Simplify3D User Forum

I am trying to print some very small parts. Each part is printed on a small 4mm pin. The round base should be square, but it is not printing correctly since (I can only assume) it needs support. However, these are so small, I don't want/can't get support added.

Notice the artifacts hanging below the base section and further notice the angle at which the first base is being printed. Again, I assume this is due to no support.

Is there a magical setting in S3D that will help square up the round base at the top of the pin?

I am using an MK3 printer with the default .40 mm nozzle.

tivowatcher wrote: ↑Sun Oct 21, 2018 6:35 pm I am trying to print some very small parts. Each part is printed on a small 4mm pin. The round base should be square, but it is not printing correctly since (I can only assume) it needs support. However, these are so small, I don't want/can't get support added.

Notice the artifacts hanging below the base section and further notice the angle at which the first base is being printed. Again, I assume this is due to no support.

Is there a magical setting in S3D that will help square up the round base at the top of the pin?

I am using an MK3 printer with the default .40 mm nozzle.

The layer where you see those artifacts is basically a huge bridge with no sustain at all. You can try a very slow speed with a lower temperature but I'm almost 100% sure that it will never print correctly unless you can somehow force the printer to make a concentric infill going from the inner surface to the outer or something similar. This would still give you a super small chance of printing it decently though.

This is not a limit of the material, the slicer or your printer. This is a limit of layered additive manufacturing technology. You should really add supports unfortunately.

The only other option to supports is to print in zero gravity!!

Don't be afraid of using support material.....its had somewhat of a bad press over the past year. And if your experience of supports in S3D is purely based on pre-v4.0, then you may be in for a pleasant surprise....as that release had some nice changes that improved the performance of support removal.

I would add manual support pillars with a 1.0mm resolution around the circumference of each of the bases...go back to square bases if you want...and use support settings similar to:

Support infil - 40%
Extra inflation distance - 0.00
Support base layers - 0
Dense support layers - 2
Dense support infill - 100%
Horizontal offset from part - 0.2mm
Upper vert Separation Layers - 1
Lower vert separation layers - 1
Support infill angle - 45, -45, 45, 45, 45

Make sure you're not over extruding and not printing too hot or too slow.....and hopefully you'll get good separation.

And I wouldn't call what your printing here small. Small is my speciality.....here's an example photo'd straight off the print bed..in need of minor cleaning up! The SD card is real!

I would print the hydrants (?) separately (with holes/sockets in their bases) then glue them onto the pins after.

If you could consider glueing, I would split the model vertically and print two halves and glue them back together.