Are they strong enough to cut PET-G supports?
Thanks.
They should break off by hand with very little force. They are purpose generated with minimal adhesive contact with the model. Did something not do right with the supports on your model?
I use the same snips I cut a strand of filament with.
An Exacto knife blade is certainly sharp enough. Just don’t slice a finger.
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Yes, in theory they should be easy. I have a small print (horizontal building) that I am struggling with.
I remove supports by hand, with flush cut pliers, needle-nose pliers, X-acto blades (mostly #2 or #11) and a deburring tool, usually in that order, as needed. I also keep a small cutting board next to the printer to stabilize the work and save on bandages (which are also kept nearby).
You shouldn’t require a knife that sharp to remove supports. Even lots of continuous supports should be easily removed with a gentle twist up of a blade or screwdriver.
Can you share the 3MF, link, or a screenshot showing the preview and supports in a different colour? (Not filament view).
A sharp pair of Flush cut pliers for cutting, and a dull pair of Flush cut pliers for ripping.
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That’s how I deal with leg wounds.
PETG w supports is always painful to remove for me. I started using PLA as a support layer and it works amazingly. PETG and PLA do not stick to each other, so it’s ideal for the support layer. the only drawback is you have to purge a LOT when switching back to PETG - as any bit of PLA contamination will cause reduced layer adhesion.
As a result, this method is really useful for long flat support areas, and not as good for “organics” when the support spans many layers.
Properly dried PETG that’s tuned for flow will not result in supports that stick. Supports that stick, stick because of over-extrusion. If you need a tool to remove your supports, dry and then retune your filament. The problem should go away.
I’m religious about drying filament, and pretty much all the slicer defaults work perfectly when I do my part prior to printing. PETG, ABS, PA, the supports just fall away…
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After I stabbed myself with flat screwdriver when removing support, I started to use this tool since then
A right of passage of use all.
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If you really want a knife to remove supports, you want something called an “Ultrasonic Cutter”, basically an Xacto blade in a handle that makes it vibrate at 40K cycles/second. The blade doesn’t move visibly, it just vibrates really fast. But that vibration lets the blade cut through plastic like a hot knife through butter.
Not the least expensive tools, unfortunately, but they work great on something like plastic, you don’t need to exert a lot of force to cut, the risks of slipping and slicing your hand open are basically NIL.
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