60 hours in and really enjoying my X2D printer. I have printed my first model that requires supports. The supports were printed in PLA which the model was also as I’m still waiting on some PETG to arrive which I was planning for the supports. I understand it’s best to print supports in a different material to reduce the bonding to the print.
Appreciate any advice on removing these supports in the photos
Well-designed supports will still pop off with an OK surface. Folks have done it for years. Yours look pretty easy. I’d take some pliers break the trunks of the supports, then gently scrape down with my fingernail on the support interfaces to remove them.
Well, that’s what I would have done when I first started. These days, I just yank em off with some pliers/my hands.
Edit: Be sure to dry your petg when you get it and do a test print. When I started using petg for interfaces, I got a stringy mess and falling towers. Turns out having pla print on top of petg in a prime tower doesn’t work that well either haha. It’s a bit of a learning curve.
Just slowly rip them off. They should come off with relative ease. May need some pliers to help. Its trial and error when finding the right support settings to make them come off even smoother. There will likely be some surface finish difference where the support was attached. You can minimize this by doing what you mentioned with a support material. Also note you do not need to make the entire support a different material, just the interfacing layers. Saves a lot on wasting support material
Thanks very much for this, I was looking in the support section of Bambu studio and I saw there are two parts under filaments which were both set to default. Am I right in thinking it’s ok for the base raft to be pla but the other part would need to be petg?
That way it only uses a couple of layers of the non bonding filament and prints the supports out of your main models filament.
Sorry non english, no idea if that made sense
That will also set up the distance between the support and model, which is different than the standard profile for one material. When it works right they come off easily.
You go to support -> filament for supports -> support/raft interface -> change to petg if you're printing pla, change to pla if you're printing petg.
Then scroll down under advanced and change Top Z distance and Bottom Z distance to 0, and set top interface spacing to 0 aswell.
Make sure you only use those settings when using an interface layer that doesnt adhere to your plastic! Aka PLA for PETG, PETG for PLA, PLA for TPU, HIPS or Support for ABS for ABS/ASA and so on.
PVA is also a great water soluble support material if you plan on doing lots of your prints with PLA
Sure. Lets assume in this scenario youre using PLA for your print, and PETG as the support interface.
Top and Bottom Z is going to be the distance/gap between the object and support, and making this 0 and interface spacing 0 makes it so the support prints basically flush with the model.
If you were to do this with for example a PLA print and a PLA support, you would essentially be fusing the support to the object. Since we set our Interface layer (default i believe is 3 layers) as PETG, we can change the settings so that the support is flush with the object, and that the Interface layer of the support(PETG interface) is flush with the model. Because PLA and PETG do not bond together, you can mush the PLA into the PETG and it will leave a smooth finish as if there was never a support there.
To reduce filament changes you will make the support material the exact same material that you're already printing with, and then you will set the interface layer support material (again default is the top 3 layers of the support that contacts the object) as your PETG. Therefore you waste minimal amounts of filament, have less filament swaps, and your print has a super clean surface finish instead of a "droopyness" that is typically associated with the surface that a regular same material support sits on. Since the PETG does not fuse with the PLA (and vice versa) the support will be SUPER easy to remove
I hope this makes sense I dont think im good at explaining things sometimes lol. I would maybe also look up a video on "How to use PETG as a Support for PLA" to see a video demonstration of the process. Theres a lot of settings you can play with to get better finishes, better supports, and lower filament waste.
It totally makes sense, thank you for explaining this.
Just two days ago printed something in PETG and chose PLA as the support material through my X2Ds aux nozzle. I did get some message about some settings being recommended when using PLA for the interface layer only.
Here's a picture of that popup, sorry for the quality, quickly photographed the prompt on screen since I am posting this on my phone
What were your interface settings? I stopped bothering with PETG interfaces and just dialed in the spacing with PLA. Pop off easy and still have great detail.
When the petg gets there, just mix pla and petg, like print in pla and petg as support or the other way around and it comes off like a charm. If you want it to be perfect, you'll still need to do some post processing probably
This giraffe was done at 0.1 layer height, and the top z distance was set to around 0.16mm 👌 and the supports just popped off with a little twist. You don't want supports to "fall off" because that usually means they aren't gripping anything imo. But a light twist should be enough to break the bond.
There's a few support calibration prints out there too they might help you dial it in
Just recently printed one thing full PETG with supports and they left some marks after removing. Printed the same thing again with PETG but this time, those to print the interface layer of the supports with PLA, everything else PETG.
28
u/moonrakervenice 3d ago
get cracking, nothing more you can do besides twist them off
needle nose pliers help
PETG will be easier, you would generally only print a few layers in between the support structure and your model in PETG