I’ve searched the forums and can’t believe I haven’t found anything on this topic.
In any other slicer there are settings for how dense to make the supports. In Cura it is called Support Density. Is there not a setting for this in Bambu Slicer?
The default support settings are ridiculous, and when printing small parts, are actually larger and use more material than the part it’s supporting. They may as well be complete layers that come off the model. I’ve looked though every support setting but can not find one to keep the slicer from packing 10x more supports than are necessary. Not to mention, no matter how far the the Z distance, the top interface layer is going to be fused to the model.
Is there any setting in BS that allows to control how packed supports are?
In Studio, the function is “Base Pattern Spacing”.
Z-distance usefulness is, in my experience, OK’ish with PLA but defeated somewhat by PETG. Fortunately, using a PETG support interface for PLA and (slightly more difficult) vice versa works really well (Use 0mm z-distance for a really good finish).
1 Like
I looked for it myself when I first started using BS, I gave up & never bothered to ask.
I’ve read about that a few times on the Wiki, to me it makes no sense 
In Cura it’s treated like infill, 10% 20%…BS default is 2.5.
I’m missing something in translation.
1 Like
Have you tried the support settings snug or tree slim yet ?
It just adresses the same problem from the other side. Rather than defining a relative density, it uses a deterministic distance between lines. I find it helps when considering interface bridging and support resistance. But that is just me.
Yes, I have tried both of those and they are better but still waste a lot of filament. I gave up on using regular supports as the top interface won’t separate whatever the z gap is.
I use the tree slim slim setting as it actually has a tiny amount of spacing between the trunks, so less filament used but still way too many supports are created.
Thanks for trying to help.
I’ve been wanting to try the PETG supports for PLA since I learned about them , a couple of weeks ago. I’ve never used anything but PLA so I don’t know much about PETG. Since I’m having sooooo much trouble with Bambu Studio I thought it would be better to get a handle on it before introducing another variable.
I don’t understand why Z gap doesn’t seem to change anything… unless the setting isn’t actually doing anything. I’ve been thinking there are some other settings that must have been broken during updates or something.
Thanks for the tip.
1 Like
So the larger the number, the more space between the lines meaning less filament. But doesn’t that also mean weaker support…??
This is only for normal support…??
Yes and No. Increasing the number gives more empty space, decreasing a higher density.
But I have also used it on Tree supports last year. However, increasing wall number of trees is usually more efficient.
1 Like
Z-distance is quite noticeable between 0 and 0.4mm in support removal and quality. But it very much depends on the filament. Moist filament has a slower cool down and therefore droops more, meaning that the effective z-gap is much reduced. This decreases quality while also making support removal more difficult. And the only safe assumption is that new filament is wet, so drying may help.
PETG is particularly susceptible to moisture and usually droops more, giving a really strong bond for significant overhangs when not using a dissimilar support interface material.
When using PETG for PLA as a support interface, it is important to set the same Min/Max temps for both materials. Otherwise, clogs will occur. Other than that, it works really well in my experience.
I wanted to get images of the supports before I closed this thread but have not had time.
What I have learned is how much variation of support structure there is between the different presets. I was printing small parts at .25 Draft settings to go through several iterations quickly while I made changes and corrections to the model. Once I switch to the .12 Fine preset the way supports were handled changed drastically.
At .24 the supports were packed together so tightly they were nearly a solid piece, and in many places they literally extended over the top of the model. Using settings I learned about in this thread I was able to get the supports a slight bit more manageable but they still would stick solidly to the model and still wrap around the edge and and build on top of the model.
Once I switched to the .12 setting the supports became manageable and I was able to set the density to acceptable spacing and the supports became much easier to separate. They also stayed underneath the model, no more supports on top.
Supports are going to function differently at different layer heights but there is no situation where supports should ever behave like they do at .24 layer height. My guess is Bambu Lab spent all their time with the settings in the finer layer height presents and didn’t bother with the support settings in draft.