I printed a model with a recess (horizontal overhang) on the bottom face which required support. It all seemed to work OK but on removing the support, I expected to see a proper bottom surface on the print. Instead I see something else, which looks like internal bridging.
A bug in the slicer, or a setting I am unfamiliar with? (I am a very recent arrival in the X1C/Bambu/Orca world).
Any advice gratefully received.
Roman
Hi sir. May I ask what you are comparing this result to?
From what i can see this is how a supported span should look like at a flat plane.
If you want the support interface to be closer to the model the support will leave scars when removing in most cases.
May i ask what type of support you used?
I suspect/assume you used slim tree type.
Some of the support types do not produce the same interface pattern between the model and the support. At least one of the tree ones shows this behaviour. It flags you with a box saying that they find it best with two walls and no interface when you choose the type of support if i remember correctly.
Supports using the same material that you are printing with really is bridging. By default the slicer will leave a .2mm air gap between the print and the support so it does not fuse together. If you want a more normal looking smooth surface you have to use an interface material - something that will not bond with your print and allow for a 0mm gap. Bambu sells support filament for different types of materials. For printing PLA, common PETG works as a great support interface too.
Thanks for your input, and the knighthood
In my early days I had a cheap Aldi Cocoon printer (Cura slicer) with which I printed many panels for electronic equipment which had quite large horizontal regions 2.5mm above the bed, supported by the same PLA filament. The support peeled off like a skin, leaving a few small dags that were easily cleaned. The resulting surface looked solid and sound and quite satisfactory, although not as smooth as straight off the bed, of course. I was expecting something similar here. Admittedly, I did not examine it forensically to determine whether it was “wall” or “lower surface” or something else. But it was solid and sound.
As far as the type of support… (I wish I knew how to cut bits out of your response and paste them here)
I used whatever was the default when you tick the “enable support” box. I didn’t get any prompts whatsoever.
It seems I have a bit of learning to do about support types.
Thanks. Are you saying that if I specify a proper support material (received a roll with my printer) the slicer will somehow know this and construct a different bottom surface for my overhang? Clever stuff, if so…
Roman
Yah, I have just started using PVA for PLA support interfaces.
Works quite nice.
For repeated objects of symmetric shapes, I have started making custom interface/support object of 2-3 layer width, and then I just make that object PVA.
You can stack them up to 250/256 mm in height and enable longer batches.
Correct. When specifying a support/raft interface material under the Support section in Bambu Studio, you can also set the top z distance to 0 to have the bridge print directly on the support interface instead of leaving an air gap. Bambu’s support for PLA is good, but not perfect - being a PITA to remove in some circumstances (the actual support breaks off easy, but the actual interface layer stays put often on small details requiring some patience to remove. I often use a dental pick set to scrape and get under it.) I find PETG works better and is cheaper. When using any support materials I manually increase the flushing volume when changing from support to main filament to a high value like 800 to avoid weakening the part from mixing materials.
This wiki does a thorough job of explaining support filament:
And this forum post goes over using PETG to support PLA
Thanks heaps. I had just found this wiki when I saw your response. I now have some reading, experimenting, and learning to do. I imagine I will have more questions…I really appreciate the support from this forum!
Roman
