Hello everyone
I’m still pretty new to the 3D printing world but I do figure out most stuff out on my own in general but this one I’m not at all sure what the solution is. I have printed a few things with the help of supports but it seems that the underside of the supported part where the actual supports hold it up don’t have a decent finish to them. I’m wondering what settings would be the appropriate ones to help improve the surface finish of the part being held up. Basically it’s the bottom surface where the part begins printing on the supports. The rest of the prints are generally fine aside from just that particular problem.
Any help would be greatly appreciated and I can also give you more information if you need it but here is what I have in terms of equipment, slicer and filament used
Bambu Labs X1 carbon with AMS
using bambu studio as my slicer
eSUN PLA+ regular filament
thank you all for any help you can give me
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In most cases, the surface finish is always going to be rougher looking. Here are some things you can do to make that transition as smooth as possible:
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Redesign your model so it doesn’t need supports to print (if possible).
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Break your model into separate pieces that can be printed without supports. And then construct them when all parts have been printed.
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Use a different type of filament for the support filament (see more details here) or use actual support filament like this. That will eliminate the need for the gap that is normally used when printing supports with the same filament.
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Decrease these top and/or bottom distances (which could make the support harder to remove):
When you print with the same filament for supports and the print, decreasing these Z distance spacings can leave the support and print firmly bonded together. The gaps are there to give the filament a brief moment to cool before it makes contact with an underlying layer. It stays more “cylindrical” instead of being mashed flat, and that results in a much smaller “contact area” allowing the support to break away more easily. But it means the underside of supported surfaces are “air printing” their bottom-most layer, and that leaves a ratty finish.
The solution is, as mentioned, to use a different plastic for the support. PETG works great for PLA and vice-a-versa, for example. These plastics don’t stick to each other, so you can reduce the support distance to 0, and also decrease the “Base pattern spacing” so the support interface lines will be closer together. When the plastic for the print is subsequently printed on top of the support, it comes out much more uniform and “clean”. It won’t ever be as good as the surface in contact with the build plate, though it will be much better than the default support-with-the-same-plastic results.
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Will take your recommendations on this issue. AI do have some support filament for PLA but the only thing I hate is that it adds a lot time to the print but if that’s the best solution when support is needed then that’s what you have to do.
What I am wondering is why they don’t apply the bottom surface treatment to these undersides instead of just applying the solid infill treatment in the slicer? Even if I use another filament and do what you said it would be nice to be able to apply the bottom surface treatment at that point to have an even more decent finish. I’m not that knowledgeable yet on these topics so you can probably respond with something more concrete on this?
The bottom surface of supports will never be as good as the first layer since the filament is essentially being printed in the air instead of having the opportunity to be semi-smashed against the build plate.
That is indeed the optimal solution.
Note that only the “Support Interface” needs to be the support material (there’s an option for that in the slicer). The body of the support can be the regular print material. Doing this can significantly reduce the number of filament changes.
Then, how much support is required, and where the support is required is heavily dependent on the shape and orientation of your print. Experimenting with this might allow you to minimize the amount of supported surfaces there are, and the number of filament switches required to complete the print.
I do this on every supported print I make. The optimal orientation isn’t always obvious, it takes some trial and error. But mostly, I try to set up my prints so that they don’t need supports. I’ll break them in half if necessary and print the two pieces oriented for no supports and glue 'em together after.
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Is there any solution for this in the slicer, I don’t have these problems with my ender 3 or 5, only bambu labs slicer gives awful surface finish on first layer after supports. I tried changing distance, pattern, speeds etc.
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You need more spacing, which only helps marginally. The least scarring from supports is from the light tree option. I’ve had good, to really good results with those when it comes to minimizing scarring.
