1mm.
Also check the “Enable Support Interface” (and there’s a setting for roof vs floor). These are lots of thin lines that are printed on either the top or bottom of the support. Normal support distance leaves wide-gaps … the “interface” is a series of lines printed much closer together so that you don’t have sagging … typically on the top of support moreso than on the bottom.
There may be other things … how fast are you printing? Do you Z-hop when moving? Possibly the nozzle is smacking the support and knocking it loose.
Thanks for the explanation! I’ll give that a try.
And by it - I mean I am trying the Z support height adjustment. I was at .1 mm. Trying a print at .075 mm now.