Floating regions with a flat object?

I have a flat object of 75 x 54 mm and 3 mm thick.
The bottom is flat, and on the top I have text that adds 1.4 mm.

When slicing my object, I get a notification:
‘Warning: it seems object xxx has floating regions. Please re-orient the object or enable support generation’

I used the ‘Auto Orient’ button in the Prepare section, but it didn’t prevent the warning.

Question:
What is wrong and what should I do?

Screenshot of object and warning message:

use the “select face” orientation button, rotate the view so you can see the bottom and click it. If you see more than one face highlighted on the bottom when you do this, then the bottom isn’t as flat as you think it is…

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Without the file, this is a guess.

If the base is known to be flat, it is most likely the text is slightly higher than the height of the base height.

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Thnx @RocketSled & @MalcTheOracle for your suggestions!

So, I worked on both of your suggestions.

(1) I went back to the original design file of this ‘flat’ rectangle. When zooming into detail, I noticed that the object was slightly off being horizontal. Just minimal but … So, I reoriented it and imported it again into Studio - Result: still the warning of floating regions.

(2) Next I re-created the object, but this time only the rectangle without text on it. Imported it into Studio - Result: NO warning.

(3) Then I used the correct rectangle to put the text onto it. And imported it again into Studio - Result: the warning of floating regions was back.

(4) Next I lowered the hight of the text to just 0.8 mm. The height of the rectangle (where the text is put on top) is 2.35 mm. Then I imported it again into Studio - Result: the warning of floating regions was back.

Meaning …
So, obviously something happens when the text is added on top of the rectangular. Though I do not understand what goes wrong.
FYI: I used SketchUp Make 2017, for the design of the rectangular and adding the text > exported it to STL > used STL import in Studio.

Question
Any suggestion is welcome.

I found the issue.

SketchUp places the text a fraction of a mm above the surface of the rectangular.
Probably this is some deviation, but clearly it is recognised as something floating.

So, yes ( @MalcTheOracle ) you were right about the text being slightly higher than the surface of the base!

Solved!

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I would like to add something, as this thread was mainly about finding the right support.
As you know, I had some trouble with the hands. The bottom parts snapping off.
After using paint to define the support zones, it worked. The support tree structure, as a result became quite massive, as you can see here:

So the good thing is, everything is printed.
What could be better is:

  1. The support structure is quite hard to get away, especially around the neck of the head.
  2. The surfaces where the support structure ‘touch’ the doll, are not very smooth. I definitely want them better. (See pictures below)
  3. The overall printing time is quite long (4h:53m).

Questions
1 & 2: Is there anyway to get a better ‘touch’ of the support with the doll? Both for a shooter surface after removing, and easier removal?
3: Any suggestions for decreasing print time?

Current settings for support:

Change the values in the Tree Support category.


Your supported surfaces look about as good as you could hope they’d look given you are not using a dedicated support filament.

When supports are the same filament, in order to prevent the support from bonding with the print, the supported layer has to printed so that the extrusion is just resting on the support interface. This leaves the supported surface with a different surface finish, the extrusions aren’t being “squished” against the underlying layer.

If you use a dedicated support material that won’t stick to your print material, you can reduce the spacing between the interface layer and the supported surface to 0. The extrusions squish together like any other layer. So with a dense interface layer, the result looks just about the same as a surface printed in contact with the build plate.

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@MalcTheOracle
Which settings would you advise in particular?

With notifications back on, I just spotted this, do you still need assistance here, if so, give me a quick summary.

Yes, I could still use some help.
All is still the same.
I am using Colorfabb PLA High Speed Pro filament, with a Colorfabb profile for Bambu Studio.

I like tree (hybrid).

It gives trees when they are best and normal when they aren’t.

These will benefit you if you use an AMS.

It won’t fix your problem though.

You need to explore the idea of using a support interface with a material specifically designed for the task or one designed to be complementary as it supports but doesn’t fuse. You could use dissolvable materials.

Specifically designed:

The many support materials from BL can help.

If you are printing with PLA, you use Support for PLA.

Complementary:

If you are printing with PLA, you use PETG.

As PLA won’t fuse with PETG, it will hold the model up tight to the model, but not fuse to the model.

Dissolvable:

This is designed to dissolve in water after printing.

What you need to do for any of these.

Set them as the support interface, not as the entire support.

This will only use each of these three choices only on the layer(s) just below the point the support meets the model. The remaining support uses the same filament as the model.

This has two benefits:

  1. Far fewer filament swaps.
  2. Support material can be expensive, this focus their use of only the areas of need.

Thnx @MalcTheOracle

Next time I print this model, I will print the support with PETG.

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