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Pointy Things and Bottomsides

Posted: Sun Sep 13, 2015 8:48 am
by Sovereign
Printer: PowerSpec 3D Pro (Micro Center rebadge of Flashforge Creator Pro)
Filament: Inland PLA 1.75mm (Micro Center eSun)
Overall Print Speed: 60mm/sec
Temperature: 192C
Bed Temp: None set
Support resolution: 1.5mm

All other settings have been left to whatever Simplify3D configures when set for "High quality" (i.e. layer 0.1mm)

Image

You can see some infill on the right item, and the left item's top points are very not pointy. Any time an item is pointy and sticks down into the support material, I find the bottom few layers in the base of my printer, having popped out of the support, and the item has a chunk missing like what you see above. If the pointy part(s) are facing up, this doesn't happen.

Image

I realize there are limits to FDM printing and I may just be running into them. But if not, given the same print settings as I outlined above, is there any way to improve the backsides/"support sides" of prints so they're less rough?

Re: Pointy Things and Bottomsides

Posted: Mon Sep 14, 2015 5:57 am
by CompoundCarl
Well part orientation is definitely important here. For example, usually it's best to have pointy thin parts facing upwards. Cooling settings also become very important for small thin pointy parts, since they have a tendency to overheat if you don't have adequate cooling.

The the bottomsides of your parts, orientation can help, but you may want to also try printing at a thinner layer height. That can help your overhang performance and get better bottoms to your parts.

Re: Pointy Things and Bottomsides

Posted: Tue Sep 15, 2015 12:32 am
by Sovereign
Changing the support offsets to zero seems to have solved the problem--though it obviously creates another as I now need a pair of needlenose pliers to yank support off. But I'd rather have that than holes in my print!

EDIT: I'm already at 0.1mm, so going thinner isn't really desirable (I've heard the FFCP/PowerSpec can do 0.05mm but it's a slow, tough slog).