I do quite like using dissolvable supports. I've used HIPS and a sadly likely never to be seen product that Filaco/Village Plastics was working on that was like PVA but actually good. Now I'm rationing my beta tester spool like it's gold...
One thing about dissolvable supports vs breakaway supports comes up all the time, however. When using breakaway, a 40% density is pretty good. Not too much contact, so not too much stress over removal. Less material used. All that. The issue is that when using that kind of support with filament that's designed to be dissolved is that you're not getting the best possible surface result. For instances where I've REALLY needed a perfect bottom surface that's supported, I've modeled in a support that's done at 100% infill. It leaves a solid surface for the main filament to hit and means that I've got a cleaner surface in the end.
One thing that I'm guessing would not be trivial at all to create, but would be a MASSIVE increase in quality for users like me would be supports that are "standard" supports all the way up until reaching the 1mm below the part they're supporting at which point they'd become 100% infill. A kind of contoured cradle that would be exactly the shape of the bottom surface instead of the scaffold. Then, when going to process the part, I'd break away the traditional supports, leaving the solid bit to be the only part needing to be dissolved. I suppose I could just model this, but I can only think of a few projects where it would be worth the effort to do all the extra modeling.
Does anyone else think this is a good idea? Am I missing an obvious flaw? Thanks!